No 53 maker

[read6737]

Just got a no53 scope, in very good condition with leather caps.
The maker is a diamond with what looks like WRP in side.
Who is the maker?
The reticule is fine cross hairs a proper cross not post and horizontal, with thicker post bases. Never seen one on a 32 42 or 53 before.

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

WRP was one of the smaller optical engineering companies that used to do small sub contract work for Taylor Taylor Hobson at Haxby in York. If anyone has a Taylor Hobson pantograph engraving machine, you'll see that a lot of the panto arms carry their diamond logo. WRP also made the pantograph format letters for all the machines and we used to get new letters, wrapped up in the WRP greaseproof paper but in TTHCo paper envelopes. Anyway, WRP and co couldn't compete with the sheer war work load so they were all amalgamated into another bigger firm called United Instruments Co. (UIC) that came under the wing of Vickers Instruments - hence the term Vickers UIC......... After all, they'd already been making most of the parts as sub contractors for THCo

There were a lot of these small out sources groups and another was Jewellers and Silversmiths guild who joined together for the war. These people set the crosswires for hundreds of optical instruments including Watson No32's

Another couple of small engineering companies forced together for the war were Houghton and Butcher who amalgamated to became HBMCo. HBMCo were a bit more complicated than that but............. Anyway, that's the reason you don't see them mentioned or kit manufactured by them as a manufacturing company after the war....... or indeed, after Mk2 telescopes. They made No42's and 53's because they were pretty simple.

I don't know exactly WHO WRP were or the others, neither does the York City archivist and the THCo archives were taken over by Vickers and don't seem to be available.

A nice bit of research there for anyone of such a bent if they want to take it further. There were also a couple of other No42 and 53 manufacturers who made them too. Does anyone have a full set?

Another useless bit of Enfield related stuff...................

[read6737]

Thanks Peter very interesting.

The other part of the question was...
The reticule has fine cross hairs a proper cross not post and horizontal, with thicker post bases. Never seen one on a 32 42 or 53 before.

And a another question,
can this reticule be put into a no32?

[Surpmil]

Looking through the Scientific Instrument Manufacturers Association of G.B. Handbook for 1952, which I happened to come across in a book sale years ago, I see there was a W. R. Prior & Co. Ltd. "Scientific Instrument Makers and Manufacturing Opticians", with a factory in Bishop's Stortford, Herts. and a London office at 28a Devonshire St.

Their trademark is "WRP" in a diamond, so I guess that pretty much settles it.

By 1952, Taylor, Taylor & Hobson Ltd. had a factory in Leicester and head office there as well.

No obvious candidates for "RSA" however.

[Peter Laidler]

Yes.............., a mistake on my part...... Delete my reference to Taylor Hobson, I meant Cooke Troughton and Sims at Haxby in York..........

There is no doubt about WR Prior now and I will tell the York archivist about it as they were very interested too. It does seem strange that they were involved with CTS and also the THCo pantograph machines. I would imagine that they outsourced their manufacturing capacity to where the work was!

There, yet another little wartime mystery solved. WRP. Thanks Surpmil

As for the crosswire pattern, I don't know why some were of that type but the crosswas etched on a, optically perfect plate (and therefore a reticle) so was pprobably easier that cross wires. The result was the same. Certainly the part number was!

[Peter Laidler]

Used an old Taylor Hobson pantograph engraver today too. The pantograph arms are marked WRP in the diamond and so are some of the new formatted letters too. So they were precision engineers too. The next question....., who made/were RSA

[Surpmil]

Going through the list of manufacturers in the SIMA of GB Handbook again, there is a company called Reid & Sigrist Ltd. of Leicester. Whether that could be construed as "Reid and Sigrist" and rearranged to "RSA" I don't know. Perhaps they would want to avoid "RAS"? The fact that they were in Leicester as well might indicate something.

There is also a Unicam Instruments (Cambridge) Ltd. whose trademark is "UIC" inside a pyramid with projecting points over the "U" and the "C". Not sure if there is any connection to the "UIC" of No32 Mk2/1 fame though.

The SIMA of GB published their first post-war handbook in 1947, so that would be the one with the definitive answers probably. There must be copies available in the UK somewhere.

Aldis does not feature at all, so presumably they had been absorbed by then, or else were not members of the SIMA for some reason.

[Peter Laidler]

Great info Surpmil............. I've told/emailed the York/City/County archivist who has what's left of CTS archives. She did have some of the No32 drawings in the old papers but nothing spectacular. I will suggest that she seeks out a copy of your little booklet. Thanks again

[Surpmil]

Peter, it's actually a book 8.5x6 inches with 251 pages. Cost a whole Pound in 1952 as well.

I found this statement on page 13 particularly interesting: "As a result of the work of the (Optical Glass) Committee and the scientific achievements of the past ten years, British optical glass is now the best in the world. The discovery, or rather the rediscovery, of the extensive sand deposits at Loch Aline in the north-west of Scotland has provided the British manufacturers with an invaluable source of raw materials. This Scottish sand has, after treatment, an iron-oxide content as low as .0006 per cent, and is therefore better for optical glass production than the best Continental supplies upon which they had previously been dependent."

There is no record of Lochaline/Loch Aline sand being extracted in WWI, but I wonder if the supply was kept secret at that time. The UK became self-sufficient in optical glass in WWI, so we are led to believe by the official reports and presumably suitable silica sand is found nowhere else in the UK(?)

Here are a few pages from the Handbook.