COMPOUND METALLURGICAL INSPECTION MICROSCOPE
MAKER: W.WATSON & SONS
c.1920 (1914-c.1923)
SIGNED: ' " Vulcan ", W. Watson & Sons, Ltd., 313 High Holborn, London, 26871'
DESCRIPTION: The microscope itself is signed: ' "Vulcan ", W. Watson & Sons, Ltd., 313 High Holborn, London, 26871'. It is a compound microscope with micrometer eyepiece designed to work with an electric vertical illuminator.
The illuminator is missing. The opening for the illuminator has an inside diameter of about 21 mm and is threaded. Focus is by diagonal rack and pinion. The microscope stands at a maximum of about 10 inches high with the tube racked up. The foot consists of two 'fins' each in a V-shape. The spread of the contact points on the base is about 2 inches between the 'V' points on each side and about 2 1/4 inches between each 'fin' The single objective is signed 'E. Leitz Wetzlar 3 12X'. The single eyepiece is labelled on top in white letters: 'micrometer'. The scale in the micrometer has 100 divisions, labeled every ten, from 1 to 10 i.e. the hundredth division is labeled 10. The eyepiece has a draw tube to focus the micrometer scale. Optically this instrument is in perfect condition with very clear images.
HISTORY OF THE VULCAN MICROSCOPE:
The 'Vulcan' metallurgical inspection microscope was announced in the JRMS of 1914, and also advertised in the journal Nature in the same year. It was described as a simple and easy to use instrument for examining metal in the field including metal that was not flat as it would stabilize itself on any rounded surface via its V-shaped foot parts. According to the maker, it used a modified form of the Watson-Conrady low voltage electric illuminator, an example of which is on this site, but the actual illuminator is missing from this example. The microscope was also shown in the Watson 1923 catalog.
