Wray Telescope - help with date.

[LeadWasp]

I have a Wray 3 draw telescope in excellent condition but I have no idea how old it is. It is marked "The Popular" with a serial number in the 13,000 region and is clearly a civilian copy of the Scout Regiment types (no WD crowsfoot) although at just under 4lb a bit lighter I think. Wray were excellent makers up there with Ross, Dolland, Ottway etc. It is difficult to tell the age. The buckles are leather bound not square brass and the font is not very helpful either. It could have been made at any time from about the mid 1920's up to the 60's.

 

Does anybody have one or a family member with one, together with an idea of date of purchase?

 

Thank you!

[LeadWasp]

Oh well it was worth a try.

 

If anyone has one themselves and is looking for help I can contribute this:-

Most Wray records have not survived, what information is available came from former directors (now deceased). The Wray (Optical) company was eventually merged with Hilger and Watts and then finally taken over by The Rank Organisation who asset stripped them. The records were probably dumped.

 

After disassembly I cleaned the lenses with isopropyl alcohol with no ill effects and the image was drastically improved. I think with time volatile compounds from any lubricant or grease are encouraged to evaporate by the slight vacuum created everytime the scope is drawn. These then re-deposit on insides including the glass.

The draw tubes were lubricated with a micro crystalline wax (used by Greenwich to conserve far older brass telescopes).

Some opaque spotting remains on the objective lenses which I hope are remaining surface marks. I intend to try some hexane as a solvent to see if I can remove them. Failing that there are some conservation rinses available for ultrasound cleaning (see that Lyman tank has another use!). I hope that these are not age artefacts in the cementation of the lenses. A pal who conserves and values scientific instruments (he's worked on the Harrison clocks) thinks that this scope was only made around the 60's. If so the lenses are unlikley to have been cemented with Canada Balsam but with a polymer resin. There are both good and bad aspects to this. If it is canada balsam then it is much more soluable and in theory the lenses could be separated, cleaned and recemented. However the effort is a bind but the age colouring of the cement might eventually drive me to do it. If a polymer has been used then it is less likely to have coloured which hopefully means the opaqueness is surface. If it isn't then I'm stuffed as I don't think I will ever be able to separate the lenses and re-cement.

 

There we go, telescope brain storm over! I do love giving new life to an old thing that has lain unused for decades. It is a joy to use something so well made that was going for a song when I found it. Not as convenient as a pair of binos, but far more detail resolved at greater ranges which is after all what they are made for.