Antique Scientific Instruments

Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator

Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator
Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator

Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator

Here we have a sound working example of a specialist M12A metallurgical microscope by Vickers, with an LED upgrade for the vertical illuminator. This example is serial number M124865A, probably dating from the 1970s. The working condition is generally pretty good, with some cosmetic scratches to the base of the frame.

Turning to the main technical details of this vintage metallurgical microscope set-up, we have. A rotatable monocular eyepiece unit that's fitted with a 10x magnification Vickers Complan eyepiece with integral eye-cup.

The main focus system moves the stage in a vertical plane, with concentric controls at the base of the frame. There is a smooth action through the twin-sided thumb-wheels - travel and focus are both good. Note that the frame is not designed to tilt. The stage can also be raised and lowered manually via a small thumb-screw on the right hand side, in order to accommodate different sample thicknesses.

Fine focus adjustment essentially works within the main focus adjustment when smaller inputs are made via the fine focus thumb-wheels which also have a nice smooth action. There are four quality objective lenses with a usable selection of progressive magnification and a rotating 4-way turret which clicks into place positively as each objective is rotated into position: Watson Para 40mm low-power (including extender) - 4x Cooke Troughton & Simms (including extender) - 9x Vickers Microplan - 10x Watson Para - 40x (effective magnification therefore ranges from 40x to 400x). The specimen stage is solid because this is a metallurgical microscope intended for viewing solid opaque samples and there's currently a single sample clip present on the stage. Sample illumination is currently provided via an electric vertical illuminator mechanism attached to the main optical tube.

It's been upgraded to LED illumination and is currently fitted with a 6V BA9S LED bulb that's held in a replacement bulb carrier. The LED bulb is powered by a switched 5V transformer that just plugs into a standard wall socket. The LED illumination worked well during testing, producing a cool blue/white light of adequate intensity.

The illuminator column also contains various lenses/mirrors and two iris mechanisms for vertical sample illumination via the objective lenses. The overall condition of this specialist metallurgical microscope is good with some signs of wear to the paint finish on the frame in areas where one would expect to see some signs of use for a vintage piece of technical equipment. Please note that there is no storage case with this microscope, but it does come with a PDF copy of the correct instruction manual for the Vickers M12a model.

In summary, this is a usable vintage technical metallurgical microscope from well-known British engineering firm Vickers with good optics and it may well appeal to those seeking a vintage metallurgical microscope from a quality British maker. It's supplied with a very useful range of objective lenses and a modern low power and low voltage illumination solution. This microscope equipment will be very well packaged for transport and will be dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds. Thanks for looking - please check out my other listings - mainly eclectic artworks and vintage optics, plus some other cool stuff.

The item "Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator" is in sale since Wednesday, April 15, 2020. This item is in the category "Antiques\Science/Medicine\Scientific Instruments".

The seller is "arcboutant" and is located in Glasgow. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Bahrain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brunei darussalam, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint kitts and nevis, Liechtenstein, Macao, Monaco, Maldives, Martinique, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and caicos islands, Aruba, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Chile, Bahamas, Costa rica, Dominican republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, El salvador, Trinidad and tobago, Uruguay, Viet nam.

  • Period: 1951 to Present
  • Material: Steel
  • Type: Microscope
  • Brand: Vickers Instruments
  • MPN: Does Not Apply

Vintage Vickers Instruments M12A Metallurgical Microscope with LED Illuminator