Long view

[David vincent]

Someone would know how to date this long view please ?

Thanks !

[johnboy]

Are there any markings on it?

[David vincent]

6 minutes ago, johnboy said:

Are there any markings on it?

No, there is no registration on it.

[johnboy]

Without any markings it is impossible to ID it.

Is it thought to be WW1?

[303man]

The knurling looks far to crisp to be of any age, my thoughts made in india or china in the last 10 years,  

[MikB]

42 minutes ago, 303man said:

The knurling looks far to crisp to be of any age, my thoughts made in india or china in the last 10 years,  

 

My thoughts too. WW1 period instruments tend to show a finer, radiused spiral knurl. That sharp, heavy parallel knurl is the first thing I noticed, and immediately thought of Indian instruments. It appears from the dismantled pic that it has a non-achromatic single-element uncoated objective, which I've also seen on Indian repros. If so it's hard to see that it could produce a quality image. Retention of the objective with a partial circlip isn't very robust either - period makers usually used a fine-threaded ring.

 

I'm sure the Indian optics industry is capable of making excellent instruments, but those aren't what our importers buy.

Edited 12 May , 2020 by MikB

[Gunner Bailey]

There's quite a tourist market in India for quality looking repro old instruments. In a hotel shop in Mumbai I found all sorts of telescopes, military compasses, sextants, all made locally and some compasses even had what looked like original dials that had been reused. All made for tourists and all worked to some extent and all were unmarked as well.

[MikB]

1 hour ago, Gunner Bailey said:

There's quite a tourist market in India for quality looking repro old instruments. In a hotel shop in Mumbai I found all sorts of telescopes, military compasses, sextants, all made locally and some compasses even had what looked like original dials that had been reused. All made for tourists and all worked to some extent and all were unmarked as well.

 

Some of the pretend prismatic compasses are abject. The prism works, but the sighting slot is usually flat against the crystal when the prism is in sighting position, instead of upright to align with the rumb line, and the alignment of lid and prism slot is random-casual - completely useless and impossible to take a valid bearing. And the example I have bears the name of Ross!

 

As if.

[healdav]

16 hours ago, MikB said:

 

Some of the pretend prismatic compasses are abject. The prism works, but the sighting slot is usually flat against the crystal when the prism is in sighting position, instead of upright to align with the rumb line, and the alignment of lid and prism slot is random-casual - completely useless and impossible to take a valid bearing. And the example I have bears the name of Ross!

 

As if.

I have a real one from 1917, and there is a 'hole' in the lid with a small spike to sight on. There is a very small button on the side of the compass which prevents the compass card from moving, so that you can take your eye off the target and see what the card says. It can be a bit tricky to use at first, but you get used to it.

[MikB]

7 minutes ago, healdav said:

I have a real one from 1917, and there is a 'hole' in the lid with a small spike to sight on. There is a very small button on the side of the compass which prevents the compass card from moving, so that you can take your eye off the target and see what the card says. It can be a bit tricky to use at first, but you get used to it.

The Verners Pattern have the button as well as a proper prism and sighting slot. The button you mention was there to damp the oscillation in that type, as the card was on a dry pivot, not in a liquid-filled cell. You sight through slot and sighting line on the (upright) lid window, keeping your finger on the button to gently reduce the swing until you can see what value the card would settle on if you gave it enough time. It can be as accurate as a liquid-filled prismatic, but you'd have to be very practiced to be as quick.

[Gunner Bailey]

I bought a compass that appeared to have a very old dial and in use it was a degree or so out compared to my modern walking compass. I knew it was repro but just liked it. 

[healdav]

5 hours ago, MikB said:

The Verners Pattern have the button as well as a proper prism and sighting slot. The button you mention was there to damp the oscillation in that type, as the card was on a dry pivot, not in a liquid-filled cell. You sight through slot and sighting line on the (upright) lid window, keeping your finger on the button to gently reduce the swing until you can see what value the card would settle on if you gave it enough time. It can be as accurate as a liquid-filled prismatic, but you'd have to be very practiced to be as quick.

I used this one for years, including at Outward Bound School in Snowdonia, and Duke of Edinburgh's across Dartmoor.

I actually got it from my father who, before the war, had belonged to a boat club, and they used it in their pulling gig.

It did get getting used to, but I think that if used by an artillery officer, for example, he wouldn't be walking, and might well have some sort of stand to put it on.