Featured Mid-Victorian Naval Telescope. Ca. 1860.

It's my birthday this week (yay...) and to celebrate, I splurged on a BIG ASS telescope!

It's solid brass, and clad in wood. It's approx 12 inches closed, and 39 inches (yikes!) fully extended. It's in great condition, except for ONE problem, which I'm hoping you kind and thoughtful peoples can assist me with solving.

Anywhoo, here's the telescope in question. It's the big chunky one on the right:



The telescope has FOUR draw-tubes, as you can see here...



Each tube slides into the other, and each one is held in place by a (removable) threaded brass coupling.

The LARGEST tube is secured to the barrel of the telescope by its own coupling. Now the problem is that THIS coupling is loose. I've screwed it on FIRMLY but the threads won't hold. They're just not strong enough. If you draw out the telescope, the whole thing comes apart at this point.

I would like very much to GLUE this coupling to the barrel by applying adhesive to the threads of the barrel and the coupler, and then gluing it together permanently. The function of the telescope, and its ability to be disassembled, would not be affected. And it would also stop it from coming apart.

Apart from this one defect, the telescope is fully functional.

Thoughts, please?

 

Try locktite. (sp?) it is a thread coating used in the motor industry to stop nuts coming undone and comes in two types, removable and permanent.

 

Hi AF.

I have heard of it, yeah. I'll look into it! Thanks for the suggestion.

I have cleaned the draw tubes EXTENSIVELY with sewing machine oil, and tissue paper and it slides open and shut much more smoothly, now, without 150 years worth of dust and gunk jamming the mechanism but still, I'd like to fix this thing once and for all.

If I can get the BIG draw tube sliding in and out halfway smoothly, then gluing the threads shut might not be necessary. It's the stiffness in the pulling that's causing the problem. If I can't make any noticeable difference there, then I will have to glue the threads shut as a last resort.

 

No maker's name on the smallest tube, I assume.

 

Nothing that I saw, no.

I've tried it all - cleaning, lubrication...the thread still doesn't hold. It still pulls right out. I suppose gluing it is my only option.

 

Unless you are planning on using it a lot, why not just leave it?

Even if you glue it you will still kknow it is bodged up and this will spoil your enjoyment of it.

 

Well I would like to use it if I can, so I would like to fix it permanently. And at any rate - the glue repair wouldn't be visible, and the telescope would STILL be able to be fully disassembled for cleaning, so it wouldn't affect anything.

 

Try a couple of wraps of teflon tape on the offending threads. It might give you enough to hold to the coupling.

 

Hi D.F.

A few people suggested a similar method. I tried it with masking tape and it seems to have done the trick! Thank goodness!

 

deleted double post

 

All good ideas I'm late to.
I suggest you open it every now and then and clean the old tape out.
I'm pretty sure Loctite has a version that forms threads.

 

Just to show you how HUGE this damn thing is!!



The one at the front is 16 inches! The BIG one at the back is 39 inches!!

 

The little one is look across the deck in any direction.
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The other is to look forward and check the stern of the ship...
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Added> Hmmmm..... no response in 2 hours.....

 

If anyone here actually KNOWS anything about telescopes, could someone answer me this...

Would my big telescope qualify as a Day-Night telescope? Or not? I know day-night scopes were MUCH larger than regular handheld ones - and this certainly is!

I've tried looking through it in the dark, and it's still surprisingly good. I could make out the lights (clearly) of buildings at least a block or two away.

 

lot 621....cowan's auction , aug 18th

maybe their experts can help you
or maybe , you need more birthday gifts...

 

Hi Shangas!!!!! Knowing me........I'll forget.....so

 

You're torturing me, you know that, don't you!?

 

Great gift! Happy Birthday

 

After MUCH cleaning, oiling, cleaning, re-oiling, cleaning, polishing, cleaning, more polishing, cleaning, oiling, cleaning and more cleaning...

...did I mention cleaning...?

...the telescope is now working properly!

It takes a surprisingly long time to clean off 150 years' worth of dust and grit! The draw-tubes are finally sliding in and out smoothly and consistently. I now discover that I've been focusing it wrong! I've figured out how to do it, now, and it's much easier!

There is a SMALL blemish on one of the lenses I can't remove, but the overall view down the pipe is quite clear and with a good field of view. In the end, I'm glad I bought it

 

All restored and cleaned to working condition (or as close to that as I can get it):



Does anybody recognise what type of wood it is?