Antique World War I Monocular Restoration - Carl Zeiss Jena

This week I restored this World War I monocular used by the Germans and made by Carl Zeiss. It’s a pleasure to restore such a high quality piece of optics. There is a lot of dust and dirt inside so you can barely see anything through the lens. The surface needs some restoration as well.

I decided to leave the eye piece assembled because it was constructed so that I would have had to damage it to disassemble and I wasn’t sure I could put it back together as well as it was. Also I didn’t see any major dirt or other reason inside to give me an excuse to risk it.

After the disassembly I cleaned the brass parts with ketchup and then polished those with wool wheels and polishing compound. Ketchup is a great way to remove patina from brass. It contains vinegar and also some enzymes which help with removing the oxidation. It also doesn’t smell and it is readily in easy to apply formula. Vinegar is also more aggressive which could leave to damage to my unoxidized brass.

The aluminum sheets or caps from the ends of the monocular body were stripped from paint and sanded down and polished as well. The one with text was sanded with 250, 400, 800, 1200 and 2000 grit sand paper. With the one with the text I started lightly from 400 to preserve the text.

I also tried paint stripper for the monocular body but the texture on it didn’t come off well. It only softened a little. I decided to scrape most of it off with a screwdriver and then remove rest with scotch bright wheel. I didn’t have to bee too careful not to scratch the body because I would cover it in leather anyways.

Other parts were cleaned with acetone.

To cover the monocular with leather I had to first sand the leather a little thinner. I tried to press it evenly on the belt sander. This was very slow process. I probably should have used rougher belt but I had never done this before. Then the leather was soaked in water to allow me to streck it to the shape of the monocular. This made it much easier to glue it on.

I mixed some silicone with a little of acetone to make it flow better and used a syringe and a needle to apply a thin line to seal the ends during the assembly. Hopefully this will reduce the collecting of dust inside the monocular so the visibility will stay as good as I got it.

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[MosesVI]

i am from Jena! so this piece was actually made in my hometown a long time ago... <3 thank you for restoring it!!
greetings from germany

[ltchugacast]

This is in surprisingly fantastic condition for something more than 103 years old

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Watching you restoring historical artifacts is very satisfying.

[RamenNamen]

Dude, I love your videos. Just recently i have had trouble sleeping and seeing things being taken apart and put back together has helped me so much, especially during college. The restoration videos for consoles actually helped me figure out the problems with a gamecube and Gameboy Advanced I found in my landlord's basement and how to fix them. Your style of videos may not be flashy or attention getting, but the style of them is so comforting and educational! It's a part of why i'm starting to get into restoration!

(I know that this probably won't get seen but I just needed to write it anyway.)

[zpoedog]

I was a optical instrument repairman in the US Navy 1956. You did a great job!

[ellakz]

6:18
Me: Is that ketchup? No its probably something else that looks like ketchup
"The vinegar and enzymes in ketchup will help me clean the brass"
me: ....oh....

[pokemasterism]

I’ll be honest, it took me a few seconds to realize that by “liquid ice” you just meant water. I thought it was some cleaning product called Liquid Ice

[glennhouser]

You’re a meticulous and gifted craftsman. Thank-you - for resurrecting the artifacts of our heritage into a useful new life, a life that can be shared with future generations. Thanks too... for sharing these skills with the rest of us, it’s a noble endeavor.

[Scar_does_stuff]

I have such huge respect for people like you who see these items in terrible condition and think "yes, I can give this a new life" especially something seemingly useless or unwanted like this monocular. Being that it's from ww1 I'm surprised it survived this long and I'm very happy to see it looking new again.

[Keyshooter]

"All the tools will be linked in the description" no link to the liquid ice

[petedeadline]

My grandfather worked for Carl zeiss Jena. Greetings from Germany!

[ThasmoFrost]

As soon as I saw the brass ring, I said, “One ring to rule them all!” And then you disappeared 😂

[derby]

With the vast array of restoration YouTube videos, from aircraft right down to something as simple as this. This more fascinating the restoration of a car. You would not think something so simple as this would besore entertaining. I could watch this all day it's clever and doable to the average Joe.

[LucianoGardim]

From the headlines of the newspaper, he's from Finland.

[EdWun]

For a second I was like “Is that ketchup?!?” It is

[nomadicsculpt]

The Lord of the Rings joke was great 😊 Hienoo jälkee.

[lister]

You're like that cool uncle that is always tinkering in the garage. I admire your knowledge and skills. Please keep the videos coming! :)

[bradthayer]

Very nice restoration. I would have been very nervous taking that optical assembly apart, but you showed it’s pretty straightforward. The leather and sealant were nicely done. The ketchup cleaning was a new one to me. Should be able to get another 100 years out of this!

[julesyn_n]

the one ring reference was a nice touch xD

[iaminside]

It's 2:30am, and I've been watching your videos for an hour. I should be sleeping, but I have to see how this thing looks before I fall asleep. Thank you!