Bench services

Every job below is quoted after inspection. The bands are what the work has cost over the past year, not a price list; an instrument that fights back costs more, and we tell you before we continue.

Collimation

Conditional alignment on the collimator, then a night on the bench and a second check cold. Porro pairs are usually a half-day. Roof prisms with a knocked objective cell can take two. This is the single most common reason an instrument feels tiring to use, and the cheapest thing we do.

Strip, clean and relubricate

Full disassembly, cleaning of every air-to-glass surface, removal of hardened grease from the focus and hinge, fresh lubricant matched to the fit. Returned with a collimation check included, because a strip-down always disturbs alignment.

Seal replacement and purge

New O-rings and gasket material where the housing is designed for them, followed by a dry nitrogen purge on sealed instruments. Instruments that were never sealed from the factory are cleaned and closed, and we will not pretend they are waterproof afterwards.

Prism reseating and re-cementing

Loose prisms are re-shimmed and reseated. Separated cement is re-done only when the coatings have survived; when they have not, the honest answer is a donor element, and we will hunt one for you if the instrument is worth it.

Focus and eyepiece work

Rebuilding stripped focus threads, replacing crushed eyecups, re-cutting a forced eyepiece thread where enough metal remains. Diopter rings that no longer hold their setting are usually a five-minute fix that nobody thinks to ask for.

Inspection only

If you have inherited something and want to know what it is and whether it is worth restoring, bring it in. We open it, measure it, photograph what we find and write it up. Fee is credited against the repair if you go ahead.

What we do not take

Camera lenses, microscopes, rifle scopes with internal electronics, and anything where the only remaining fault is in a sealed electronic module. We would rather send you to the right bench than keep an instrument for three weeks and hand it back unchanged.

Turnaround, packing advice and how to reach the workshop are on the front page. Questions before you post something: bench@example.invalid.