A Romanian colleague at work brought a little microscope in to show it to me. I offered to clean it up and overhaul it.
The cleanup operation went smoothly. I was able to disassemble the eyepiece cell and clean the lens very well. It is about the size of a split pea. How someone can make a proper lens that small is a mystery to me. There was no way to disassemble the objectives without destroying them, so I just cleaned them in place. They came out pretty well.
The body and hardware was pretty easy to clean and re-lubricate. It works very smoothly now. I had no slides to actually try out the optics, but I was able to look through a cleaning paper and see the microfibers very well at 100x using only the reflected light from an open window next to the table.
I couldn’t find this exact scope on the i
nternet, so this is the first one (probably not). I return it to it’s owner on Monday, so I thought I’d get some pictures of it before I gave it back. I hope she enjoys it.
Update (March 4): With more people searching, we are getting very confident this is the only example of this exact Eikow model on the internet. Also, the owner is very pleased with the results of my overhaul, both cosmetically and functionally. I am glad it will be put to use.
Now, I have to get one of my own. I’m finding all sorts of small stuff I’d like to examine and have no microscope to do it. I also want one for my two boys’ education over the next 17 years. Any suggestions?
6 comments ↓
I Still hyave mine from when I was a little boy…I should send it to you….
I cant beleive you actually took it apart and put it back together and still works…Damn!
This one is a mystery to me. No other examples of it on the web. It has the look and size of a child’s microscope, but the thing worked rather well, actually. Not cheap plastic. On the other hand, if it is from the 1920s as the owner thought, it would’ve been made of metal and glass as it is, even if it was intended to be a “toy”. Nice toy.
That it,…Im sending you mine….its metal and glass from the 60′s. But is so cloudy I cant see shit though it…send me your addy in email.
I’ll give it a go. You could do the same. All you have to do is note how the thing came apart to put it back together the same way.
With that Eikow, there was years (decades?) of carbonized grease on the moving parts, and I don’t think the optics had ever been cleaned. I used sodium hydroxide to degrease it. Even with that, it took some hand polishing to clean the eyepiece lens. What a mess.
Hello, I have an EIKOW Microscope. I’ve found it in my grandmother’s house. She told me it was bought by my grandfother about 50 years ago. It’s in perfect conditions, but it needs a clean up.
I’m from Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Do you think this piece of art is rare in the market?
It’s similar to the one in the picture, but not identical.
If you can give me more information about this product please contact me, since there is no much information in the internet.
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Federico
Hello Federico,
Actually, I know nothing about this microscope. The woman who owns it said it came from a university in Bucharest when they cleaned house. It actually makes a usable, but not very bright image. Highly portable, though!
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