Is there a new recommended go-to guy accepting repairs for #32 scopes?

[browningautorifle]

the user name of Wheaty

That's Warren mentioned in Post #1.

[ArtioZen]

It's the real thing.......suncorite. There was a chap selling 1L tins on 'that internet auction site.uk' a year or two back. I was running low so bought a couple of tins. Not sure if he is still on there, but probably worth checking from time to time if anyone in the UK needs some.

Volksbolts has NOS Suncorite on the shelf in Blighty - ask for Alan.

[Roger Payne]

Useful to know that there is a source for Suncorite that is readily available in the UK.

Well, made a little progress on that Mk3 in the pics, though not as much as I would have liked. Weather, wife's plans & so on..... At least I now have the grat block strung & in position, shoes, springs & clicker plungers fitted, & the R & D turrets 'rough' fitted. Everything seems to click when it is supposed to, & the sliding scales slide ok with the tip of a round inserted into the little 'diddy' on the scale.

I stripped two No53's to find donor lenses, only to find that one ocular lens doublet has partially separated, & that the ocular cell in the other is such a sloppy fit in both scope tubes that I am rebuilding that the whole set of lenses are unusable, at least in either of these two scopes. I now have a third No53 apart, & things seem to fit........so far! (The separated lenses I can re-cement with Canada Balsam, but it takes weeks to dry, so they'll be ok to use in the longer term).

I'm afraid I'm not the tidiest of workers as can be seen from my 'restoration bench' (aka the dining room table). My wife's face is a picture.........

[Brian Dick]

You ought to see my bench Rog. Ugh!

[browningautorifle]

I'm afraid I'm not the tidiest of workers

No...it looks good.

[ArtioZen]

Tidy people worry me!

[Warren]

Warren here and I just wanted to mention that any rumours of my demise are not true!!!
I have been extraordinarily busy with some scopes that, as someone else put it, looked like they were shipped as deck cargo on a submarine.
Plus, a few that the owners or others had an attempted to repair and it did not go well.
How you can bend a lead screw is beyond me but it does happen as well as breaking the brass lug off a Mk.1 reticle block that is about 1/8 by 3/32
Anyhow, I should be all cleaned up by the end of September and I also have the yard to beat into shape was well.
SWMBO had a lot of projects on the "honey do" list for this summer and I have not had a chance to get on the site as much as I would like.
Sooo, thanks to those who phoned, emailed and otherwise contacted me, I can assure you that I have not assumed room temperature and still at it.
cheers

---------- Post added at 08:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:23 PM ----------

I stripped two No53's to find donor lenses, only to find that one ocular lens doublet has partially separated, & that the ocular cell in the other is such a sloppy fit in both scope tubes that I am rebuilding that the whole set of lenses are unusable, at least in either of these two scopes. I now have a third No53 apart, & things seem to fit........so far! (The separated lenses I can re-cement with Canadaicon Balsam, but it takes weeks to dry, so they'll be ok to use in the longer term).

Roger: I see you are using an erector cell for weight on a glued lens.
Try a 35 mm film canister with a felt chair leg protector on the end of it and fill the canister with bird shot.
It just fits between the V blocks and puts a bit more pressure on the lenses when drying.

[Roger Payne]

Thanks for the tip Warren, re the weighting. It's just the bare erector cell at present, though with plenty of 'insulation' between it & the lens surface. What you suggest sounds like a good idea though. I'll give it a go.

[Peter Laidler]

just a couple of comments if I may.

Roger. Regards to the time taken for C-B to dry. Don't wait! Once the lenses are circled - or rolled as we used to call it, ensure that the ocular surfaces are optically clean and insert them into the tube or lens cell. They'll dry in situ AND they'll be set with the sides/edges parallel. There is a little tri side seat that we used to use to achieve this. A sort of thinggy to align the edges. Works for Mk1 and 2 ocular sizes

I use a slave erector cell to align the fiddly erector cell lenses. Clean lenses, scour, cement with a little as you can get away with, insert into slave erectoe cell, clamp down. Alignment perfect, remove, clean and insert into erector cell.

It is not the optical system that makes me shudder when I see telescopes. It is the sheer - or SHEAR mechanical butchery. Both from the UK and abroad it has to be said to which Brian can vouch for. Sheared turret and cover plate screws repaired by just gluing the broken head in place, screws glued into stripped threads, Mk1's and 2's with overtightened front shades that crush the........... anyway. That's your answer as to just how they bend the azimuth lead screw Warren

You've got me going now, talking of sheer mechanical butchery. Don't even get me going about taking the Mk1 and 2 clicker plunger retainer out - without removing the 10BA grub screws. Or the Mk3 with the thumbscrew grub screw retained to the inner sleeve with a piece of welding wire. Try drilling a steel wire out of a brass housing

[Roger Payne]

Hi Peter. Thanks for the advice. I did wonder about inserting the doublets before the CB was fully dry but wasn't sure about it...........I'll give it a go. I can see its advantages. I have one of the two ocular doublets to do out of the No53 that I stripped hoping to use the lenses in the Kershaw 1945 No32 Mk3 shown in the pictures. Unfortunately the two lenses had started to separate. I separated them completely & they are in acetone at the moment to get all of any residual old CB off them before I re-cement. I'll clean, reassemble, & put back into the ocular cell. If all goes well, I have another very late (Kershaw 1946) Mk3 that they can be used in.