rich
Well-known member
I managed to find a pair of Steiners in an antique shop,
£10. I don’t know if the shop keeper knew what they were,
£10. I don’t know if the shop keeper knew what they were,
Spontaneous binocular disassembly...
- Thread starter Alfie168
- Start date
Alfie168
Well-known member
Ive ordered some jb weld plastic bumper repair 2 part epoxy. I've used it before . It's not instant set, so ideally I will have to clamp it for 15 minutes at least. I've got a little mini dremel drill to roughen up the edges to create a key. It's all experimental and I will let you know how I get on. It's in black too so a proper colour match which should help the aesthetics, assuming it works as intended. I'm just curious and I don't think they are going back on the boat unless the repair is a galloping success.....which I doubt somehow.
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actionoptics
Member
If they were waterproof, then a seal has failed. If they are not waterproof, then it is not unusual.
Carib
Active member
Opticrons are very good.
I have their large Marine PS II 7x50 marine compass pair which is going strong after 10+ years (albeit needed a repair recently, carried out for a reasonable price under warranty - it's a proper company with after sales service), plus a more compact pair for general use which are fine after 6 years or so. Excellent optics and robustness. This model here is slightly above your budget (£189) but not by that much.
I have their large Marine PS II 7x50 marine compass pair which is going strong after 10+ years (albeit needed a repair recently, carried out for a reasonable price under warranty - it's a proper company with after sales service), plus a more compact pair for general use which are fine after 6 years or so. Excellent optics and robustness. This model here is slightly above your budget (£189) but not by that much.
actionoptics
Member
The compass capsule isusually held in place by three grub screws and silicon. If it doesn't have a bubble then you should be able to remove the cover and reset the compass in its correct position.
If you can post a picture of the compass housing , I may be able to advise on the way to take the cover off.
actionoptics
Member
Alfie, you have raised an interesting point. How many 'brands' actually have a factory?
Zeiss, leitz, Swarovski, Canon, Nikon and Fuji. But Bushnell have never had a factory. Their Elite models are from Kamakura.
Alfie168
Well-known member
That is interesting and not that surprising. The pair of Bushnells I bought for my dad back in 1989 were a compact pair I bought from a camera shop in Leeds. They were prismatic and the objective lenses were closer together than the viewing lenses, but thats all I can remember about them, except that they seemed very good to me trying them out in the street when I bought them, and my dad absolutely loved them right from the off and was very crestfallen to have lost them twelve years later. I meant to get him another pair, but could not find the model as I remembered it....but my memory was a bit shaky. So that really is my experience of Bushnells.
My other pair I have had for 30 years is a Bresser Jaguar 8 x 40. They have been OK, but only just. They pretend to be German, but I have always assumed they are not really. The focus wheel has gone 'tight' on them and the rubber knurled band on the focus wheel is knackered and slack. I can't even remember where I bought them. I have tried the odd drop of oil without dismantling, but its not made a big difference to the stiffness when trying to focus.
Wikipedia is informative about Bushnell
Bushnell Corporation - Wikipedia.
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penberth3
Well-known member
I don't know how careful you were with the surgical spirit. That might have had something to do with it.
Alfie168
Well-known member
Not on such short exposure, and anyway the part that broke had not gone sticky so it didn't get much attention apart from a rub over with a microfibre cloth. I think it was one of those 'judo throw' type accidents where it landed just on the wrong bit to inflict the maximum possible shock to the critical component. Sheer luck...for want of a better phrase..
penberth3
Well-known member
Not on such short exposure, and anyway the part that broke had not gone sticky so it didn't get much attention apart from a rub over with a microfibre cloth. I think it was one of those 'judo throw' type accidents where it landed just on the wrong bit to inflict the maximum possible shock to the critical component. Sheer luck...for want of a better phrase..
If there was an existing crack it doesn't take much to liquid to finish the job. I'll accept a careless accident as your excuse, always annoying! Also annoying is manufacturers using cheap and nasty polymers.
Alfie168
Well-known member
Very generous of you ?
actionoptics
Member
Your father's Bresser were a style called Reverse Porro and occasionally can still be found under various names.
Bresser was another brand without its own factory. Most of the early ones were Japanese.
The only way to cure the tight focus is to dismantle enough to clean out the old (now waxy ) grease and renew.
The knurled band is easy to replace and stick with contact adhesive.
wombat88
Well-known member
I have a pair of Zeiss 7 x 50B inherited from my father, they are excellent but they are probably more relevant in a thread about anchors...
Alfie168
Well-known member
My other..other binoculars are by A. Kershaw & Sons of Leeds and simply have a 6 x on them and a broad arrow. They belonged to a major who I knew in his later years and they were given to me by his son who was my fathers dental partner. I have no idea if they went to war or not, but I suspect he was in the WW2 reserve from his WW1 service judging by his age.
penberth3
Well-known member
Kershaw rang a little bell. Became part of the Rank group.
Leodis - a photographic archive of Leeds - Display
ltcom
Well-known member
Buy some desiccant and keep them in a sealed food bag. Should suck out any moisture. I have a landbased pair and look after them but recently stuck them in a sealed bag when I bought some desiccant for a different job, Was very surprised to see how much moisture my looked after pair had around them. No fungus inside luckily and they look as good as new, but obviously there was some moisture in there somewhere, Boat ones have nitrogen in them so hopefully the will be ok.
Alfie168
Well-known member
Bit of a sad story of British excellence and innovation being cast to the wind ....?
wombat88
Well-known member
Epic thread drift...
Kershaw made a camera called the Penguin.
Kershaw made a camera called the Penguin.
KAM
Well-known member
I've a pairof the Taveller binoculars too. A brilliant buy. Mine still work perfectly and the compass is particularly good. They did go through a sticky period for a few years but strangely they seem to have gone back to nearly normal. I was going to post on here to see if any chemists could explain how that could happen.
Alfie168
Well-known member
The new Bushnells arrived, and they are just fine. I have successfully repaired the broken yellow pair as well, which I hadn't anticipated being able to do at first, and I wasn't confident of success, but, touch wood, the JB Weld plastic bumper repair epoxy has done the trick. So now I have four pairs of binoculars, but I'd have to say that optically only two of them are anything like half decent. I also dismantled and regreased the very dry focus mechanism on the Bresser pair, and thats been successful. Reglueing the knurled rubber focus band has been less successful as its got too much "sag" in it. I will have to cut it and shorten it then try again, or come up with a substitute grippy material if that doesn't work.
Thanks for advice and ideas. It's all been helpful
Thanks for advice and ideas. It's all been helpful
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