About the service
I run a dedicated workshop practice restoring nineteenth and early twentieth century brass refracting telescopes — the pocket day-scopes, ship's spyglasses and tripod-mounted observatory instruments that turn up tarnished, seized or missing sections after decades in an attic or sea chest. Every commission starts with a full strip-down and condition survey: I record which draw tube sections still slide, where the leather or velvet tube liner has perished, whether the objective cell retains its original spacing shims, and what state the rack-and-pinion or helical focuser mechanism is in before a single part is touched.
Draw tubes that bind or grind are dismantled, the old hardened grease and verdigris cut back, and the sliding surfaces re-fitted with fresh graphite-and-tallow lubricant so the tube extends with even, controlled resistance rather than rattling loose or seizing solid. Dented tubes are worked back round on shaped mandrels rather than filled or reshaped by force, which preserves the original wall thickness and keeps the optical axis true. Where a liner has rotted I re-line with period-correct materials cut to the original pattern, not modern felt that changes the fit.
Objective and eyepiece lens elements are cleaned under magnification with solvents matched to the actual coating or bare-glass surface present, because nineteenth century balsam-cemented doublets and later coated elements do not tolerate the same treatment — I test a hidden edge before touching the working surface, and I do not attempt balsam re-cementing without discussing the risk first. Brass barrels, dew shields and tripod fittings are hand-polished and lacquered to match the original finish rather than buffed to a mirror shine that would look wrong on a period piece, and engraved maker's marks are protected throughout.
Every completed instrument is star- or target-tested for collimation and focus travel across its full range before it leaves the bench, with before-and-after photographs and a short written report on what was replaced, re-lubricated or left original. Typical turnaround runs one to two weeks depending on the extent of tube and optical work required; message me with clear photographs of the telescope, including the objective end and any maker's engraving, for a firm quote.
Draw tubes that bind or grind are dismantled, the old hardened grease and verdigris cut back, and the sliding surfaces re-fitted with fresh graphite-and-tallow lubricant so the tube extends with even, controlled resistance rather than rattling loose or seizing solid. Dented tubes are worked back round on shaped mandrels rather than filled or reshaped by force, which preserves the original wall thickness and keeps the optical axis true. Where a liner has rotted I re-line with period-correct materials cut to the original pattern, not modern felt that changes the fit.
Objective and eyepiece lens elements are cleaned under magnification with solvents matched to the actual coating or bare-glass surface present, because nineteenth century balsam-cemented doublets and later coated elements do not tolerate the same treatment — I test a hidden edge before touching the working surface, and I do not attempt balsam re-cementing without discussing the risk first. Brass barrels, dew shields and tripod fittings are hand-polished and lacquered to match the original finish rather than buffed to a mirror shine that would look wrong on a period piece, and engraved maker's marks are protected throughout.
Every completed instrument is star- or target-tested for collimation and focus travel across its full range before it leaves the bench, with before-and-after photographs and a short written report on what was replaced, re-lubricated or left original. Typical turnaround runs one to two weeks depending on the extent of tube and optical work required; message me with clear photographs of the telescope, including the objective end and any maker's engraving, for a firm quote.
