Horologist requiring help

[TRANSPORTER]

Hi, I have just acquired an old vickers instruments binocular stereo microscope.
I would like to know what model it is and also how to strip down the binocular part to clean the lenses ( they are filthy ).
Also the bulb needs changing, it currently has a Mazda 6v 6w that has blown. It’s a single pole bayonet type, is there an LED equivalent? Or more importantly is the blown bulb the correct wattage and voltage?
Many thanks for any help with my quest in getting this instrument back to “ like new “ so that I can use it on my bench.
Hopefully the link works for the picture, I’ve tried it and it does so fingers crossed.
https://i.postimg.cc/RFmW1JSZ/095-C4-F0 ... 50-B91.jpg

[Greg Howald]

I can't tell you if a 6v6w bulb is the right one, but it is likely.
It is also likely that it is an ac power supply rather than DC.
To change to LED you would need a DC power source of about 3.7 volts, a 3watt led with heat sink, a pvm, and have to do your own engineering to make the changeover. I suggest you try a new halogen bulb before proceeding if you are unfamiliar with such things. Also, changing the lighting system in a vintage scope may well be an improvement but the resale value of the scope may well be zero because it is no longer original.
I have changed three of my own scopes from halogen to led and am resigned to the fact that they are no longer original and of much less value even though performance has greatly increased.
Good luck. Greg

[MichaelG.]

Sorry, I don’t recognise that ‘scope … is there a model number anywhere on it ?

Looks quite modern, so it may be something ‘bought-in’ [perhaps from Swift of Japan]

As Greg says … the bulb is probably correct, and AC powered
LED conversion should be easy enough; but you would almost certainly need to change/modify the power supply.

MichaelG.

[Chas]

These were also sold under the Baker badge ..I dont know whether they are a Baker design or a Vickers design .
The Borthwick Institute for Archives seems to hold a lot of Baker information...just need to find someone who lives near York !
https://borthcat.york.ac.uk/index.php/vi-cb-7-1-35

[MichaelG.]

The Borthwick also has an excellent photo-archive online … but so far, I have failed to find images of this particular ‘scope:

https://dlib.york.ac.uk/yodl/app/home/s ... reo&page=2

… hence my request for the model number, if available.

MichaelG.

[photomicro]

There were a number of very similar models from different manufacturers, including Vickers and Baker, which effectively became the same firm at one point.

The Beck version was called the Binomax stereomicroscope.

They tended to be quite simple stands, often with just one fixed magnification, and a long working distance.

[MichaelG.]

Unfortunately then … there seems to be nothing about it on the York Digital Library

MichaelG.

[Phill Brown]

Hi and good luck with getting the most from the scope,clean glass is the way to go.
From a horology point of view a fixed light in that position is not ideal maybe.
For inspection for cracked jewels under lighting is better.
For surface condition flat light isn't often optimal.
For working under apart from a good view of moving a watch regulator very small amounts microscopes are not the best tool for the job.
I have an 8.75x stereo mounted to my lathe but use a floodlight mounted to the wall above and behind,had LED floodlights but 200w tungsten tube proved to be so much more reliable.
Claims of 20w LED floodlights lasting 50k hours on UK mains never worked out,days or weeks usually before some part failed.

[TRANSPORTER]

Thanks for all the replies guys, as for the led conversion, I won’t be doing that, I thought maybe there was a direct replacement for the old filament bulb.
My main task is to strip and clean the optics, is there any Information on how to do this anywhere? Mainly so that I don’t cock up anything

[Phill Brown]

It may be worth taking precautions at this stage with that amount of flat space, one minute you are looking for a 6v6w bulb using "microscope" in the search,the next another scope has moved in.

[Chas]

Maybe not much help but:
Dont be tempted to force anything or undo tight screws until you have fed the 'part' with some cigarette lighter-fluid.
Small screws might take 20 minutes, larger parts like racks might take much longer to free.
As for lens cleaning; get a box of 200 qtips and use as many as you can (i.e dont reapply the crud that you have just lifted off).
And get a squeezy blower to blow off as much of the dust that is on the lens before approaching it with a Qtip.
I have been using Rosco lens cleaning fluid and it seems OK (but there might be better stuff out there (?) )
I would be wary of trying to clean all of the prism's surfaces, at first, just do the ones you can clearly see/ get to.
-Otherwise you probably will end up with a prism aligning nightmare.

I guess it lies somewhere between this one:
https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.o ... by-c-baker
and this one:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... -307473511

ebay's completed listings can give a sense of how the shapes of the Baker, then Vickers, evolved.