This article is an historical account of the indigenous development of one of the earliest scanning tunneling microscopes in India. It was fabricated in the Department of Physics at the University of Pune just a few years after it was first made in Europe. A series of scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) were made here subsequently – a process in which students played a major role. Over a period of two decades these SPMs were used to produce a series of scientific papers besides training students in making, using and modifying the instruments and then pushing them to their limits. Importantly, junk markets, scrap materials, small time spring makers and second-hand dealers and traditional knowledge practices were all an integral part of this enterprise of 'instrument-making' and doing scientific research.