DESCRIPTION:
This fine instrument arises from a wooden platform which has 3 bun feet. The chrome plated micrometer has a lever control for opening and closing the jaws to grip the coverglass. It is calibrated in thousandths of an inch, labeled every hundredth from zero to 0.08 inches, but has a capacity to measure over 0.35 inches. It is also calibrated on the outer scale from zero to 1.9 mm in thousandths of a mm intervals, labeled every hundredth and has a capacity of over 8 mm. It can therefore be used to measure slide thickness as well as coverslip thickness. The wooden base has a diameter of about 78.5 mm(about 3.1 inches), and the metal micrometer drum is about 60 mm (about 2.4 inches) in diameter. In use, the lever is displaced to the side and the jaws open. The coverslip is placed between the jaws and the lever slowly released. The reading can be obtained directly from the dial.

HISTORY OF ZEISS COVERSLIP MICROMETERS

Zeiss sold two forms of coverglass micrometer. These include a screw micrometer(simpler and less expensive, left) and the dial micrometer featured on this page(above). The Zeiss dial micrometer was sold from about 1889 through 1913, but the screw micrometer continued to be sold through 1939. Reichert sold a dial micrometer(right), identical to the Zeiss model except for the Reichert name on the dial, as shown in the 1892 Reichert catalog and the JRMS of 1893(right).

A special page about the general history of coverglass gauges is now available on this site.