17 replies to this topic

[S&PWine]

Hello, 

 

I recently acquired a beautiful brass telescope but I am at an absolute loss…despite searching for hours to find a manufacturer, I can’t seem to locate one. The only inscription the scope has is located on the brass of the tripod plate. It may read the following:

 

POLY ARCH SSH or SCH

POLY ARCH SSII or SCII

FOLY ARCH (above)

 

The scope is roughly 4 feet long when the focus is fully forward and the optical tube is roughly 3”.

 

If any of you might know what this scope is, I’d greatly appreciate your assistance! I would also like to fix the small focus issue it has. The mechanism works great, but when the focus is position fully aft, the scope is still a bit out of focus. Any thoughts? I’m a bit nervous about opening it up and seeing if I can fix it…

 

have a great day! 

 

IMAGES OF SCOPE:
https://drive.google...iVglaqZtYyynk-R

[deSitter]

Hello, 

 

I recently acquired a beautiful brass telescope but I am at an absolute loss…despite searching for hours to find a manufacturer, I can’t seem to locate one. The only inscription the scope has is located on the brass of the tripod plate. It may read the following:

 

POLY ARCH SSH or SCH

POLY ARCH SSII or SCII

FOLY ARCH (above)

 

The scope is roughly 4 feet long when the focus is fully forward and the optical tube is roughly 3”.

 

If any of you might know what this scope is, I’d greatly appreciate your assistance! I would also like to fix the small focus issue it has. The mechanism works great, but when the focus is position fully aft, the scope is still a bit out of focus. Any thoughts? I’m a bit nervous about opening it up and seeing if I can fix it…

 

have a great day! 

 

IMAGES OF SCOPE:
https://drive.google...iVglaqZtYyynk-R

No idea what it is, but I think it is a genuine antique and possibly quite valuable. Tells - fine brass work, no wingnuts (a modern invention), fine hardwood legs. Appears to be walnut so possibly American made (?). I would say POLY ARCH SCH is a stamp of some Polytechnic Architecture School - Renssalaer? Are you in the Hudson Valley?

 

-drl

[S&PWine]

<p>Thanks for the reply! It definitely appears to be a true antique and well manufactured. I never thought about that inscription being a school mark. Clever thought! I&rsquo;ll do some digging on that.&nbsp;<br />
&nbsp;</p>
<p>I&rsquo;m actually located in Maine but this was a wedding gift from a friend who lives in Mass just outside of Boston. I believe he purchased it there or somewhere in southern Maine. He&rsquo;s a big antiques guy. I&rsquo;ve always wanted an antique brass scope to go along with my Celestron EDGE HD 8 but I definitely didn&rsquo;t expect it to come in the form of a wedding gift. I&rsquo;m just fascinated by it now!</p>

[MGAR]

I'd say a more modern brass scope given there is no rack-in-pinion focuser. No makers name on the back cap is another tale tale sign imo. The brass mount is similar to what you see on the Bardou scopes of these sizes.

 

But hey, who knows...

 

Cheers,

Gary

[S&PWine]

I'd say a more modern brass scope given there is no rack-in-pinion focuser. No makers name on the back cap is another tale tale sign imo. The brass mount is similar to what you see on the Bardou scopes of these sizes.

 

But hey, who knows...

 

Cheers,

Gary

Figuring out how to use this forum…

 

My apologies for not including a photo. There is a rack-in-pinion focus on the opposite side of the scope. I’ll upload another image of it on the Google Drive. Thanks for your reply!

[jragsdale]

Can you see any writing on the edge of the lens? Sometimes you can see it when viewing from the front with a flashlight. Bardou often marked the edge of their lenses.

[S&PWine]

Can you see any writing on the edge of the lens? Sometimes you can see it when viewing from the front with a flashlight. Bardou often marked the edge of their lenses.

Nope. Can’t find any markings other than the ones on the tripod itself. Love a good mystery haha.

[B 26354]

Figuring out how to use this forum…

 

My apologies for not including a photo.

PM sent

[MGAR]

Seeing the updated photos looks like it could be a Bordou clone or later version of one. As for the focus issue, these eyepieces should be friction fit and should slide out the back. Typically ones would come with a terrestrial (long) eyepiece.  Here is my Bordou showing the focuser and the terrestrial (long) eyepiece.

 

Cheers,

Gary

 

Edited by MGAR, 01 October 2024 - 01:24 PM.

[Spectral Joe]

Property marking: "polytechnic architecture school"

Edit: Oops, DeSitter had already gotten this.

Edited by Spectral Joe, 02 October 2024 - 10:20 AM.

[Terra Nova]

Can you see any writing on the edge of the lens? Sometimes you can see it when viewing from the front with a flashlight. Bardou often marked the edge of their lenses.

The mount’s metal extension doesn’t look like a Bardou. Bardou usually used a rounded wooden extension. 

Edited by Terra Nova, 02 October 2024 - 12:05 PM.

[Kasmos]

Yeah, as in post #9 the mount's wood extension is usually turned in a decorative way and they usually have a wood tripod hub as well. The OP's scope has was appears to be a really simple objective cell. It's like nothing I can remember seeing on any other make of antique telescope but may help ID it.

[Terra Nova]

Yeah, as in post #9 the mount's wood extension is usually turned in a decorative way and they usually have a wood tripod hub as well. The OP's scope has was appears to be a really simple objective cell. It's like nothing I can remember seeing on any other make of antique telescope but may help ID it.

Yes! As in my Jolly-Wood Bardou tripod homage:

Attached Thumbnails

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[S&PWine]

Can you see any writing on the edge of the lens? Sometimes you can see it when viewing from the front with a flashlight. Bardou often marked the edge of their lenses.

I take it back. I was afraid to open up the scope but did this evening and found some markings on the lens. I’m guessing they’re just for alignment, but wasn’t sure if the letters might mean something to someone. Just updated the gallery with some images of the lens.

[azure1961p]

Alright if you want to set a fire: and it beat out an astro-physics frac in sharpness and color fidelity.  Focus is hard to attain when tears keep welling up.

 

 

 

 

Pete

[davidc135]

Hello, 

 

I recently acquired a beautiful brass telescope but I am at an absolute loss…despite searching for hours to find a manufacturer, I can’t seem to locate one. The only inscription the scope has is located on the brass of the tripod plate. It may read the following:

 

POLY ARCH SSH or SCH

POLY ARCH SSII or SCII

FOLY ARCH (above)

 

The scope is roughly 4 feet long when the focus is fully forward and the optical tube is roughly 3”.

 

If any of you might know what this scope is, I’d greatly appreciate your assistance! I would also like to fix the small focus issue it has. The mechanism works great, but when the focus is position fully aft, the scope is still a bit out of focus. Any thoughts? I’m a bit nervous about opening it up and seeing if I can fix it…

 

have a great day! 

 

IMAGES OF SCOPE:
https://drive.google...iVglaqZtYyynk-R

Have you tried focusing on a very distant object to check the focus? Nearer objects might push the focus out of reach.

 

David

[oldscope]

Hello, 

 

I recently acquired a beautiful brass telescope but I am at an absolute loss…despite searching for hours to find a manufacturer, I can’t seem to locate one. The only inscription the scope has is located on the brass of the tripod plate. It may read the following:

 

POLY ARCH SSH or SCH

POLY ARCH SSII or SCII

FOLY ARCH (above)

 

The scope is roughly 4 feet long when the focus is fully forward and the optical tube is roughly 3”.

 

If any of you might know what this scope is, I’d greatly appreciate your assistance! I would also like to fix the small focus issue it has. The mechanism works great, but when the focus is position fully aft, the scope is still a bit out of focus. Any thoughts? I’m a bit nervous about opening it up and seeing if I can fix it…

 

have a great day! 

 

IMAGES OF SCOPE:
https://drive.google...iVglaqZtYyynk-R

It's out of focus because there is a secondary draw tube that slides in and out of the rack focuser tube. Simply pull it out a bit and it will focus. I've seen this problem many times.

 

Bart

[oldscope]

Seeing the updated photos looks like it could be a Bordou clone or later version of one. As for the focus issue, these eyepieces should be friction fit and should slide out the back. Typically ones would come with a terrestrial (long) eyepiece.  Here is my Bordou showing the focuser and the terrestrial (long) eyepiece.

 

Cheers,

Gary

 

IMG_7409.jpg

IMG_7410.jpg

IMG_5968.jpg

Bardou_signed.jpg

The correct name is Bardou, not Bordou. Made by Maison Bardou, a very prolific maker and exporter for several generations, out of Paris

 

Bart