Gadget rabbit holes

[1911bphil]

I would go down lots of rabbit holes if I had more disposable income. Guns, knives, jackets, boots, etc. I "need" this one because it does ...... that none of my others do. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[DaveHS]

That lead to a dip into writing instruments.

I’m here for this too. I went down a deep fountain pen rabbit hole for a while. There are some REALLY expensive ones out there. And now many very nice inexpensive options too. When I was in my twenties (1990s) I wrote a lot of handwritten letters and notes for personal and work correspondence. Even back then it was already becoming a rare practice. Of course this took me down a paper and note card rabbit hole. ( knarfeng I will say that a good nib and ink combo is even more satisfying when you have great paper to soak it up.) Email was already taking over. Then I started carrying / using a blackberry and of course then the iPhone and all those pens dried out, and the fancy paper started to gather or become dust… I still write a handwritten note on occasion and my handwriting has definitely declined. I still buy or trade for the occasional cool pen, mostly ball points!

 

[Hickory n steel]

I absolutely did not intend to go down a rabbit hole with these miniature poro prism binoculars but it looks like I may end up doing so.
It's looking like I might have to make multiple purchases to end up with that 1 good pair that I can use.

I received that pair in the mail today and the glass was absolutely perfect, but as expected the grease was hardened up and they could not be focused.
The information I found online for repairing them didn't really convey how difficult the rear lens assemblies can be to get apart, and I shattered one of the lenses.
Man when I heard that crack I really felt a pit in my stomach, I can't remember the last time I screwed something up so badly.

Cosmetically they are in excellent condition so I am looking to acquire another pair that I can use for parts if possible.
Now that I know and have this bit of experience, I will tackle the next attempt with more care and be better prepared.

I will modify a few tools to suit the task and and I will do some practicing in the damaged parts so I can really get it right next time.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I just found another pair for cheap on Ebay that I should be able to use for parts.

They are a different brand but very similar, and many of them use the same parts.
There was a large Japanese optical industry where you'd typically have manufacturers specializing in the glass some in these parts and others in those parts...etc then an importer / exporter would order what they want and the binoculars would be assembled to spec.

I hope that the ocular lenses from this other pair can be used as long as they are in good condition.
If not I have another pair or two on my watchlist.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I made an offer on a pair that I didn't expect to be accepted, so I bought a different pair I was watching and that offer I made did get accepted so I've got 2 pairs coming.
Both with their leather cases which I wanted as it gives a better chance of the rear oculars being in good condition.

This pair is branded stellar.


This pair branded YORK, with a case that is clearly pigskin.

If I'm lucky the parts from one of these pairs will be interchangeable, if I'm luckier still said parts will be in great condition.
I'll have 3 different pairs to work with, so I can determine what I'll be doing when these other 2 arrive.

 

[DaveHS]

To follow my earlier reply, this display of Tactile Turn’s bolt action pens was a massive temptation for me at Blade Show Texas earlier this year. Fortunately I had just bought a few of their special editions (one for myself and two as gifts) that I was able to walk on by…

 

[Hickory n steel]

Well I just bought a 4th pair because I'm getting less confident in parts interchangeability, but Ultimately I don't even really know the true condition of any and whether I'd even want to part them out if I can.

I found another pair of TOWER brand 6x15's and ordered them.



both of these were manufactured by AOco, ASAHI OPTICAL co who later changed their name to PENTAX ( still in business today ).
Most of the binocular " manufacturers " were just assemblers of parts from the various factories that specialized in individual parts, and while AOco was mostly the same they did do parts manufacture and apparently made all their miniature binoculars in house which bodes well for parts use if I go that route.


The reason I want to repair this first pair is that most have bakelite eye pieces while these turned out to be brass which is nice and also rare on post war binoculars.
The eye pieces themselves are also not likely to be interchangeable so I can't just put them on the best pair I end up with.

 

[Hickory n steel]

A seller offered me a good discount on another pair that I had been watching, and I took the bait because this pair is also very clean and happens to be a center focus model.



Now I need to go and delete all the other pairs off of my Ebay watchlist, because 4 pairs in 2 days is way too many and I'm starting to go downhill fast here.

 

[bdmicarta]

Now I need to go and delete all the other pairs off of my Ebay watchlist, because 4 pairs in 2 days is way too many and I'm starting to go downhill fast here.

That's the danger of these rabbit holes- you get interested in something, you find some of them that look good, then you buy 2 or 3. You buy 2 or 3 because you can, because you don't know which one you will like best, because you might want a spare, ...

 

[Hickory n steel]

That's the danger of these rabbit holes- you get interested in something, you find some of them that look good, then you buy 2 or 3. You buy 2 or 3 because you can, because you don't know which one you will like best, because you might want a spare, ...

Exactly.
And when they're easy to find between $25-$40 shipped it's hard to resist.
Not to mention when you can justify this next one because it's slightly different in some way...etc.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I received 3 of the 4 pairs of miniature binoculars I bought.


1st the other pair of TOWER brand which are the smallest of the 3.
As I understand the Asahi ( now PENTAX) made mini's are the smallest of their type, though only marginally so.
It turns out the eye pieces are brass like the 1st pair but just shaped a bit differently so I'm happy about that.
They arrived in equally good condition, and also had hardened grease like the 1st pair as I expected.
It was much easier to deal with though and everything went fine.
I had to adjust the collmination via the 8 external screws, which I had never done before .
It turned out to be an easy back and forth process and I'm glad to know I can do this in the future if needed.
The quality is great as is the clarity.


The 2nd pair that arrived today was the Belfont brand, the pair with the center focus wheel.
They are still fairly small, but noticeably larger.


These are a much more recent pair from the late 70's.
They turned out to be in great condition, because of their age the grease was not hardened and all they need was a simple cleaning on the outside .
I thought they had warped plastic eye pieces, but they're actually rubber and still in soft supple condition.
The case is some kind of cardboard with a very thin laminate of plastic coated pigskin, and a vinyl strap instead of leather.



The Stellar brand pair are very dirty inside and not very clear, they will also need some Collimation adjustment.
I will try to fix this issue at some point but they aren't a priority.

pair #4 that I ordered will be arriving tomorrow.

btw I just remembered about another pair of binoculars I completely forgot I had, a pair of Tasco 8x21 that somebody gave me a few months back.
Here are the Japanese mini bino's compared to them.



Both of the 2 good pairs are clearer with better collmination than these contemporary Chinese Tasco's which cannot even be adjusted for collmination.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I got lucky on the final (for now ) pair that I received.
They were not seized up with old grease and they work just fine.


Interestingly the pigskin case isn't fully lined like the rest and most I've seen.





I also got that stellar brand pair cleaned up and working great, I could never achieve 100% perfect optical clarity with zero specs of dust but they are perfectly usable.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I took the good half of the 1st pair, and turned it into a monocular.
Something I was able to do because they are individual rear focus instead of paired center focus.

 

[DaveHS]

I took the good half of the 1st pair, and turned it into a monocular.
Something I was able to do because they are individual rear focus instead of paired center focus.
View attachment 2967524

That’s cool!

 

[Shorttime]

Climb down the rabbit hole far enough and you become an expert on the subject.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I received 3 of the 4 pairs of miniature binoculars I bought.
View attachment 2966615

1st the other pair of TOWER brand which are the smallest of the 3.
As I understand the Asahi ( now PENTAX) made mini's are the smallest of their type, though only marginally so.
It turns out the eye pieces are brass like the 1st pair but just shaped a bit differently so I'm happy about that.
They arrived in equally good condition, and also had hardened grease like the 1st pair as I expected.
It was much easier to deal with though and everything went fine.
I had to adjust the collmination via the 8 external screws, which I had never done before .
It turned out to be an easy back and forth process and I'm glad to know I can do this in the future if needed.
The quality is great as is the clarity.
View attachment 2966621
View attachment 2966629
The 2nd pair that arrived today was the Belfont brand, the pair with the center focus wheel.
They are still fairly small, but noticeably larger.
View attachment 2966631

These are a much more recent pair from the late 70's.
They turned out to be in great condition, because of their age the grease was not hardened and all they need was a simple cleaning on the outside .
I thought they had warped plastic eye pieces, but they're actually rubber and still in soft supple condition.
The case is some kind of cardboard with a very thin laminate of plastic coated pigskin, and a vinyl strap instead of leather.
View attachment 2966634
View attachment 2966635

The Stellar brand pair are very dirty inside and not very clear, they will also need some Collimation adjustment.
I will try to fix this issue at some point but they aren't a priority.

pair #4 that I ordered will be arriving tomorrow.

btw I just remembered about another pair of binoculars I completely forgot I had, a pair of Tasco 8x21 that somebody gave me a few months back.
Here are the Japanese mini bino's compared to them.

View attachment 2966645
View attachment 2966637
Both of the 2 good pairs are clearer with better collmination than these contemporary Chinese Tasco's which cannot even be adjusted for collmination.

I have a pair of those Tascos somewhere around here. Also have a pair of Nikon 9x25s that I bought in the mid-1980s.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Climb down the rabbit hole far enough and you become an expert on the subject.

the guy who's website I got all my information from climed down over 1200 pairs deep, and that's just the mini's.

 

[Hickory n steel]

That’s cool!

Now I actually have a good quality version of those crappy little monoculars that sent me down this rabbit hole.

They did make these in Japan and they are exactly what I have made here, but they aren't as common as the binoculars.
I couldn't turn up that many brands, and it seems the TASCO " golf scope " is the most common of one to find.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I have a pair of those Tascos somewhere around here. Also have a pair of Nikon 9x25s that I bought in the mid-1980s.

I always assumed Bushnell was better than Tasco, but I have a pair of Tasco 10x50's and a pair of Bushnell 8x35's both from the 80's which my uncle gave me when I was a kid.
The Bushnells had a bunch of plastic parts that finally gave up and I had to toss them recently, every one of those plastic parts are metal on the Tasco's and they're still going strong.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Here is the website where I was getting my information.

https://miniaturebinoculars.com/part1/Page2725.htm