“It’s broken. I can’t get it to work…”
I hear this a lot in flea-markets, antiques fairs, and antiques shops. Or something like it. “It jams”, “It’s very stiff”, “It won’t turn”, “It rattles”, “This thing won’t stay still”, “It doesn’t move like it’s supposed to, see?”
Because of this, a lot of antiques are sold as being ‘broken’, or in ‘original condition’, which is a euphemistic way of saying: “It’s stuffed and I can’t be arsed fixing it because I don’t know how!”
Both online and in real life, I’ve heard loads of people howl and bitch and whine and cry about heathens like myself, who go around cleaning, restoring and breathing new life into an object, erroneously claiming that doing so ‘destroys the originality’ of a piece and therefore ‘makes it worthless’!
That said, restoring antiques is the only way that they ever survive. Repairing them, cleaning them, and overhauling them is how we ensure that they’ll exist in a working state, well into the future, and that they won’t be damaged beyond repair by someone who didn’t know any better, because they tried to force something to work that can’t, for any number of reasons.
Such was the case with the massive, brass telescope I bought for my birthday. When I got my hands on it, although it was cosmetically in great condition, its actual operation left MUCH to be desired. The lenses were filthy, the draw-tubes were clogged with so much grime they wouldn’t even open properly, and the threads on one of the coupling-rings were worn down, meaning that they wouldn’t screw in properly…and if something doesn’t screw, then it doesn’t hold, which means the whole thing can fall apart at a moment’s notice!
Not fun!
Disassembling the Telescope
Having decided that the telescope was something with which I stood a reasonable amount of success in restoring, I haggled down the price and bought it.
The first step was to clean the lenses. As far as restoring this telescope went, that was the easy part!
To clean the lenses properly, the telescope has to be pulled apart. There’s simply no other way to do it. The objective lens housing at the front of the barrel has to be screwed off, and entirely disassembled. The relay lenses in the middle of the draw-tubes has to be removed and entirely disassembled, and the eyepiece lens also has to be removed and disassembled.
Pulling apart my telescope. From left to right is one of the brass collars, the objective lens and its housing, the eyepiece shutter, the eyepiece lens, the two relay-lenses and their housing, and one of the draw-tubes.
Although all the components of the telescope look like they screw in nice and neat and tight and flush, the reality is that an impossible amount of dust and grit does manage to find its way inside the telescope, through the microscopic gaps between the draw-tubes. Over the course of several decades, this dust and grit builds up to intolerable levels, and it eventually dries and crusts over, and even though it’s barely a milimeter thick, it’s enough to jam the telescope – and any attempts to operate it will likely cause irreparable damage. All this accumulated grit also makes it impossible to focus the telescope, or see anything through the lenses, hence the absolute necessity for cleaning.
The achromatic (two-part) objective lens in its housing. It is actually possible to unscrew the lens-frame entirely, and for the glass lenses to drop out of their frame by removing the retaining ring. This allows for really good cleaning and dust-removal…Just don’t cut your fingers on the edge of the glass!
Unscrewing the lenses can be really easy, or it can be really hard. Fortunately for me, most of my restorations of this kind have been pretty easy – a firm grip and the right sort of pressure will unscrew most lenses with minimal problems. Just make sure that you wash out the threads (both sets of threads!) with oil, before you screw the components back together – because…y’know…dust, which causes threads to jam. Yes, it even gets in there!
Once the majority of the grime was removed from the lenses, and I was able to see that the telescope would be capable of functionality once it was working, I moved onto the next step: Cleaning.
Cleaning the Telescope
Cleaning this telescope was a real lesson in patience. Oh God, was it ever a lesson in patience!
As I said before, massive amounts of dust and grit get inside the telescope, through the joints between the draw-tubes. This causes a buildup of friction between the sliding parts, and this causes jamming. If you get a bit too enthusiastic trying to open the telescope tor viewing, it results in dents, warping, jamming, and if you’re really energetic – complete destruction of the connecting-rings between the draw-tubes… not fun.
The two relay-lenses and the tube they screw into.
To clean out 150 years’ worth of grime, I used WD-40, sewing machine oil, and enough tissues to fill a bathtub! Cleaning out loads of grime came down to spraying or dripping oil liberally over the draw-tubes, and snapping them shut, twisting them around, and opening and closing them hundreds and thousands of times, to flush out all the gunk, grime and grit trapped inside. This had to be done countless times to loosen up and wash out all the crud trapped within. It wasn’t pleasant!
“Why can’t you just put oil on it, lubricate it and leave it like that?” I might hear you ask.
Well…You could! You could just coat it in oil, and that would make the telescope easier to open and close…but it would also make it impossible to hold from how greasy it is! It would also turn your hands black from the grime. Oiling the telescope doesn’t remove the problem, it only masks it, and once the oil dries up, you’re left right back where you’re started…and probably even worse! Because oil attracts dust!
Eyepiece lens and the shutter that screws over the top to prevent dust and damage.
Nope! The only way was persistence, flushing, oil, lubrication, and just working the oil through the telescope, over and over again, to loosen up and wash out as much crud as possible. And this was a process which took a week of almost nonstop, daily cleaning…hey, it is 150 years’ worth of gunk, after all. It was never going to be done in a hurry!
Repairing the Telescope
While I cleaned the telescope, I became acutely aware of another one of its flaws. It wasn’t just grimy and dusty and jammed with filth, it was also broken! The thread which screwed the largest coupling-ring into the barrel, and connected the draw-tubes to the front of the telescope was completely worn down. Or at least partially so.
No amount of tightening and screwing and cleaning would induce the thread to bite, and hold the telescope together. All it took was one good, firm pull (which was necessary because of how stiff everything was!) to completely pull the telescope in half!
Taping the threads to stop them coming apart.
After extensive cleaning, I fixed this problem using ordinary, white masking tape. Once around the threads, and pressing it in with my fingers, and then screwing the components back together fixed the problem. The tape built up the layer of thickness which was necessary for the threads to grip and bite, and now all the components screw in and out, and hold, as they should!
Polishing the Brass
The final step in cleaning the telescope, after cleaning and tightening the lenses, washing out loads of grit and grime with loads of oil and WD-40, and taping up the threads to make them grip properly, was the polishing of the brass!
Before Polishing
From what I’ve seen on a lot of antiques websites, polishing up brass telescopes is an accepted and acceptable practice. And since I like polishing brass anyway, who am I to argue with the experts? Out came the Brasso, and I started polishing away furiously! It took a whole day to do it, but I did get it done in the end.
After polishing!
Polishing the brass does a number of things: One, it makes the telescope look SO much nicer!…Two, it makes it look much more cleaner, and three, it removes even MORE of the grime that was on the draw-tubes, which means that it will operate even better!
One thing about brass is that it never stays ultra-shiny for long. It only takes a small amount of handling for brass to start tarnishing again (which is why polishing brass was such a preoccupation back in the Victorian era, when this telescope was made), but this property suits me just fine, since it gives the telescope a clean, but aged look, all at the same time. This way, it doesn’t look entirely brand-new, and it doesn’t look like I dug it out of the ground this morning.
All up, a very satisfying little birthday project for myself 🙂
As usual Shahan another great and informative post. I really agree with your point about preserving and restoring antiques for them to survive. Cool telescope too!
Personally I wouldn’t off polished the brass you have rubbed all the history off! The patina adds too the scope
I’ve seen loads of people polish them, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t. At any rate, if it lasts another 150 years, the patina will have returned by then. It’s already started.
How would I or where would I go to replace a lens?
I found one at “shipwreck” days inour hometown made in Japan. It has an etching of a comet soaring in the sky and says the return of haleys comet 1985-1986. It has 30X40mm. It was purchased purposely for enjoyment and it looks cool.
Thank you
To replace a lens you’d need a glass-grinder or optician who would be willing to make you a new one, or you can wait and see if you can buy a damaged telescope and use it for parts, but that could take years.
Really useful article. I’m inspired to have a go myself. I have an early C19 telescope but 25 years ago someone did a hatchet job replacing the lens, and I’m trying to work out how much of the original is missing. In your second image, the left-hand part is the end brass part, isn’t it? I think my telescope is missing only the right-hand part, the lens in its retaining ring.
The brass collar on the left is what screws into the barrel. The lens-rim on the right is what holds the lenses in place and screws into the collar.
Hi there,
I have an original Kelvin and Hughes 1917 3 draw telescope .
I need a lenses cap cover with strap,
Any ideas where I can purchase one of these.
Regards
Keith
2 of the draw tubes on my recently purchased spyglass are stuck closed…and I mean really really stuck. There is no turn or pull to them. I don’t want to damage them in trying to unstick them. What lubricant should I use to begin the process of loosening them up and is it ok to lubricate around the tops of the tubes? Will the lubricant eventually penetrate downward into the tubes and loosen up whatever is sticking them? Thanks in advance.
Well, it looks like I’m not the only person in this world trying to rejuvenate an antique telescope.
Mine is a 2-daw ‘scope with excellent lenses & reasonably good threaded brass end pieces.
It is approx. 14.75″ closed; opening to 35.5″ when fully extended. I believe this was a general mariners telescope, probably used by the ordinary seamen.
I have not polished the brass, because I’m one of those folks who prefer to “preserve the patina”.
This telescope has the name ‘C. West London’ followed by “DAY OR NIGHT’ … One presumes this to mean it can be used both day or night? … I’m not sure.
It seems this telescope may have been made in the early – mid-1800’s by Mr. Charles West of London. But again, could that be London Rd.? I’m not sure.
It has suffered a few bumps & bruises over time but the draws still function reasonably well, even if a tad stiff. The threaded parts can be unscrewed although in doing so, I found some difficulty reassembling them. As well, I observed at least one small threaded section has been broken out of the tube at the eye end but it did not prevent the lens-holding part from being re-threaded onto the tube so that it is no longer visible & the ‘scope looks complete.
The brass screws holding the end pieces on the mahogany tube had deteriorated to the point they were no longer usable. I replaced them with new straight-slot, Round Head screws, those being the only ones of the correct size, to be found at the local hardware store, however, they really should be Oval-head screws to provide a lower head profile but I’ve not found any at this point in time. I find the Round-head too hard on the hands when handling the telescope.
The original lacquer was badly chipped & flaking in the hand ‘holding’ area, so I’ve sanded the mahogany tube & given it a coat of ‘Danish Oil’ for a natural finish.
Having reached old age myself, I’m in the process of ‘downsizing’ our home & in so doing, have decided to dispose of many of the ‘dust collecting’ items I have collected over a great many years. This telescope falls into that category so if anyone is interested, send me a message.
Hey very nice to find this site. I was just given a Marratt&Short Ships telescope that others may find interesting. I have just finished up the extensive cleaning necessary to get it operational again. Looks like the date of this is between 1859 to 1867, this is the timeframe that Marratt&Short were partners at the address on the second draw tube closest to the eyepiece. The complete fancy engraved address is Marratt&Short, 62 King William St. London Bridge.
The telescope is quite unique in that it is an eight draw tube telescope. Fully open it is 46 inches long. Closed it is nine inches , with a diameter of two and five eights. The protective eye piece shutter seems to be a very dark smoked glass lens. The large lens cap seems to be silver, the draw tubes themselves look silver but are probably nickel plated, but curiously cleaning them up I found none of the greenish corrosion common to very old nickel plating. All threads between the joints are sharp and clean. Lens are very clean with no scratches. The eyepiece tube in engraved with equal spaced marks of 60, 50, 40, and 30.
Ok, that’s the rundown on the telescope. But here is my question. With the scope fully extended, the eyepiece tube almost all the way in, I get very nice and clear objects like license plates, trees, etc etc out to 200 feet away. Trying to focus on distant objects further than this and I can’t get it to focus. Is there some trick to this? I believe the scope is fully operational but I am missing something.
I will upload some pics to a hosting site and post a link for anyone interested in seeing this fine little piece of history.
Thank you all for any comments,
Doug
Hello Doug Holly.
Not that I know much about telescopes, other than the fact I myself own one that is over 100 years old. I’m of the opinion that focusing a multiple draw telescope merely requires one to shorten or lengthen the telescope to obtain a clear image.
Doug Holly: Odd, my spyglass seems to operate much like yours. I had assumed it was a particular quirk with mine but now I know there are others out there that behave the same way and I’d love to know the answer.
Well Jeff, I find that my mistake really was operator error. I thought the first eye piece draw tube with the engraved numbers 60, 50, 40, 30 was responsible for focusing at all distances, near to far. Not so with this scope. Now, with the first eye piece draw tube fully inserted into draw tube two, start slowly pushing in tube two until objects much further away come into focus. Hope this helps, will be good to hear if this works for you!
I found an old , all metal, telescope when clearing out an attic recently. It is 18″ long when closed; 23&1/2 ” long with the draw opened and 24&3/4″ with the front shade also opened. It was made by T.Cooke & Sons Ltd., London & York. It also has the King’s/Queen’s broad arrow stamped on it with a symbol that I haven’t seen before and cannot replicate here plus the number 13.
The number 2199 is on the single draw and on the eyepiece while the number 4230 is also engraved on the front shade.
The barrell is 1&1/2″ in diameter and is uncovered. It may have had a covering of some material (leather ? veneer ?) originally as there are very slightly wider diameter rings at either end.
Can anyone enlighten me as to the probable or even possible history of the artifact, please ?
Broad Arrow would suggest military use. And a lot of antique telescopes had leather cladding on the barrel to make them easier to grip and hold. It might be some other material (rope or cord, or canvas, or whatever), but leather was most common from what I’ve seen.
Yes, most likely evidence of military (or Naval ?) use. But I have no family history of people in the British services, must have been bought from a market or similar outlet I daresay ?
Could it be dated ?
Dating telescopes (and optics in general) is very difficult, because the same styles existed for centuries. A telescope made in around 1840 would look very similar to a telescope made in 1940. Brass tubing, leather cladding, etc.
Judging by the measurements, I’d say it’s definitely a naval telescope – especially with the sliding glare-shield. It may have been purchased secondhand? Or from a manufacturer who sold stuff to the armed forces or navy.
Since my last post on this subject – my antique (Naval) Telescope – I have discovered that it was purchased from a man who had been given it as a gift by a Ship’s Captain. The fact is that the seller and this Merchant Naval Captain, who commanded a great Liner were Pen Pals, having contacted each other through the columns of that once very popular magazine “WIDE WORLD”.
After the death of this man , his relatives sold off a large collection of sea-faring memorabilia that he had amassed, in similar fashion, over his lifetime. Although never a seaman himself, of any kind, he had held a fascination with matters maritime from his childhood, observing the great liners and the last of the sailing ships passing the shore in the area of his hometown.
I am delighted to have been able to solve the riddle of how ownership came into my family, however I would still like to find the origins of the telescope itself.
I’ve just “stumbled” on this wonderful site whilst trying to find somewhere in New Zealand, preferably local in the Bay of Plenty, where a telescope I have had for more than 70 years, & absolutely identical to the one Shahan describes cleaning/repairing could receive the same level of TLC. When I say “identical”, it certainly appears so although the timber barrel may be Oak or even Teak. Closed it is 290mm, (11.5″), drawn, 795mm, (31 & a quarter”). It still seems to function although with Brasso build-up, it is getting increasingly stiffer. The heads of the screws attaching the body to the wood of the barrel are worn, no doubt with too much polishing, and I am no longer able to remove the covers, again due to Brasso I suspect and I am reluctant to try to use any force. Is it okay to use WD40? Any contacts in NZ would be most welcome. I cannot find a single mark anywhere, unless they are inside the front cover?, so I have no idea of its origin apart from my father buying it for me when I was just 12 in Dunbar Scotland when he paid what would have been a handsome 10 shillings!! I am downsizing and would like to have this restored thoroughly to leave to my grandson. Any asistance or contacts would be much appreciated.
Great information – well done all. I recently inherited a Dollond London Single Draw telescope. The main body is wood with a leather covering. It is 44 inches long, 2.5 inches diameter. The draw length is 6.5 inches. “GONDOLA 1816” is inscribed on the brass near the eyepiece. I am trying to find our more information about this type of telescope and if there is any way to research this one in particular. It was recovered by my late Uncle from the wreck of the steamship Hastings County in 1926, off the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Also – recommendations on where best to have it restored in Canada ? Thanks.
Many thanks for your remarks ‘Scheong’. I believe that I will have a go at restoration myself, emboldened by what I have read here !
Hi all,
I’m a telescope builder, also grinding the optics myself. I’m not familiar restoring old brass telescopes. A few days back someone asked me to do just that. The man purchased that scope from a flea-market and payed 10€ for it. Examining that scope I found out the frontlens (diameter 45mm-1.8″) was cracked. It had been dropped because at the perimeter of the brass lensholder there was a wide flat. The scope is a 1 draw with a fair amount of play. The play was at the end of the small tube, around the relay lens. So I presume the leather(?) ring, to hold the drawtube in line with the outer tube, is completely gone.
The lenght of that little scope is 380/640mm so 15 to 25.2 whan fully extended.
At the drawtube I’m reading. “A. Barnaschina” “Day or Night” and third line “London”
My question : is the frontlens-holder a ‘screwed in’ type. I can’t imagine telescope from that period to have this fine threads. Or am I wrong here…?
My intention is to replace that broken objective.
Any tips/advise would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Chris
Hey Chris,
All the antique telescopes I’ve handled have screw-in lenses on brass rims/frames. So the whole thing should just twist out. I assume they’re designed that way for easy cleaning.
I’m trying to remove the objective lens in an old brass telescope. I suspect it’s cross threaded. Any ideas as to how to proceed further would be much appreciated. I’m trying with oil and gentle heat, but so far, no luck.
This is a bit late as a week ago I purchased a four-draw, old scope. I had difficulty unscrewing the larger collars. My solution was to buy a very cheap, set of two, plastic/rubberized strap clamps from Harbor Freight here in the states. Also, Home Depot (US) also has them. In other words, any “big box” stores may have them.
Maybe you are being too gentle. Try a little bit of brute force. Brass is an aft metal & will ‘give’ a little. I had similar problems but managed to unscrew it using a bit of force.
Something not mentioned. My recent purchase had a ton of dents in the larger tube. I’m reducing their size by using a weighted, long-handled dinner spoon, held by hand, to patient tap from the inside. The hollow of the spoon has been filled by solder for added heft. It takes patience!
Cheers Bob, you’re probably right. Though I see the lens is very slightly damaged on the inner edge. I suspect someone tried brute force with a pipe wrench at some time. Hence my trepidation.
I bought a brass spyglass telescope and one of the lenses inside came loose. I unscrewed the sections and one of the pieces seems to be missing the part that keeps the lens in place. Can this be fixed?
Thanks!
You mean the bezel? The ring or frame that holds the actual piece of glass? If that’s missing, I’m not sure what you can do about that, short of handmaking a replacement. Although I don’t see how that would’ve happened to begin with.
i dont know how i got here. im researching stuff for my fanfiction so i need to know about vintage telescopes, and then i read this whole thing just because it was interesting LOL. cool telescope.
Great article and very detailed. I got a similar telescope from my daughter as a gift but the glass is damaged. Could you advise me as to where to purchase parts if possible.
Thank you
Kia ora from New Zealand! I just wanted to thank you for this article. very interesting and informative!
I was struggling to find reference material for unpolished/aged/weathered/tarnished telescopes, and this was like hitting the jackpot!!
I am an artist trying to correctly texture a nautical vintage brass telescope on a 3D model- thank you so much for your work and for writing and posting this article.
I love the internet, and the endless information available on it thanks to people such as yourself.
I hope you have a wonderful day, and keep on doing what you’re doing!
Ngā mihi (Thank you)
Hi, this is a great informative thread, thank you for posting.
I’ve been trying to find a telescope brass repairer, ideally in Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, London or Worcester/Midlands.
The telescope fell over and creased the lens. My dad cut the damaged bit off but it now needs a new bit stitched on. There are actually 2 lenses that need 6” and 10” of brass soldered on to them. The rack & pinion mechanism has all been repaired.
TELESCOPE details/description:
Antique Brass 3″ Telescope. Alt/Azimuth Mounted on Brass Column and Floor Standing Mahogany Tripod Stand. Associated storage Case. Terrestrial Eyepiece. Astronomical Eyepiece. Side Mounted Finder Telescope. Rack and Pinion Fine Focus. Signed: J.H. Steward, London. Circa 1870. Purchased 1996 from Stow on the Wold Antique Shop.
Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks, Peter