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Re: 1850s Metal Sextant - Hard to read the scales
From: Henry Halboth
Date: 2016 Jul 26, 15:59 -0400
From: Henry Halboth
Date: 2016 Jul 26, 15:59 -0400
As far as reading the scales is concerned you might try rubbing them with a mixture of lampblack and oil so as to allow the engraved depressions to fill, then lightly wiping the surface excess off and allowing the filled engravings to dry - unless he arc is otherwise badly worn down this should do the trick.
If by window you mean a small rectangular piece of frosted glass held erect in two posts just above the vernier, this was intended to assist in reading off by diffusing the light falling on the arc and vernier while so doing - it is really not necessary to the use of the instrument.
BTW lampblack can still be purchased in art supply stores.
Good luck,
Henry
On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 1:28 PM, Graham England <NoReply_England@fer3.com> wrote:
My Aunt gave me my Uncles 1850s vintage sextant.
It all works but it is very hard to read the scales.
Both scales are silver and I cleaned them very lightly with a drop of oil.
The vernier scale (the one on the index swing arm) looks better but the main arc scale is still very light.It there some way to make the marking on these scales easier to read?
There is also a window for a small piece glass.
The glass is missing.
What is the purpose of the glass?Thanks
