Elements of reliability | WX

Sharing the same spirit with the manufacturing site.

In order to create the world's best products, naturally, our manufacturing must also be the world's finest.
Needless to say, the vital point is ensuring quality at the manufacturing site. What Mr. Ushikubo and Mr. Nakao both highly evaluate is the unstinting enthusiasm of staff at the manufacturing site.
For WX binoculars, optical product tolerances for lenses and metal components are minimised as much as possible. That is why they need to be composed precisely at the manufacturing site. For example, if engineering optical axes are misaligned, the performance that engineers intended cannot be obtained.
“There is little latitude regarding parts accuracy. Some are 100 points and some are 95. In order to attain all lenses' potential at 100%, composing-technique experience is extremely important”, Mr. Ushikubo says.

Skillful engineers compose eyepieces by hand.

However, looking at the drawing of the WX binoculars, everyone at the manufacturing site thought, “They can be formed. But, can the image quality that this drawing shows actually be realised?”
For general binoculars, once the accuracy of lenses and metal components has been confirmed, it is only necessary to make adjustments by moving lenses slightly after composition. However, this was not possible for the WX binoculars.
WX binoculars are the ultimate handcrafted products, so to speak. Every last process is finetuned by the human hand. Parts are selected to optimally match with each other, then composed one by one, with the utmost care.
After composing, the optical axis of every binocular is checked. Adjustment at this stage is extremely difficult. The finish coating is also applied manually.

Optical axis adjustment of the prism box is also performed manually, one by one.

Painting of the body tubes. Polishing and painting are applied repeatedly for the finish.

WX binoculars could not have been realised without the spirit of craftsmanship, manufacturing pride and skillful techniques, according to Mr. Ushikubo.
Mr. Nakao says, “In terms of manufacturing, the most difficult and largest factor was ensuring reliability in harmony with the manufacturing site.
Engineers would like every product to be passed because they created them with all their heart and soul.
However, we cannot pass products if they do not meet our quality standards, so we sometimes had conflicts.
Despite this, our common desire to manufacture the very best products was shared with the manufacturing site.
WX binoculars were realised through craftsmen's will and pride.”
On the other hand, engineers at the manufacturing site say, “Mr. Ushikubo and Mr. Nakao are very strict. However, if we ever feel slightly uncertain about the quality, we try to imagine what they would do if they were in our place. Mr. Ushikubo and Mr. Nakao are really of the same ultimate quality standard as the WX binoculars.”