My 1947 Leitz Ortholux

[dzarren]

I came across this awesome scope. This is my first microscope.
I found it several years ago and had the plan to get it professionally rebuilt. I was unable to do so, as my local microscope guy was super busy, so i left the scope alone and untouched for a few years.
I worked up the courage to have a go at taking apart the easy bits, and as i get deeper into it, it has become much less daunting, and i am making good progress. It really helps that the scope is in amazing condition, with very few deep seated issues. Most of the grease in it is still good even, although i would love to re grease the entire thing.

It really is in pristine shape, but I am missing the illumination. I have all the stuff, i just cant find a bulb that fits. I think I will make myself an LED module for this scope.

So i decided to take apart the easy bits of the stage, first starting with removing the racks and pinions, and giving them a good clean in my brand new ultra sonic cleaner. I did not take apart the main back and forth slides, as I do not have the correct drivers. I ordered a gunsmithing screwdriver set, and it is due to arrive tomorrow. But so far, I do not feel the need to take it apart as the grease is still quite okay, and i feel i would like some more experiece on the easy parts of the scope before taking apart the main slide on the stage. Ive been told it isnt really that difficult as long as i keep an eye on what im doing, and the bearings inside.

I took apart the right/ left (X?) slide and regreased it with NYOGEL 774VL. I regreased both helical rack and pinons on the X and Y with NYOGEL 774H.

Here are some pictures of the scope. So far, very little appears to be very wrong about it, asides from one thing. The rack and pinion that controls the height of the condensor assembly is seized, and i cannot get it to move.











It is this rack and pinon that is siezed. I have the fancy condensor.



I have 6, 8, and 12X eye peices.




What use can i make of the monocular?





Here are pictures of the parts i dissasembled and cleaned.








What is this curious attachment? I have been told it might be for drawing/tracing your image, and some way to project the image.




Last question, could someone tell me how to interpret the markings on the objectives? I have not been able to find any modern objectives that have the same sort of numerical layout. What is the A? is it Achromat? What about that number?
What is the ratio? when it says 10:1 does that mean 10X magnification?








Thank you for reading, and thanks for your time. If you have any tips on how i can get the rack and pinion free i would love to hear some! i think the dovetail is siezed, but i also think the pinion is siezed, as i cant turn it at all, i cannot feel even the slightest whiff of backlash, so i do think it is totally bound.

Thank you!

[apochronaut]

Some mfg. used the 10:1 , 24:1 etc. designation instead of 10X, 24X. Previous to that , Leitz used a numerical code. Your 10:1 is also called a 3. Generally, it went up from 1 to 8 or 9.

The A , means aperture. The same thing as N.A., which means numerical aperture.

Mostly, European scopes used these sorts of designations.
That's a very beautiful old microscope, built with longevity in mind. Have you investigated the seizure of your condenser focus , much? Often , an overlooked component of such seizures is the contact area between the shaft and it's bushings. This is a substantial surface area and is used by manufacturers as part or all of the clutching mechanism in their microscopes, where drag caused by the damping grease used, acts as a kind of passive clutch. If the condenser isn't moved much, the grease hardens and seizes the shaft. Combined with hard grease in the dovetail slide, condensers can be stubborn. Although not on a microscope such as yours, I have freed quite a few tight condenser focus systems by introducing, incrementally some very light oil at the shaft. Once a little movement is apparent, they usually free up fairly quickly. If no movement is apparent , then it could be mechanical. Never force anything.

[daruosha]

Hi dzarren.

First of all, welcome to the forum. It's certainly a beautiful microscope. I recommend a new LED retrofit as well.

for interpreting the specs and writings on objectives, I suggest the following article:
https://www.microscopyu.com/microscopy- ... ifications

[MicroBob]

Welcome to the forum!
The Ortholux was a very modern microscope when it came out and had a very long production life. They are said to be extremely long lasting too.
10:1 is the right designation for an objectiv in a finity optics microscope, 10x is right for infinity.
Leitz used precise but non standard magnification ration like 95:1 quite often at this time.
The mirror is either for projection for more than small scle you would need a very powerful lamp though or for drawing, perhaps together with a special eyepiece. For drawing the right mixture of microscope and room light is important.

You might find some information on your microscope here: https://www.leitz-ortholux.de/

Bob

[DrPhoxinus]

The original bulb is 6v 30 https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OSRAM-8100 ... SwGDNcqnlT

[Charles]

A very nice and old Ortholux dzarren.

This appears to be the first of three major versions of the Ortholux. You don't see many Ortholux with a binocular head. All the models after this one, the trinocular head was standard. The monocular head was used for photography. Back in those days they didn't have the light DSLRs and mobile phones with cameras. They had heavy large format cameras which needed to be placed on stands directly over the eye tube. The first Ortholux also only had one light port in the back, but there is a lever at the base on the right to direct the light up via a mirror for epi illumination. Later models have two light ports. It also comes with a Berek condenser, which has two diaphragms, a upper and lower for Kohler illumination, since the base did not have an iris diaphragm until later models