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From Russia With Love

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:33 pm
by Crater Eddie
No, it isn't 21 year old Daniela Bianchi (darn it!), its, its, well, I'm not sure what her name is yet, but here she is:

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She took almost 2 weeks to the day to arrive here from Yekaterinburg, Russia. She looks a little rough and neglected right now, but that's nothing that a little TLC and a few hundred dollars worth of parts can't fix. :lol:
This POLAM L-213 stand is very similar to Boris, my L-2-2, but there are a few differences in the installed fittings.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:37 pm
by billbillt
Congrats!!.. Looks to be a well heeled Russian lady!..... Keep us posted on your progress...


BillT

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:19 pm
by mrsonchus
Very solid & classy-looking - I'll enjoy your restoration of this little beauty.
:)

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:49 pm
by 75RR
Congratulations
2 weeks is exceedingly fast - I thought mail order brides took longer.
I am sure Boris will be pleased.

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:33 pm
by Crater Eddie
Thanks fellows, it promises to be a fun project. It might be a lengthy one though, as some of the parts are likely to be hard to find.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:46 am
by KurtM
Excellent! Please do keep us apprised of progress, I find those "mail order brides" ( :lol: ) very interesting. :geek:

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 4:46 am
by RudiV
Congratulations! Looks like a fun project.

I am watching with interest what bits you choose to complete her with.

Rudi

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 2:00 pm
by hkv
Super! Great quality in these eastern Europe stands. I have Zeiss Jena that is built like a tank.

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 2:24 pm
by Crater Eddie
I guess I have developed an affection for these big Russian stands. I saw this one on $bay a few weeks ago and watched it sit there for a while, and finally just couldn't resist.
I started to clean it up last night but realized that what I thought was doodling on the right hand rest is actually a sort of grid filled with numbers and a small sketch of some kind. I think I'll leave this intact as part of the stand's history. It is kind of faint, but I'll try to get a good photo over the weekend.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 3:52 pm
by billbillt
Crater Eddie wrote:I guess I have developed an affection for these big Russian stands. I saw this one on $bay a few weeks ago and watched it sit there for a while, and finally just couldn't resist.
I started to clean it up last night but realized that what I thought was doodling on the right hand rest is actually a sort of grid filled with numbers and a small sketch of some kind. I think I'll leave this intact as part of the stand's history. It is kind of faint, but I'll try to get a good photo over the weekend.
CE

That would be interesting to see...

BillT

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 11:08 pm
by Crater Eddie
Cryptic.JPG
Cryptic.JPG (300.66 KiB) Viewed 14349 times
This is the best photo I could get of the writing on the base. Its very faint, mostly numbers.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2017 11:50 pm
by billbillt
Strange.... Some type of cuneiform writing it seems.. Would be interesting to known what it was for...

Thanks!
BillT

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 1:57 am
by lorez
I'm going out on the limb here, to say that I think the numbers may be related to field or scale dimensions as seen through various objectives. While we, as hobbyists, sometimes obsess with neat and clean instruments with pristine finishes many of the professionals that I work with treat their microscopes as a tool of their trade and use it in ways one may not imagine. It's not uncommon to see all sorts of notes regarding measuring values scribbled on the stand.

I think it's nice to keep the scope as you got it for the reasons you have cited.

I recently met a researcher who had an old B&L Dynoptic microscope with a service sticker from an old gentleman who had a microscope service company in the late 70's (when he was in his late 70s and I was not yet 30). It was my pleasure to know him and it created quite an opportunity for a trip down memory lane.

lorez

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 2:42 am
by mrsonchus
Agree here, I'd say it's worth leaving or even preserving with perhaps a layer of clear 'stuff' - it's part of that 'scope's life-story after all. Definitely looks like an objective scale to me too. A nice touch for the 'old campaigner' that this lovely 'scope is....

Keep it on! :D :)

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 11:12 am
by 75RR
Would be interesting to know what it means.
Perhaps the fact that it is a Polarizing microscope would help in figuring out the tables.
I see two, or imagine I see two anyway.
First column of the larger table does seem to show objective magnifications.

Perhaps just preserving a photographic record of its original (as received) condition would be enough.

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Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 3:47 am
by Crater Eddie
Thanks Lorez and all, I am sure you are correct, as that makes perfect sense.
I have taken several photos of the markings and will keep them for future reference. I want to leave them in place, as it adds interest to the piece, but the stand overall does need a good cleaning. I'll be as gentle as I can.
Thanks to a stroke of good luck I now have some of the hardest to find parts on the way, so the build might not take as long as I originally thought. Although, I probably won't rebuild it to it's stock configuration. More than one Russian supplier has told me that some of the POLAM parts are quite hard to find in good condition, so I'll most likely end up with a hybrid. That's fine with me.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 3:37 pm
by einman
Hmm..looks like CIA stuff..LOL

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 3:44 pm
by Crater Eddie
einman wrote:Hmm..looks like CIA stuff..LOL
Or in this case KGB :mrgreen:
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 9:48 pm
by Crater Eddie
Here is the major fly in the ointment, at least for now. Looking down on both stands without viewing heads from above, Boris on the left, new stand on the right:

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Here the circular plate is removed from the new stand:

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This is not the typical LOMO dovetail, my spare viewing heads to not fit this, with the plate in place or removed.
The stock POLAM has an intermediate tube mounted here with the accouterments for the analyzer and whatnot, and the viewing head mounts on top of that. You can see that the whole mount is different on each scope one from the other. My challenge is to either make an adapter to allow my heads to fit or find the intermediate tube. Since I have over stretched my spending budget already for a while I'll be considering the adapter route. I realize that I will have to be mindful of preserving the tube length.
I would be glad of any comments and/or suggestions.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 11:41 pm
by 75RR
Have you tried removing Boris's dovetail and seeing if it fits the new one (you really should get around to choosing a name),
if it does fit then perhaps you can:
a) Have one made (using Boris's dovetail as a template)
b) Pinch one from another Lomo

Note: If the intermediate tube has Telan lenses then you don't need to worry about tube length.

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 12:43 am
by Crater Eddie
If I could find a mount from another stand like Boris I could indeed swap the fitting with the dovetail. A few folks are watching for one for me. Unfortunately the fitting from the normal BIOLAM or MULTISCOPE is different, they will not interchange.
I think the intermediate tube does have a telen lens, going from the photos of one that I have found. I'll probably end up with one eventually. I do have a few ideas to tinker around with in the mean time.
As far the new stand, she tells me that her name is Natalia.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 3:21 pm
by Crater Eddie
Multiple boxes filled with marvelous goodies are now preparing for the long and arduous journey from various points half way around the globe. This might take a while, but will be worth the wait.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 5:36 pm
by mrsonchus
Exciting times Eddie! Please keep us updated - it's a really enjoyable and interesting project to see such a beautiful instrument rebuilt...

the best

John B :)

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:55 pm
by 75RR
Multiple boxes filled with marvelous goodies are now preparing for the long and arduous journey from various points half way around the globe. This might take a while, but will be worth the wait.
Well done! Looking forward to getting a peek at the goodie box when it arrives.

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2017 4:22 pm
by Crater Eddie
Yeah, me too.
That two week trip for the stand spoiled me. One box is on it's way from Minsk, it hasn't been scanned since the 7th.

CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:29 pm
by Crater Eddie
The good:

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The not so good:

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The dovetail doesn't fit, its too small.
I don't relish the thought of shipping this back to Minsk, I'll check to see if it fits the Multiscope, if it does I'll just keep it. I'll keep my eyes open for the correct size dovetail fitting, might find one of those I suppose.
Lesson learned. Darn it.
Its a shame too, because it operates perfectly, all movements smooth as silk. I do have a machinist friend, I might see if he can make me a new dovetail mount.

CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:38 am
by 75RR
That is a pity. I take it that the one that fits on Boris is the same size as the one you need.
Handy to have a friend who is a machinist. Hope you remembered to send him a xmas card.

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2017 12:21 pm
by Crater Eddie
Yes, the one from Boris would fit perfectly, as the dovetails are identical. I'll keep on the lookout for a used one, you never know when stuff will pop up. Building a replacement is an option, but I'll hold on that one as a last resort.
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:53 pm
by Crater Eddie
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Oh boy! Christmas in March!
CE

Re: From Russia With Love

Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:49 pm
by 75RR
Congrats - quick shipping as well.
Looks like a lot of the major lifting is now done.
At this rate I would say there is a good chance you will have it up and running this year ;)