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Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvst or not

Davidx

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Perhaps I forgot to hit th post button to my post. Hit a dad brain cell or just old timers disease.
I was going to put this in optics folder, but I'd like to get multiple answers if possible
When I was a kid, I'd buy these large beautiful prisms at a war surplus store.
I was told they came out of tank periscopes
Well I was BSing with the owner of my local hardware store, and he had three. One in great shape. $40, my question is what would you do with this if it were yours. Harvest the prisms or leave it alone and just enjoy it. It's built like a tank..
( couldn't help myself)
Here's a photo. I thought of Brucemir immediately.
 

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Pman

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

I would harvest for even more enjoyment. Besides, I want to know what's in there.
 
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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

Hey Davidx,
I too would take the prism out and be photographing it very shortly after. Make sure you take a pic or two of it after (if) you extract it. Very nice find!
 

Davidx

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

It's exrreamly well built. Someone asked me if they were of solid construction. I gave them a funny look, and said " well yea, it's part of a tank. :) me and the owner instantly bonded.

he said he had two old trench periscopes he'd put somewhere in the back.
Promised he'd save me one. I have an 500 lb metal cutting bandsaw in my garage. I'd hate to break it, so I pretending it's not there. I can always turn to it, after I carefully remove thee sealant around them. First will try acetone ,and a flooring knife to dig around the seals.
Guess I better get down there before some other nut grabs the last one.
I really want the trench scope. I was kinda waiting to get Bruce's approval first. :)
 
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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

Davidx,
You have my approval, go get the trench scope, NOW!
 

BowtieGuy

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

I wonder if this prism is similar to those prisms that Coconuts used to sell? IIRC, Coconuts said their prisms came from a periscope also.

@ brucemir, didn't you get some of those prisms from Coconuts way back when?
 
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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

Hey bowtieguy,
Yes I do have 2 of Coconuts prisms. I got them back in October of 2012 and they are the best and biggest ones I have found out there without spending a large amount of money. You can feel by the weight of them they are of high quality. I think they were about 25 dollars each. Whenever you see two of the same large prisms in my shots, that is them.
 

BowtieGuy

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

That's what I thought, I remember trying to buy one or two of them, but they had just sold the last one; I'm still looking for a nice large prism like those.
 
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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

I can remember these being sold way back in the 70's and 80's from tanks, periscopes, and maybe bomb sights. I remember wanting to buy one or more but never did. I suppose there aren't many available any more.

Alan
 

Davidx

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

Davidx,
You have my approval, go get the trench scope, NOW!

Thank you Bruce for letting me go back. :) So glad I did. They had two trench periscopes left. manager, owner, partner or whoever he is, went to a military
show this morning and sold one. He left the other one hidden somewhere in his gianstore.He lemessage to save it for me. Story gets even better. I sending you a PM. I believe he has some stuff for both of us.,,:)
 
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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

Sounds good. Thanks
 

Davidx

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvstmoyst

Wow, taking this thing apart turned out to be much harder then I would have guessed. I even tried a Google search. Believe it or not I found a drawing on the internet showing how to change out the prisms. Except mine doesn't have the wingnuts to unscrew it. :(
I should have been prepared for this. It is after all part of a tank. Couple more things to try,
then it's off to my big metal cutting bandsaw. Perhaps having another tank run it over? LOL
 
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Davidx

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Re: Prisms in WWII tank periscope. To harvest or not.

I feel like I'm about to murder a loved one. Still haven"t sawed it in half.
 

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Theres a nice trench scope in these indeed. I purchased one of the ww2 periscopes but the scope was already gone. So I might take it apart for the prisms.

For anyone wondering what the trench scopes were used for

http://i.imgur.com/lzAQMNK.jpg
 
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