MICROSCOPE-ANTIQUES.COM © 2013-15.
GRAND VAN HEURCK MICROSCOPE SUBSTAGE:
c. 1910
Maker: W. WATSON & SONS LTD.
Serial number: 12345
The substage support is separate from the mirror tailpiece, and also comes down from the stage. The substage has coarse focus by diagonal rack and spiral pinion. Fine substage focus is via a knob protruding upward above the stage. There is a ring to support a condenser which has controls for centering the condenser. By the time this stand was made, the condenser housing could swing out of the optical axis on a hinge, a standard feature for the Grand Van Heurck by this time. A tiny brass handle acts on the piece locking the condenser assembly in the normal position. Another feature on this microscope is the optional mounting of the substage support ring on a sliding bar in a dovetail fitting so that the substage may be set at any desired position, irrespective of the rackwork, which operates independently; this allows the use of all substage accessories, some of which would otherwise be too tall to install without this flexibility. This fitting has a lacquered brass knurled knob to lock it in any desired position on the dovetail slide.