Creating a Webcam Holder for Ultra High Vacuum Chamber with 3D Printing
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In experiments involving UHV chambers, there is always a necessity to observe a sample or a filament. In most cases, one can do this simply with a webcam, but in some cases, magnification is a must as the CF viewport could be far away from the sample. If sample orientation and movement is crucial as in most of the issues, one can use an implementation of a strong camera lens with a regular computer webcam. This type of ‘implementation’ always comes with a hard-to-solve issue of custom pieces to connect the two parts. Fortunately, there comes the help of 3D printing.
I modeled both the webcam and the lens. To create a connection, I implemented a lock mechanism between two 3d printed files. Connecting 3D printed part to the lens was easy as with the treading, but I need to use some adhesive to fix the other part to the webcam as, there was no possibility to fix it with a screw set or other more modular option.
I used VFA275/M mounting adapter from Thorlabs to fix the webcam and lens combination to UHV flange.
STL files can be found in here
