Despite assurances that the new enhanced scopes would take “only” 60 to 90 days for manufacture and shipping, there has been a delay in getting the metric reticles. The new ship date has now been promised as 27 April. I’ve asked that the English-reticle scopes be shipped as soon as they are done, because at least those I could begin offering. No response to that request yet.

I am very sorry because I know how many folks are waiting for the new scopes (not the least of us: ME!). So far, it has been three years and one month since I began the process of getting new scopes designed and manufactured.

I’ve finally placed the order for the new enhanced, custom-designed, custom-made microscopes for Tooke Gages! (These pictures show the final prototype.)

It’s been a long, long time since I began the process (back in April 2012!). However, the custom scopes had to be both perfect and affordable!

It’s going to be another 60-90 days or so before the scopes are actually manufactured, shipped, and in my hands, but from that point, there will be two types of scope (as there once were): scopes with a reticle marked in English units (with 1/10th-mil between hashmarks) and scopes with a reticle marked in metric units (0.02mm/20 µm per hashmark). (This compares to the 0.2-mils/50 microns between hashmarks in the Universal scope.)

To allow easier ordering, I will be using the following ‘part numbers’ to differentiate the type of gauge being ordered.

• OG202 (Aluminum-bodied gauge with English reticle)
• OG202M (Aluminum-bodied gauge with metric reticle)
• OG204 (Plastic-bodied gauge with English reticle)
• OG204M (Plastic-bodied gauge with metric reticle

I am also “designing” a swap program, so those of you with the current Universal scope (marked in mm) can swap-out the Universal scope for one marked in English units, if you wish. Also, the enhanced metric scope has a finer reticle than the Universal scope, and that may be a consideration for folks using the Universal scope in its “native” (metric) units.

If you have a very-old-style Tooke Gage, I also offer a rehab/upgrade program. I have done this for some owners of old Tooke Gages, replacing and upgrading various parts, and even the whole body, to create a ‘new’ Tooke Gage by re-using their original scope.

It’s been a long difficult slog, but it looks as if Micro-Metrics will finally have the new enhanced microscopes for the Tooke Gages in the next several months! (I started locating scope designers and possible production facilities back in April 2012!) I was able to test the penultimate version a few months ago, but there was one (what I hope was the) final problem with the design:

My sourcing company and the factory say this can be easily remedied. I won’t approve production, however, until I have received and tested the actual, final, perfect prototype — these new scopes have to be beyond excellent! One of my Micro-Metrics customers has been trying out the prototype for the past few months (it works, it just hangs up on the focusing screw) and he says his guys are very happy with it because it’s clear and easy to read.

I am also having designed an enhanced version of the metric scope; rather than continuing the universal reticle (which has approximately 2mils between hashmarks), I working for a “finer” reticle, with at least a fineness equivalent to the new English scopes. I don’t have the final specs on the metric reticle yet, but I’m hoping it will be at least as fine (in microns) as the new English reticle is (in mils).

For those of you with the current universal scope in your gages, I will be offering a swap program if you wish to upgrade your scope to the new enhanced version. Details to come.

(And yes, the next upgrade I will be working towards after the new scopes is a camera adapter for the Tooke Gage!)

I’ve been trying (since shortly after Michael’s death) to get my supplier to provide a good photo (or ANY photo!) through the new scope — unsuccessfully. I have managed to take a ‘decent-enough’ photo through the reticle. If you’d like a higher-resolution version of this photo, please let me know.

A week or so ago, I met for a couple of hours with a microscopy expert and he is helping me find a company that will manufacture microscopes to my specifications. I’m hoping to go back to a scope as close as possible to the ones we used a few years ago, which were of higher quality and had finer/better reticles. (Remember these?)

That means (if I can find a good-and-affordable mfg, which this expert thinks I can) that Micro-Metrics will be going back to using the metric-only-marked reticles (i.e., 20-microns between hashmarks) for customers who want them and English-marked reticles (at 0.1-mil per hashmark) for the others. It is my plan, depending on how much the new scopes turn out to cost, to offer a reduced price to the folks who’ve bought the current “universal” scopes, for them to send their gauges in and have the universal scopes swapped out for the new scopes. (And yes, that’s a staggeringly huge job (which I will have to schedule so as not to be swamped by several hundred gauges at once!) — but I very much want to get the so-called “50-micron / universal” scopes out of circulation!)

I am also hoping to be able to have made scopes with a 75X magnification and hashmarks at 0.0005″ (for customers who may desire that fineness) — however I will not be able, at this point, to consider making those scopes in a metric version. (Design and set-up charges, ordering quantities, and pricing, you know?) I do not know if the finer-measuring English version would be desired in Europe (and other metric locales), but an English-version at this level is a possible next step after (or perhaps while) replacing the “universal” scopes.)

I welcome comments and suggestions and information about your microscope needs. I know getting to the ‘old-scope versions’ back in place will go a pretty good way to making Tooke Gauges more useful. But I want to make Micro-Metrics responsive to customer needs.

When the original source for the long-time scopes (Edmunds Scientific) stopped making them (completely), Michael had to find a substitute, which he did, with the current “universal” scope. As I’m sure many have noticed, this scope is just not sufficient for many of our customers’ needs.

I’ve been researching and looking and contacting folks trying to find a scope with a better, finer reticle. The old scope:

was divided so the smallest hashmark equaled 0.1 mil.

The new “universal” scope:

is divided so the smallest hashmark equals 0.2 mil.

I have not found a source for a better scope, so I am looking into having them made specially for Micro-Metrics. If I can manage to get a factory to ‘build’ me scopes with 1 division (hashmark) equaling 0.1 mil (or better? Would that suit? Please leave me a comment!), at a price that won’t make the gauges astronomically expensive, I will do that.