Sisters

[Radazz]

Found a Spencer model 13 MH 153983 1938
to go with my model 13 MLH 217958 1944
The MLH (on the right) is the infamous Dr’s office scope that required hours of cleaning, while the MH arrived so clean, all I did was wipe it down with a soft cloth, and wax it. It was no $50 scope, though.

Oddly, the straight headed scope has a Bousch & Lomb logo on the top of the nosepiece. But it is definitely a Spencer nosepiece with a centering clip for each objective. Every B&L I’ve seen just has the one in back to lock up the objective under the tube.

The MLH had rust on the base which is intolerable. I don’t like putting paint on a microscope, but I had to remove it and repaint for the restore.



Can’t resist showing this 1926 Bausch & Lomb binocular scope.
This one was scroty and needed cleaning and Brasso on the brass.
It must have been from a university because some idiot put tape across the prism housing and then ripped it off along with the paint. Again, I don’t usually put paint on a microscope I’m restoring unless there are extenuating circumstances, like rust. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Besides, this one was for me, and not for sale.

[Hobbyst46]

Radazz:
My black Zeiss GFL has some minor scratches on the limb and some visually worn-out points on the stage.
What would be the best way to hide or eliminate these minor flaws?
I would love to make the scope look like new, not for sale but for my own satisfaction.

[Radazz]

For me a little brass showing through doesn’t detract, but you may want it to be perfect.
Unfortunately I don’t think you can do anything perfect without stripping the part and spray painting it. Otherwise, I think a few character dings might look better than what you might try to correct it.

It just occurred to me that one of those car scratch repair kits you see on TV with some guy shouting about how great it is, might just work on microscope scratches as well. Both are baked on paint. The Zeiss finish is beautiful enough that I personally wouldn’t risk anything drastic.

I do love these early to mid 20th Century pivot based microscopes. Especially the black and chrome look that I grew up with. They are as much fun to look at as they are to look through.

[Hobbyst46]

Thanks a lot!
Hobbyst

[Micro-Bob]

Hi Radazz,
thank you for showing these nice microscopes. With the binocular tubes they must have been very modern for their time. With your sister couple I can imagine that the one with inclined tubes was just so much more ergonomic that it stayed in use for longer. I have some old power tools and often find that the better looking have a problem that kept them from beeing used. Nice if you can solve the problem.

@Hobbyst46: The black Zeiss paint was very smooth and scratch resistant. This is probably nothing you could release from a simple spray can. I can imagine that a car painter could help with the scratches. With the table it might be difficult because of the need for arbasion resistance. This might not be paint but some electrolytic coating.

Bob

[Radazz]

I must retract my statement above that this is a Spenser nose turret. It is the same turret assembly as is on the 1926 B&L pictured here. It has a 16mm extension between the base of the interchangeable body mount and the turret assembly as well.