Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

      

Microscope 473 (John Nesbitt; thread counter, early 20th century)

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John Nesbitt, a business originally started in 1784 by Francis P. Walker, was located at 42 Market Street, Manchester. The workshop manufactured instruments for the textile industry such as weighting scales, yarn balances and wrap reels. In 1913, John Nesbitt took over scale makers H. Sutcliffe & Co, which was also located in Manchester. Microscope 473 is a thread counter and should be dated to the early 20th century. The instrument is engraved with “JOHN NESBITT LTD, MANCHESTER” and came with its red leather covered box lined with blue velvet. The instrument would be used for counting threads in fabrics (the number of threads per unit of length provides evidence of a higher quality of cloth). This instrument contains a scale along which a pointer moves so that the number of threads per unit of length can be counted. The lens is suspended above the pointer and moves via a screw.