American Optical Rx Lensometer

Description

History 101, part two. American Optical Rx Lensometer. Internal sphere reading, this one has been restored. This unit was never intended as a lab instrument, it was strictly for reading and marking glasses. Due to the design newer, larger lenses might not fit the throat as it wasn’t made deep enough.

There were two different versions of this instrument, this is the first one and it was manufactured in 1961. Later versions moved the sphere and axis knobs both to the right side where they were nestled together. Notorious for both burning the light transmission stick or becoming dirty to the point where the internal sphere readings could no longer be seen.