Remember my post about sniper rifles, which caused a lot of discussion on the Internet, this one: How sniper rifles are made. That time, in the factory showroom, I noticed optical sights, some of which turned out to be domestically produced. I became curious, I found out the name of the company, got contacts and managed to get into a closed security area where they won’t let you take a camera unless there is a special permit.
Today, especially for community readers, an exclusive report on how optical sights are made.
As I already said, the enterprise is located on the closed territory of a plant that used to produce something for the needs of the defense industry in a quiet town near Moscow. Initially, they didn’t want to let me into the enterprise with a camera; I had to call the production director of the company (where I was going to do a report) for help. He settled all the problems, but a security guard was assigned to us, who was supposed to make sure that I didn’t shoot my Nikon into the prohibited area (there seem to be other production facilities on the territory of the plant).
Olga and I (thanks to whom I got into production) found the lens production workshop in a state of relocation, so there was a little chaos here, but it did not greatly affect the production of lenses. Everything here went as usual. Lenses are made from such a glass cube in production; I will tell you how this is done later.
I immediately found an invoice for a batch of optical glass blanks from China. They are also called “presses”. Most lenses are made from Chinese raw materials. As the production foreman told me, previously the quality of Chinese “presses” left much to be desired; many blanks had to be rejected, but recently partners from the Middle Kingdom have begun to produce high-quality material.
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I asked why Chinese is preferred when there are domestic raw materials? It turned out that Russian glass is three times more expensive than Chinese glass, and their quality is practically the same. By the way, this is not ordinary glass from which sheets for windows are made, but special, optical glass, which contains various chemical compounds.
In addition, Russian glass comes in the form of such heavy cubes that need to be cut, turned into cylinders from blanks, etc.
And Chinese raw materials come ready for processing. In the photo you can see the entire range. Lenses of all diameters used for the production of optical sights and thermal imagers.
Let's go to the first workshop, here the lenses are polished.
The equipment is more than forty years old; it was bought from enterprises that went bankrupt in the post-Soviet era. Here it was repaired, modernized and now operates quite successfully in its previous mode.
We take the blank.
and place it on such a substrate.
At the first stage, such a nozzle with a diamond edge polishes the future lens.
The nozzle rotates, turns from side to side, and the substrate also does not stand still. All this time, the workpiece is watered with emulsol - a special solution with abrasives.
The wizard shows how this process occurs.
After grinding is completed, the workpiece is checked for convexity with a special tool - a spherometer, or that cup over there, which is called a “lapping tool”.
If it does not correspond to the norm, then everything repeats itself again.
Attachments for grinding lenses of various diameters.
Who wants some mints?)
The same glass cubes are cut on this machine.
This is a diamond-coated disk.
The resulting blanks look like pieces of ice. When cutting glass, pay attention to the bubbles that are sometimes present in those same glass cubes, and cut out perfectly clean blanks without any inclusions.
But lenses can only be made from such blanks; later we will see how this happens.
Here in the workshop there is a sharpening stone on which, if necessary, you can polish the workpiece.
The compacts have a larger diameter.
And this is a unique machine that was miraculously rescued from an enterprise that closed in the 90s. It can process lenses with a diameter of 25 cm. Nowadays such machines cannot be found. Of course, there are new foreign analogues, but they cost an order of magnitude more, about 50 thousand euros. And I got this one for almost nothing.
In this photo you can see what the cloudy pressing turns into at this stage. This is not a finished product yet; there are still many tests ahead for the lens.
But on this machine, blanks sawn from a glass cube are processed.
These washers are firmly glued to both ends of the glass blank with glue. Their diameter corresponds to the diameter of future lenses. After this, the workpiece with washers is fixed in a machine that processes it. The result is a cylinder, which in turn is cut into blanks, glass rounds. And the metal washers come off if you place the workpiece in a special oven.
After grinding, future lenses end up here.
They are glued with a special resin to metal blanks. Paint or varnish is applied to one side, and then resin, which, when hardened, sticks firmly to the lens; Vaseline is applied to the other side and glued to such a hemisphere.
Then they take the hemisphere with the lenses and turn it over into a heated metal blank. “Pschschsch” occurs and the resin with the lenses is glued to the blank.
This is all immediately placed in a bowl of water, the blank is cooled, the resin adheres firmly to it, and the hemisphere coated with Vaseline is easily removed.
This thing is awaiting the next stage of processing.
Here, already polished lenses are knocked off from another metal blank. This is done carefully so as not to damage the workpiece.
To soften the resin with the finished lenses, they are heated in an oven.
In the same room, residual resin is manually removed from the lenses.
And a visual check of the workpiece occurs. If there is something wrong with it, it will be rejected or end up back on the polishing line.
Let's move on to the next workshop. Of the entire tour of the enterprise, this place impressed me the most. On this table you can see both blanks with glued lenses and attachments with diamond heads that will polish the lenses.
Pay attention to the surface of some lenses; they are painted over so that they do not accidentally get scratched during transportation to this workshop.
These machines are designed for polishing small diameter lenses.
You see this black iron cane - a blank with lenses is attached to it. At the bottom there is a nozzle with diamond heads.
During the process, a special solution with abrasives flows from the middle of the nozzle. The polishing process itself lasts from 30 minutes to 4 hours.
And the work of these machines is mesmerizing, it seems that you are in some kind of fairy-tale workshop.
Another machine for piece goods.
Each attachment polishes just one small lens.
And here lenses of large diameters are polished.
The nozzle with diamond heads rotates from side to side, the blank with lenses rotates, the process is moistened with polarite - a polishing suspension that contains abrasives.
These machines were also purchased from the bankrupt enterprise. They were produced in 1968, but they were also modernized to new standards, almost all the filling was changed, one might say they breathed new life into them.
Then the polished surface is varnished
Why you ask? And then that resin will soon be applied to it and the other side will soon have to be polished.
It was as if flowers had opened their petals.
After polishing both sides of the lens, take acetone baths to get rid of all contaminants, including varnish or resin, if any particles remain on the product.
And this is the final product, although no, it’s an intermediate product, the lens has already been polished on both sides, but it is not completely ready yet.
This device checks whether the lens meets the thickness standards.
An employee of the company checks the cleanliness of the lens by eye. There should be no scratches or microcracks on it. For such work you need to have perfect vision, however, the work is also not easy, vision gradually deteriorates from constant stress.
Let's move on to the next workshop. Here the lenses are centered - the geometric axis is aligned with the optical axis.
This is also an old machine that has also been modernized by connecting it to a computer, almost making it a CNC machine.
The lens is fixed.
And the excess grinds off from its edges.
Then, as usual, quality control is carried out again, and so on at every stage.
To be continued
The times when anyone could make a discovery in science are almost completely gone. Everything that an amateur can discover in chemistry, physics, biology has long been known, rewritten and calculated. Astronomy is an exception to this rule. After all, this is the science of space, an indescribably vast space in which it is impossible to study everything, and even not far from the Earth there are still undiscovered objects. However, in order to practice astronomy, you need an expensive optical instrument. Is making a homemade telescope with your own hands a simple or difficult task?
Maybe binoculars would help?
It is too early for a novice astronomer who is just beginning to take a closer look at the starry sky to make a telescope with his own hands. The scheme may seem too complicated for him. At first, you can get by with ordinary binoculars.
This is not as frivolous a device as it might seem, and there are astronomers who continue to use it even after becoming famous: for example, the Japanese astronomer Hyakutake, the discoverer of the comet named after him, became famous precisely for his addiction to powerful binoculars.
For the first steps of a novice astronomer - in order to understand whether this is mine or not - any powerful marine binoculars will do. The more the better. With binoculars you can observe the Moon (in quite impressive detail), see the disks of nearby planets, such as Venus, Mars or Jupiter, and examine comets and double stars.
No, it's still a telescope!
If you are serious about astronomy and still want to make a telescope yourself, the design you choose may belong to one of two main categories: refractors (they use only lenses) and reflectors (they use lenses and mirrors).
Refractors are recommended for beginners: these are less powerful telescopes, but easier to make. Then, when you gain experience in making refractors, you can try to assemble a reflector - a powerful telescope with your own hands.
What makes a powerful telescope different?
What a stupid question, you ask. Of course - by magnification! And you will be wrong. The fact is that not all celestial bodies can, in principle, be enlarged. For example, you will not magnify the stars in any way: they are located at a distance of many parsecs, and from such a distance they turn into practically points. No approach is enough to see the disk of a distant star. You can only “zoom in” on objects in the solar system.
And the telescope, first of all, makes the stars brighter. And this property is responsible for its first most important characteristic - the diameter of the lens. How many times the lens is wider than the pupil of the human eye - that is how many times brighter all the luminaries become. If you want to make a powerful telescope with your own hands, you will have to look, first of all, for a very large diameter lens for the objective.
The simplest diagram of a refracting telescope
In its simplest form, a refracting telescope consists of two convex (magnifying) lenses. The first - the large one, aimed at the sky - is called the lens, and the second - the small one, into which the astronomer looks, is called the eyepiece. You should make a homemade telescope with your own hands exactly according to this scheme if this is your first experience.
The telescope lens should have an optical power of one diopter and a diameter as large as possible. You can find a similar lens, for example, in a glasses workshop, where glasses for glasses of various shapes are cut out of them. It is better if the lens is biconvex. If you don’t have a biconvex lens, you can use a pair of plano-convex half-diopter lenses, located one after the other, with their convex sides in different directions, at a distance of 3 centimeters from each other.
Any strong magnifying lens will work best as an eyepiece, ideally a magnifying glass in an eyepiece on a handle, such as those that were produced before. An eyepiece from any factory-made optical instrument (binoculars, geodetic instrument) will also work.
To find out what magnification the telescope will provide, measure the focal length of the eyepiece in centimeters. Then divide 100 cm (the focal length of a lens of 1 diopter, that is, a lens) by this figure, and get the desired magnification.
Secure the lenses in any durable tube (cardboard, coated with glue and painted on the inside with the blackest paint you can find will do). The eyepiece should be able to slide back and forth within a few centimeters; this is necessary for sharpening.
The telescope should be mounted on a wooden tripod called a Dobsonian mount. A drawing of it can be easily found in any search engine. This is the easiest to manufacture and at the same time reliable mount for a telescope; almost all homemade telescopes use it.
Watching action movies or playing computer games related to combat, we are accustomed to seeing weapons that have a special device in the form of sights. Almost no weapon can do without them. You can see sights not only on weapons used in battle, but also on such historical and ancient ones as crossbows or bows. Therefore, it is advisable to pay attention to the sights, since the most accurate hit on the target depends on them. Install sights on dovetail mount.
photo. Dovetail optical sight mount
Nowadays, there are many sighting devices that meet the requirements of both professional shooters and beginners. Many even try to make a sight with their own hands, some even succeed and do quite well. Among the varieties of sights there are the following types:
- optic;
- mechanical or dioptric;
- collimator;
- laser.
Such devices are used as crossbow sights. Since in order to choose the best option you need to know at least a little about them, let's look at each type separately.
Collimator crossbow sight
A collimator sight is a type of optical sight that differs significantly from a mechanical and diopter device. Such sights are used for crossbows and firearms. The collimator sight consists of the following components:
- translucent lens;
- collimator - conventional or laser type, that is, an LED that projects a luminous dot onto the lens - an aiming mark.
The lens is a kind of reflector of the aiming mark on the retina of the shooter's eye; it is capable of aligning with the target plane. If the shooter looks at the sight, changing the viewing angle and leaving the weapon stationary, the sight will remain on the target, despite the changed viewing angle. Using a collimator sight, a weapon can be aimed at a target without losing aiming accuracy, even if the shooter’s eye at this moment is not located in line with the target and sight.
photo. Collimator sight for crossbow
Collimator sights come in open and closed types. They have the same operating principle, but differ in the design of the sight body. In the video you can see how to make a red dot sight yourself, which is mounted on a dovetail mount.
Mechanical sight for crossbow
It is worth saying that an optical sight today will not surprise a single shooter or even an ordinary person who has seen or held a weapon at least once in his life. This sight consists of a front sight and a rear sight, that is, it is a standard set of pneumatics.
photo. Mechanical sight for crossbow
Using such a sight is very simple; just combine the front sight, rear sight, and target into one plane. But when making a shot, everything is not so simple, since the human eye cannot focus on different objects at the same time. Therefore, when aiming with the eyes, the arrow first hits the rear sight, then moves to the front sight and again to the rear sight, only when the shot is fired does the eye move to the front sight. Such eye manipulations must be performed quickly, without thinking. The sight can be mounted on a dovetail mount.
Laser sight for crossbow
There is also a laser sight that can be adjusted in any direction, horizontal or vertical. A laser sight is more suitable for weapons used for aiming at not too long distances. The advantages of such a sighting device are that the shooter only needs to point the sight at the target and follow the luminous dot on it. But the laser sight also has a disadvantage, namely that it cannot be used to aim correctly in bright daylight.
photo. Laser sight for crossbow
Optics for crossbow
When considering the types of sighting devices, it is worth paying attention to optical sights. Despite the fact that until recently our shooters could only dream of them, today optical sights are available to everyone. Such sights are quite diverse and are used by the military, hunters, and athletes. People who own air rifles often equip them with an optic. After all, with its help you can conduct the most accurate aiming and shooting.
Optical sights are almost always different and differ from each other, despite their similar appearance. The composition of the optical sight is unique - it consists of lenses in blocks and high-precision adjustment mechanisms. In the figure you can see the structure of the optical device:
photo. Optical sights for crossbows
The complexity of the optics design can only be compared to a telescope or photographic lens. The most important element of any optical device is the lens, with the help of which a clear image is formed.
When choosing optical sights, you must understand their characteristics; this is the only way to make the optimal choice and install it on dovetail mount suitable optical device. You can even try it yourself make your own sight, and we will help you with this a little.
DIY diopter sight - diopter sight device
There is a diopter sight, which makes the aiming moment more accurate, but the process is somewhat slower. The diopter sight is a type of mechanical sight; it is mounted on a dovetail mount. Using a diopter sight in a weapon, the shooter's eye is aimed at the target and the front sight through a special cut made in the body of the sight itself. The peculiarity of such sights is that the front sight and target are clearly visible only if they are in the same focus, with correct aiming, otherwise the target will not be visible to the shooter. The downside of a diopter sight is the difficulty of shooting in poor lighting and its slowness, that is, it cannot be quickly transferred to another target. That is why such sighting devices are more suitable for sports competitions. On our portal you can watch a video on how to make an optical sight for a rifle; these sights are also used for a crossbow.
It is quite possible to make a diopter sight yourself; the main thing is to have all the necessary materials, desire and patience. To make a sight you need to prepare the material. The diopter sight is a regular plate that has a small hole (0.5-1.5 mm). You can take the rail of any standard sight, which you will then have to disassemble, take measurements from the sighting rail and draw a new drawing.
photo. Diopter sight device
If you do not have a standard plate with a slot 0.5 mm thick, you can take a steel plate with a thickness of 0.6 mm. Next, you will need to mark all the necessary lines on the workpiece according to the prepared drawing and cut the sight model using them. To improve the viewing angle, you can trim the edges of the plate. The landing ring is made using ordinary round nose pliers, as well as a drill with a shank with a diameter of 2.5 mm.
As a result, you will have a finished part, which will then need to be adjusted, processed and assembled for the sight.
The manufactured sight can be mounted on a dovetail mount. Such sights are quite suitable for small arms in the form of crossbows. After you make your own sight or buy a new one, you will definitely need to complete an important task, namely zeroing.
How to make an optical sight with your own hands
Assembling optical sights for crossbows with your own hands is quite difficult, but if you have such a desire, then you will need a scope tube, a sight lens, a reticle, a wrap-around lens and an eyepiece lens. When collecting all these lenses, it is necessary to select the correct focal lengths.
Zeroing a crossbow with optics - how to zero a crossbow?
Once you have fully assembled the crossbow and are holding it in your hands, you will need to test it to know the principle of the weapon's operation and firing range, as well as its other capabilities. But to get started, you need to know all the rules on how to shoot a crossbow.
Sights for crossbows can be diopter, optical, collimator, or another type convenient for you. The zeroing process itself is very simple and will not be difficult even for a novice shooter. The fact is that the sights have special drums that allow you to make adjustments to the aiming. One drum is located on the side of the sighting tube, and the second on top. The adjustment drum scale is closed with a special cap, which can be easily removed if you are careful.
In order for shooting to be as accurate as possible, you need to learn how to handle the trigger and aim correctly.
Zeroing a crossbow begins at short distances, which gradually lengthen, more precisely, with each accurate hit on the target. If you cannot hit the target even at close range, make sure that the sight is installed correctly, if everything is in order with the sight, make a small adjustment. Remember, adjustments are made until you hit the point you see in front of you at close range.
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photo. Crossbow sight
When you have succeeded, you can start zeroing your crossbow or other small arms by mounting the scope on the dovetail mount. To aim, you need to select a base distance at which the center of the aiming point of your scope coincides with the target. Zeroing a crossbow is carried out using many mistakes and new trials. The shooter shoots, makes adjustments, shoots again, makes adjustments, and so on many times. You need to start zeroing with several shots at the target, and then check exactly where the arrows were aimed. To make it easier to understand the technique of zeroing a crossbow, we suggest watching a training video review on our portal, or better yet, several.
Video shooting with a collimator sight
There are things that can be very helpful for successful air rifle or rimfire hunting. Or even with a crossbow, there are also such amateurs.
One of these things is optical sight. After all, open, regular or diopter, cannot provide the required accuracy.
Of course, any such thing can be easily bought. However, many are interested in making a useful thing with their own hands. Making an optical sight is a very troublesome and intricate task. But quite accessible for independent implementation.
Implementation
The implementation, of course, may be different, but it is based on a single theoretical basis. Let’s turn to it, the theory.
An optical sight is a small telescope with a Kepler optical system, complemented by an aiming reticle (mark) and a wrapping element. (Galileo's system is not suitable because it is afocal.)
The simplest scheme is this. The first lens is the lens. An aiming mark (reticle) is installed in the focal plane. It appears as clear as the target image by being positioned precisely in focus.
At the other end of the scope tube is the eyepiece lens. They look into the eyepiece from a distance of 5-7 centimeters, no less.
Therefore, you need at least three lenses in total (although they put more in scopes to ensure high-quality results). The sights end up being quite long because you have to take focal lengths into account.
A little practice about optical sights
There is a lot of talk about the aperture of the lenses used. Like, if it’s good, you can hunt in the twilight. That's true. However, on a bright sunny day you will need filters and lens attachments. Especially in winter, when everything around is glittering with snow. There is no way to make a light filter - then there is no point in chasing the aperture ratio.
Now a little about practice. Focal lengths and the location of the reticle can be determined experimentally. Place everything along a regular ruler, move the lenses and grid until you get a high-quality image, see how many millimeters are there - and then design the pipe.
The scope must provide at least four times magnification. Anything less will not be effective enough.
Reticle
The reticle is usually made by gluing hair to a ring. Then it is glued into the focal plane. To ensure that the crosshair is exactly in the center, the ring is placed on graph paper. Or at least on a squared piece of notebook paper. Otherwise you won’t be able to glue it evenly.
Instead of hair, a thin thread will do. Very thin, woven from nylon. True, it may not have to be glued, but welded. Or the wire from a coil of broken miniature headphones, also quite thin.
Making the reticle is the most difficult stage, truly a jewel. It’s better to make several at once, so that you can quickly change them later (if the previous one, for example, is torn by a lens that falls off due to vibration).
You can also make a mesh from needles, but thin enough ones are unlikely to be found. Although, there is a lot of room for experimentation. The pipe itself and its fastenings too.
If it is impossible to make a thin reticle, it turns out thick, then you can try to install it in the focal plane of the eyepiece lens, rather than the objective.
Internal surfaces of the sight
The question of how to blacken the internal surfaces of the sight is also relevant. Smoking with soot, as advised, does not always work. A simple option is to paint over it with a wide waterproof marker. Black, of course.
Then, when everything is ready, you need to sight the sight - adjust its mounts so that the crosshairs look at the center of the target, and the bullets hit there, and do not fall somewhere to the side. That is, to put it slightly simplified, so that the optical axis of the sight becomes parallel to the axis of the barrel in the vertical and horizontal planes.
It is very difficult to design and arrange lighting in a steam room. After all, high humidity, abundance of steam and high temperature are not entirely favorable for the use of electricity. Despite this, fiber optic backlighting has become increasingly popular. Its use is relevant not only for baths; the optical harness is used even in apartments and houses. This is explained by the fact that such light is much more economical and safer than standard light sources, and also allows you to create decorative lighting for a room. In this article, we will tell you how to make fiber optic lighting yourself, providing a diagram for connecting the system, as well as installation instructions.
What does the system consist of?
As a rule, such systems are sold as a set, which already includes everything necessary. But in addition to the main components, you can add additional elements that will help create an individual interior. This is, for example, special lighting using LED strip or special lenses or crystals.
Fiber optic lighting includes the following components:
- Projector. Of the entire system, only it is connected to electricity. The amount of light emitted depends on the power of the device.
- Fibers. Thanks to these elements, you can also regulate the amount of light that is released and distribute it around the entire perimeter of the bath at your discretion. When choosing a harness, it is better to give preference to a glass model, since it is more resistant to temperature changes. There are two types of strands: side glow (creating light patterns using fiber weaves) and end glow (creating a starry sky).
- Lenses and lamps. With the help of such elements, fiber optic lighting acquires a directional glow. After all, it is precisely such lenses and crystals that regulate the dispersion and direction of the light flux.
When choosing a fiber optic system, you should pay attention not only to the length and number of fibers, but also to what kind of lamp is used. Halogen and HID lamps require cooling, and since some cooling systems have noisy fans, this can ruin your vacation.
Side glow method
You can make such lighting yourself, as it does not require complex electronic circuits. Installation is simple: just install the projector outside the sauna. This is done as follows:
- A projector is installed in the room in front of the bathhouse. The place where it is mounted must be next to the steam room (have a common wall). If the projector is installed in the same room, it should be located at a distance from the heat source.
- If desired, you can install additional accessories on the device, for example, color wheels.
- According to the diagram, mark the places where the optical fiber will be placed.
- We install fiber optic lighting.
- If desired, you can install color attachments (lenses or crystals). Connecting this effect can be either automatic or manual.
Important! When installing fiber optics, it is necessary to take into account the permissible bend of each light pipe. It depends on the diameter. Therefore, the focal length of products should be more than 85%. All this is thought through when the system diagram is drawn up.
End glow method
It is better to install such light before interior finishing. You must first draw up an exact layout of the point elements.
Installation of fiber optic backlight should be done in the following order:
- Cut the bundles to the required length. And in order to find out the length, you should measure the distance from the projector to all glow points.
- Place the fibers in place, first secure them with tape.
- In order to preserve the pattern and fix the bundles vertically, it is necessary to install dowels in certain places to which the fibers are attached with the assistance of the wire. To make it convenient to attach, the dowels should protrude three centimeters outward.
- The surface is sheathed and all unnecessary tape and dowels are removed.
- Then you need to cut the fiber optic bundle. This is done according to the level of the cladding. Next, sand the ends of the harness using fine-grained sanding paper.
- The other ends of the fiber are connected into a connector and connected to the projector.
During installation, you need to carefully monitor the bends of the light pipes. Upon completion of installation, you can optionally add various lenses and crystals to the system.
This fiber optic lighting connection scheme is also suitable for the washing department. Especially if there is a pool, then such lighting will look very good on its bottom. In a recreation room, living room or bedroom, fiber optic lamps can be combined with standard lighting fixtures. The atmosphere created in this way will help you relax.
