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THEAD COUNTING MICROSCOPE:
c. 1875
MAKER: J.B. DANCER
Serial Number:None
DESCRIPTION
This thread counting microscope, unfortunately not in my collection, is signed by the famous Manchester instrument maker, John Benjamin Dancer. I am grateful to Craig Sutton for allowing me to use his images of it. Its construction is similar to many others, including those in this collection. It measures about 3 1/4 inches long. The brass portion is signed 'DANCER MANCHESTER' and the bone or ivory scale is signed 'J.B. DANCER, MANCHESTER.' The magnifier is moved along the scale via a coarsely threaded screw turned by a knurled knob. The magnifier can be focused in its threaded mount. One unusual feature of this instrument is the apparent lack of a pointer, a feature that is usually found on most similar instruments by other makers.
HISTORY OF J.B. DANCER MICROSCOPES
John Benjamin Dancer was a famous maker of all kinds of
scientific apparatus including instruments for physics experiments, microscopes, and other apparatus. He is well-remembered as the inventor of the microphotograph and also as the maker of physics apparatus for Joule. His microscopes are extremely well made and a priviledge to handle. Because he lived and worked in Manchester, a center for the textile industry, it is not suprising that he made thread counters, and other apparatus for the cloth industry. Among his products is a compound microscope explicitly designed and sold as a cloth inspection microscope, also on this site. The latter instrument was intended to detect stains, mildew, etc rather than count the thread density of the cloth. A traditional compound microscope by Dancer is also on this site.