Swift Audubon 804 HR/5 sn95*****restoration project . (1 Viewer)

[mayoayo]

Hello..I just bought an old Swift Aududon HR/5 out of a local second hand internet site..It was not a local sale but it was national,and the price was not bad, although with shipping and insurance i paid +/- 40 euros.Thats not much ,but..the binocular is quite dirty..grimmy outside ,lightly dusty with a couple hits of fungus inside,even condensation residue on the objectives..The view still clear,no dark stains or visible dust in the image ,so, so far within reason for the price.The problem is that is miscollimated and generates obvious double image .I can return it to the seller,and I would not have bought this instrument knowing its real condition even for the 30 eu price tag(ended being 40 with shipping).The problem is that ,man,Are these HR/5 cool once in the hand !!!.
The individual image of each barrel its very sharp and they seem to exhibit less CA than my old 820 non ED.As a matter of fact they are pretty clean from that problem in the center of the image,as far as i could tell,even looking for it(perhaps my perception of it has changed a bit with age,not sure).
The serial number is 95**** and these are marked as multicoated ,but I know that 1995 units like this are fully multicoated,(even if not marked as such.late 90's units with similar AR coatings are marked fully-multi), So contrast was good(expect to improve with cleaning) and I didnt notice glare even looking against strong sun light.
the body is in good condition with some paint loss around the top plates and just a couple of very light nicks on the edge of the plates.Leatherette is tight and sound all over and i can see the triangular cuts ,two each side,to access the collimation screws..
So what do u guys think ,shall I just embrace these old timers,try to take them apart, clean amd collimate them ,or I will likely encounter too many troubles achieving proper collimation and they will never be usable without professional work?.I dont wanna spend more money on them ..
Any tips on how to start/proceed?
Thanks

 

[mayoayo]

A few things about the process .First of all these binoculars are so easy to take apart ,to a point at least..Removing the eyepieces and objectives is as easy as unscrewing a jar of pickles..Surprisingly the insides are cleaner than expected with most the dirt on the eyepiece exterior surface,objective exterior too,of course,and objective inside surface where condensation left residue and traces of fungus..I think it can be cleaned quite well..I also lifted the leatherette in the triangular collimation screws access points and saw the tiny brass screws,angled inwards..a little bit of adjusting quickly improved horizontal alignment(back screw) and vertical axis of one of the prisms.Its easy ,but will take time and patience,mounting the bins to a tripod to achieve satisfactory(perfect) alignment, ....(to be continued)

 

[mayoayo]

One thing that is very surprising is how much plastic was used in this model..As i sais its a sn 95****,supossedly from 1995(?).The Swift logo button is not blue plastic like other units of this model i remember(?)but golden and looks metal.
When I took apart the eyepieces i noticed the socket to be plastic,unlike my Ultralite that featured metal eyepiece sockets.The objective cell is covered in rubber ,but its also plastic..And to my surprise the objective tubes are ALSO plastic,I am not sure if the Prism housing is plastic too,but i think so!!!!! everything looks quality and the bino is very light.,but it is made out of plastic mostly!!!!
I thought these models ,all the way to the magnessium body of.the 820 ,were made of.aluminum..

 

[mayoayo]

Edit:The Objective tubes are metal.

 

[Canip]

Good luck with your restoration! Hope you fully succeed!

 

[Thotmosis]

Good luck indeed, they are great binoculars!

 

[Paultricounty]

Those look like the ones I bought from Brock, just kidding Brock😆✌. That looks like it’ll be a fun project and learning experience. There should be a lot of guys here who know a lot about restoring vintage binoculars.

When done they can look like these.

 

[Patudo]

Congratulations on taking ownership of a classic (for €40!), as well as having the resolve to take it apart. There are some very cool birds to be enjoyed with it in your neck of the woods. I saw my first blue rock thrush up on the cliff near Garraf, which also had black redstarts in full breeding plumage and (on the back side) crested tits. Brilliant birds, well worth the visit. I'll be back again this year, I hope.

Any pics showing how it looks now?

PS. who cares if they are plastic, Zeiss FLs have lots of plastic in their construction and they do just fine.

 

[mayoayo]

Hi thanks...A little update on the HR/5 posted in the Historical review of the HR/5..here..https://www.birdforum.net/threads/historical-review-of-swift-804-audubon-binoculars.42944/page-17#post-4432819.
I will post a few pics of the current state of the bins

 

[mayoayo]