And now. This year's ignoble prize in microscope design goes to....

[apochronaut]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184897045052?h ... Sw~R5gzzMk

[Sure Squintsalot]

If I had 150 smackers laying around, I'd totally buy that.

Then have it bronzed.

[apochronaut]

It says. Make Offer

[GerryR]

At least the seller knew enough not to advertise it as a "binocular" microscope. He could use a little math lesson though!

[imkap]

For 2 scientists in love... Quite intimate

[Javier]

For 2 scientists in love... Quite intimate

I had the very same thought

[EYE C U]

for cross eyed people

[EYE C U]

"see that thing on the bottom?"

"no but i see something on the top."

[GerryR]

Here is the same thing at a much reduced price:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384825254892?h ... SwX5tiUXqL

[axiverse]

I think that the eye pieces are swappable from the listed number of magnifications. Probably can't use both at the same time - just a quick swap mechanism like it has for the objectives.

[imkap]

I think that the eye pieces are swappable from the listed number of magnifications. Probably can't use both at the same time - just a quick swap mechanism like it has for the objectives.

I think you're right it is an eyepiece turret actually... A shame, I had invented so many scenarios in my head with 2 people using it t the same time...

[apochronaut]

I was wondering how long it would take for the fact that both top and bottom are patented pendulum motion magnification changers would get noticed! An odd design for sure but if that had been the original microscope design then a rotary objective changer with a spherical mating surface would seem unnecessarily complex.
Both the eyepiece changer and objective changer are relatively easy to fabricate compared to a rotary nosepiece. I wonder how a microscope with a rotary headpiece would look?

[KurtM]

Here is the same thing at a much reduced price:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384825254892?h ... SwX5tiUXqL

Boy, that second one looks like a sweetheart of a deal, perfect for the curiosity shelf of an enthusiast and priced about right. I truly hate that older microscopes tend to be worth so very much less than they really ought to be, but I think that's just the reality of it. A Spencer Model 13 in primo condition with a case and all the bits and bobs should be a $400 or $500 instrument, but as far as I'm concerned $80 is about right ... IF it were really nice and came with all the extras. Sadly, I believe something like $65 for shipping is fair, so there goes that price. A nice AO Series 10 all complete and in excellent condition? About the same, I'm afraid, even if with a trinoc head. Both are such awesomely excellent instruments that could easily remain excellent for ages to come with minimal care. Either one of these microscopes are often listed at $150 + $50 shipping and the seller thinks it's an act of charity at that price. I often wonder what becomes of them?

[apochronaut]

The price and value depend on whether the instrument has been cleaned, adjusted and tested.

[GerryR]

Here is the same thing at a much reduced price:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384825254892?h ... SwX5tiUXqL

Boy, that second one looks like a sweetheart of a deal, perfect for the curiosity shelf of an enthusiast and priced about right. ........

That one got scooped up in a hurry. I thought about getting it when I saw it, but need another curiosity piece like I need a hole in the head. Neat invention, though, and very practical.

[GerryR]

The price and value depend on whether the instrument has been cleaned, adjusted and tested.

You can get AO Sixty student microscopes by the dozens, really cheap on Ebay. Most of them are engraved with the institutions name/number somewhere on the unit. I got a couple of them and was able to mix-and-match parts to make a really clean unit, all for about $50.00 shipped. I also picked up a really nice Series 10 unit that was advertised as a model "1034," which was the number of the illuminator, not the scope. For some reason, AO did not put the Series 10 nomenclature on the scope, just the illuminator catalog number on the illuminator base which happens to be under the scope, so most sellers don't know they are selling a Series 10.

[SuiGenerisBrewing]

Its a training scope, the split head allows two people to view the same sample simultaneously. We have a few similar models kicking around our department from the 1960's (as curios, we don't use them any more). Versions with dual binocular heads were also made, and a few manufacturers still make dual-head dissecting scopes. One example: https://www.dhgate.com/product/ts-80s-d ... 82269.html

[GerryR]

Its a training scope, the split head allows two people to view the same sample simultaneously. We have a few similar models kicking around our department from the 1960's (as curios, we don't use them any more). Versions with dual binocular heads were also made, and a few manufacturers still make dual-head dissecting scopes. One example: https://www.dhgate.com/product/ts-80s-d ... 82269.html

I don't believe the OP's scope is a training scope. He stated that both the dual eyepiece assembly and the objective assembly were patented and rotate to give the varying powers.

[apochronaut]

Its a training scope, the split head allows two people to view the same sample simultaneously. We have a few similar models kicking around our department from the 1960's (as curios, we don't use them any more). Versions with dual binocular heads were also made, and a few manufacturers still make dual-head dissecting scopes. One example: https://www.dhgate.com/product/ts-80s-d ... 82269.html

They are called Teaching Microscopes and they can be either monocular or binocular based on the money available. They use a teaching bridge with a beamsplitter inside to split the image, which with a 100 watt illuminator can be done in series, so that 5, 6 or even 10 heads can be used. There was a Diastar on ebay for quite a while, maybe still that had 14 heads.
There isn't a chance in a million, that Layfayette microscope is a teaching scope. It is a patented eyepiece changer, so you can use one or the other eyepieces preferentially, instead of removing one and replacing it with the other. There is no prism in it. The pictured symmetrical position is a neutral position. In order to use it, you have to swing the preferred eyepiece into place vertically, like a standard monocular horseshoe stand. It even has two different eyepiece magnifications in it ; 15X and 20X, hence the 6 magnifications with 3 objectives and 2 eyepieces.
Someone at Carton Optical had a strange idea and maybe Layfayette might have been the only ones that nibbled. Carton kicked out quite a few odd patents to their stencil partners. Sometimes they ended up universal, sometimes only one took it on or maybe it started there.
My favourite is the magnetic stage that Tasco used for about 5 years. The stage had magnets underneath and the slide carrier was like a little inverted steel picture frame, resting on and over the sides of the slide. It had two "ears", with which to move the slide around. It was a really cheap alternative to an XY slide carrier and worked infinitely better than pushing and pulling a slide under stage clips. Quite smooth and pecise, actually. Very practical for children but I suspect more than a few of the carriers got lost, after it was discovered that they didn't stick to the fridge or pick up ball bearings. Fortunately , they included holes for springclips in the stage too.

[MikeBradley]

If the idea of a real teaching bridge is appealing I am currently trying to give an Olympus BH2 one away, for the cost of shipping. See link here:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8311#p124094

Michael

[apochronaut]

Good luck with that. Teaching bridges are a difficult sell. When you need them, you need them but otherwise.? I have 5 bridges for a 6 place Diastar right now and the Diastar has been scaled down to a trinocular planapo/planfluor workhorse.
With infinity systems the bridge can be used as a photo head and in some cases has more capability than a trinocular.