AO Spencer Junior, Vintage 1940 Stereomicroscope

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:39 pm

I recieved this as a gift quite unexpectedly and needless to say I am very greatful indeed. This little microscope is only nine inches tall and boasts some of the best optics you could expect to lay your peepers on or through. All mechanisms are tight and perfectly machined and fitted, there is no play in any moving parts. The lenses are exceptionally clean, color corrected I am assuming since I noticed no color fringes in some of the things I viewed and the image presented is very sharp. The body of the scope is cast metal with a wrinkle black finish, except for the binocular housing which is smooth and polished. A beautiful little stereomicroscope.

The eyepieces are 12X with the objectives being 1X and 2X. A stainless steel lever and a spring loaded latch enables the turrent to be turned and locked in place. The binocular housing is fully adjustable for pupil distance.

salden · Post by **salden** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:13 pm

What a wonderful gift Ken. I am sure you will enjoy this very much.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:45 pm

I am going to enjoy just looking at it. I plan to get a clear acrylic case with a nice hardwood base to house it in after I slightly spruce it up just a little. I don't want to do to much that might harm its finish or appearance.

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 3:02 am

Congratulations Ken,thats a beauty!
I'd love to collect vintage scopes, when I win the lottery.......

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:20 am

Not into microscopes so don't know much about them, but from that "U" shaped base and no mirror I can see it looks a bit like a dissecting microscope to me?

DaveW

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:42 am

Could be Dave, but most stereomicroscopes are configured like this,with special low power lenses.

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:18 pm

Congrats on your gift, Ken! From the "Junior" in the name, I'd have guessed this was intended for science-oriented kids (I had two mono microscopes between about 9 and 14 myself), but it looks like a professional piece of equipment from what I can see of the build.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:31 pm

MikeB replied:

it looks like a professional piece of equipment from what I can see of the build.

Indeed it is built to professional standards Mike, they don't make scopes this well anymore and if they do, they are going to be quite expensive; I think it was intended for a classroom environment also. There are several attachment points on this little scope which tells me that there is a whole lot more to it than what I now have. I searched the internet hoping to find the complete set up for this scope but have found nothing on it. I guess it is too out dated, however, its optics are not.

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:20 am

Perhaps "junior" has different meanings in the US, but in the UK it can also mean a smaller version of a larger model. Sort of a "lite" version of a microscope model. "Lite" being a term now beloved by software producers for cut down versions of larger programs!

DaveW

psneeley · Post by **psneeley** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:21 pm

Ken,

Go to this site: http://xmission.com/~psneeley/Personal/Microscope.htm

and download the AO Blue Book (yes, it's big, but it's good). Now take a look at pages 132 to 134.

Hope this helps,

Steve

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:06 pm

I suppose everything and then some that you would want to know about AO scopes is on that link.

I tried to open the bluebook but the file would not do anything. I think my NAVIS may have it blocked, so I will have to check that soon. Thanks Steve!

psneeley · Post by **psneeley** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:43 pm

Yes . . . somebody's spent way too much time

But, if you have problems getting the blue book to download, tell me how to send you those pages and I will -- no problem -- I can send them as jpeg if needed. They tell all about your scope and answer all the questions above, etc.

That is a fine scope, BTW. All the 'black' scopes by AO Spencer were just absolutely the best . . . so too were many of the later scopes. As you've discovered, you won't find better optics, IMHO.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 6:48 pm

Thanks a lot Steve for the information on the AO Junior. I have contacted my source of the scope and have sent him the pages also. Maybe we can get the other half of the scope with the substage mirror or the regular base stand.