Unidentified Bausch & Lomb microscope!

What equipment do you use? Post pictures and descriptions of your microscope(s) here!
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ampersand
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:46 pm

Unidentified Bausch & Lomb microscope!

#1 Post by ampersand » Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:00 pm

I found a microscope at a pawn shop for rather cheap and picked it up. I have scoured the internet for information for this exact model and I can't find much.
http://imgur.com/a/2fVTj
Here are some pictures of it, the number on the "tail" has a number written on it, "95045". I called up an expert on microscopes who buys and sells antiques, and he said based on the model number it was made roughly in the 1910's. I looked further into it with that lead, and the only thing I could find is this post here: http://forum.mflenses.com/bausch-and-lo ... 20524.html
This tells me that 95000 series was made in 1913. However, finding a picture or any more information about it, or a direct reference to it, has escaped me. I was kind of hoping somebody on this forum might know a bit more about it than I do and fill me in! I'm pretty eager to learn more about it, I've never owned a microscope before and it seems like it could be fun!

Quick edit: I don't know much about this forum either, so if this is in the wrong section, I apologize.

Charles
Posts: 1424
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:55 pm

Re: Unidentified Bausch & Lomb microscope!

#2 Post by Charles » Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:35 pm

Welcome!

The serial number does place it at 1913 and the model appears to be the Continental.

I can't tell from the pictures, but does it have a condenser?

apochronaut
Posts: 6272
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 12:15 am

Re: Unidentified Bausch & Lomb microscope!

#3 Post by apochronaut » Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:55 pm

This is only partially true. The date is correct , 1913 but by 1913 Bausch & Lomb , no longer used the term Continental for any of their microscopes.

Continental was a term used by numerous American microscope manufacturers to designate a design as of the Oberhauser pattern of base, or horseshoe style. The other prominent style was the American style or Jackson pattern, which was a three foot flattened tripod. By 1905 Bausch & Lomb still manufactured two Jackson pattern models as well as 10 or so Continental pattern models, so they still used the term Continental as a qualifier for their model designations.
They discontinued the use of the term Continental in either 1905 or 1906, when they discontinued making microscopes with Jackson pattern bases.

From thence forward, they used alphabetic model numbers only, since all of their microscopes, such as this model BA( likely), were made with Continental bases.

Models designated A were student microscopes, B were student up to small lab, C were small lab up to light research and D were research grade models. There were 13 models of Biological microscopes in the A to D model designations with many other dissecting, petrographical, metallurgical or chemical microscopes in other model ranges, in 1913.

This model BA was mostly a high school microscope.

This design of stand, by 1913 was becoming an obsolete design and it only exists as a disc diaphragm, 2 objective student model with no condenser, as a BA or with a condenser and iris diaphragm as a BB. The 4 other microscope models in the B series ; BH , BH8, BBH and BHP have either a jug handle arm or are , as in the case of the BHP , a specialized portable microscope..

The hole in the stage on the model BA and model BB appear to be different , due to the condenser rising to fit into the stage hole on the BB, so without a picture with which to confirm the existence of a condenser or not, it looks like a BA. If it has a condenser it is a two objective BB, which also could have 3 objectives, by choice of the purchaser.

The mechanical stage fitted to it is a later Japanese made unit from the 70's or 80's. The original instrument had stage clips.

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