#32 Scope Repair?

[jimmieZ]

Warren repaired my scope as well. When he returned it he included a couple of business cards he had made advertising his scope service. He asked me to circulate those cards as I saw fit. He truly wants to fix as many problematic scopes as he can - before he can no longer service them.

[jonh172]

Warren repaired my scope as well. When he returned it he included a couple of business cards he had made advertising his scope service. He asked me to circulate those cards as I saw fit. He truly wants to fix as many problematic scopes as he can - before he can no longer service them.

I am very surprised.
How long ago was this?

He asked me not to circulate his info and actually did me a huge favor getting my scopes in last year as even then he did not want more.

But, things change, that was last year... Perhaps retirement didn't suit his lifestyle which is great news for us!!

[jonh172]

Got confirmation from Wheaty, he is in full swing!

[Peter Laidler]

I have been watching this thread closely. As indeed I do with most No32 threads. The trouble with optical instruments is that like most mechanical parts of kit, it's easy to strip, lay out on a small workbench, clean a few bits off and put it back together. A bit like the old control box in your car. But like the control box in your car there's an electrical side that's got to be set-up too. And the No32, there's an optical side to set up. Dear o' deary me......, where do you want me to start? If you want me to be brutally honest, some of....,., no let me change that to MOST of the amateur enthusiasts can't even cope with the basic mechanics of the instruments. Put simply, they haven't even got a clue. As for the optical side of things I simply despair at some of the things, the total butchery and bodgery I have seen. It's legendary........... Then there are the home enthusiasts who suddenly have a set of cheap £4.99 instrument screwdrivers from Asda who couldn't clear, open out, plug, re-drill and tap a 1/2" hole......., let alone an 8 or 10 BA one

This is not a comment about anyone in particular or those like Wheaty who are regularly mentioned on this forum. I know they can because you never see or hear about poor work.
Roy W, where are you when I need support. I'm just machining new step-down grat stops for your as we speak. Sorry lads, but that's JUST how it is..........

[Roy W]

I have been watching this thread closely. As indeed I do with most No32 threads. The trouble with optical instruments is that like most mechanical parts of kit, it's easy to strip, lay out on a small workbench, clean a few bits off and put it back together. A bit like the old control box in your car. But like the control box in your car there's an electrical side that's got to be set-up too. And the No32, there's an optical side to set up. Dear o' deary me......, where do you want me to start? If you want me to be brutally honest, some of....,., no let me change that to MOST of the amateur enthusiasts can't even cope with the basic mechanics of the instruments. Put simply, they haven't even got a clue. As for the optical side of things I simply despair at some of the things, the total butchery and bodgery I have seen. It's legendary........... Then there are the home enthusiasts who suddenly have a set of cheap £4.99 instrument screwdrivers from Asda who couldn't clear, open out, plug, re-drill and tap a 1/2" hole......., let alone an 8 or 10 BA one

This is not a comment about anyone in particular or those like Wheaty who are regularly mentioned on this forum. I know they can because you never see or hear about poor work.
Roy W, where are you when I need support. I'm just machining new step-down grat stops for your as we speak. Sorry lads, but that's JUST how it is..........

I am unfortunate enough to know what Pete means.

I got an L1A1 scope on an L42 and the elevation and deflection drums had been switched, so it wouldn't move through the full elevation. I needed it for a comp a few days after getting it, so Pete swapped them for me and noticed an issue with some internals that had been bodged. He did a holding repair which lasted me 18mths or so until the elevation stopped working below 400. Pete stripped it for me recently and has found a whole catalogue of catastrophe, which he is kindly trying to sort for me, including machining new internals. There was even some masking tape filling a void inside.

It looked fine on the outside, and matched the Rifle, but you just never know what has happened on the inside until it goes wrong!

Thanks Pete, feel free to share the photos when you are done

Roy

[bigduke6]

I cant say I've repaired any apart from my own, but I know what it takes to make new internal parts, I started on a task for a forum member who asked for quite a quantity but for reasons out of my hands couldn't complete the order plus a lot of other issues on the way but that was another story.

I had made a few but on some of the parts out of every four only two would be acceptable due to the fine tolerances and an issue in securing them for final machining, even then they may fit one scope but not another so certain measurements had to be made oversize to allow hand fitting etc, etc......

The easiest of all is the grat block itself, although I was making them out of scrap bar etc, so plenty of waste but very easy and if you get the correct diameter from the start then machining four sides is childs play, but I added a thou here and there.

You could make them out of ready made square bar but the round gives a hassle free chance to drill and ream the centre.

If you look outside the box some parts can be made in a different style and are far superior than the originals, more to do with the plungers etc, especially the Mk 2, in which I discussed with Peter, in fact some of these are doing well in one of my own mk2 scopes.

Certainly a testing time and you need the patience of a saint, even with years of Engineering under my belt I made a great error when trying a few parts, bringing a stripped tube from a nice warm house to a freezing cold workshop with freezing cold parts to fit can produce colourful language........

Operating a machine is easy, the hardest bit and most time consuming is setting the work piece up........... I am contemplating on another Machine in the future, but I've a workshop to build and extension to build straight after the workshop.

something like this would sit nice in a corner......Boxford 250 CNC lathe 8 tool station with Touch screen. | eBay

[Peter Laidler]

Yes, I remember that one Roy. Luckily, this one is the other one!! But to Big Duke's post. He's hit the nail right on the head. It's all about accurate and exact fitting too - and understanding the interrelated mechanical complexities. I'll give you an example...... Are you sitting comfortably, then I'll begin. Early last year, someone had a Mk2 scope fixed by someone and it was still mechanically crXp. Then another amateur enthusiast had a go and so on and on. The deflection was tight or just wouldn't operate at all once it was locked up. So, fixer number one had filed away the brass internals to loosen it up a bit. Fixer number 2 had done something that affected the range mode too and had made it totally unuseable to boot. Both, simply because they didn't understand the two axis principle.

If it was assembled loosely, it all operated mechanically. But at tightening-up time it became screwing up time - literally! Nobody had told them to read the EMER or in thge absence of the EMER or experience, just use a bit of what my mum used to call Common bloody Sense! Or what I call, the bleedin' obvious. The front shade was putting too much load on the inner sleeve which was loading up the...... Anyway it's all inter-related and the fix was easy. Or it WOULD have been but filing away the meal meant a small job became a much longer rebuild plus machining operation. Not yours Roy! Assemble loose, tighten down and test as you go.

[BrownDog123]

I checked with him and he was OK with me posting his info.

Quick question on scope repair, my no32 mk3 cross wire is very slightly sagging on the left side - is this repairable? And if it is NOT affecting the scope operation, should I repair it?

[Roger Payne]

I suppose I'm one of these amateur meddlers, although I have been grateful for Peter's advice on innumerable occasions over the years & like to think that he generally only has to illustrate the solution to a problem to me once. Luck has also been with me in having forty total wreck No32 scopes that have come back from India as deck cargo on a U boat. All lenses are unserviceable or completely missing, internals are broken or missing & even many of the scope tube ocular ends will need grafting. On top of that they've been daubed with paint over dirt & rust. When they're so bad you've really got to try hard to make them any worse......

[Peter Laidler]

Re Browndog, thread 18. It's not correct and is repairable - but not by you I'd venture to suggest unless you have specialist knowledge and facilities. To be honest, and I know the experts will disagree of course, but removing the grat block to repair it involves stripping the complete turret assembly, adjusters, retainers, springs (and shoes if only to clean and grease them while you're there).