magnification?

0

05dr

Joined
Nov 25, 2005
Messages
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i was interested in getting a bit of help with sharpening and was interested in getting some form of mangnification to help... any thoughts on which would be best?
1. Jeweler's loops, commonly available in 10x-30x on ebay for pretty cheap
vs.
2. Pocket microscopes, also cheap and really about the same price as the loops. available in either 30x fixed or 60-100x adjustable.

any advice on the best lens magnification to shoot for would be helpful, right now all i have is a 5x lens which is fine for the secondary bevel but doesn't even get me close to seeing the primary bevel... Thansk!
ryan
 
I have both a 10x Loupe and a 60x-100x pocket microscope. In my opinion they both have very strong pros and cons. The loupe is not nearly as strong as the pocket microscope but works decently and easily for edge magnification. The pocket microscope on the other hand is extremely powerful but also extremly difficult to use. In fact, I ordered a loupe shortly after receiving my pocket microscope because I was frustrated with the pocket microscope. You have to hold it steady, focus it with the other hand, angle the light bulb just right, and to top it off understand what you are looking at. When I received my loupe I was very disappointed with how powerful it was so I gave the pocket microscope another try. After a short while I was able to use it like a pro. I also realized that what looked like black dirt under the microscope was actually the burr. This helped improve my sharpening skills immensely.
 
Hard to beat these things http://www.geo-tools.com/lens.htm The Belomo has recieved good reviews from field geologists, and getting it and a nice lanyard for $17 is a pretty good deal!

This 16x will get you closer... doesn't have the image quailty of a Hastings triplet or the Belomo achromatic triplet Lens. but the edge distortion isn't too bad and is a pretty decent lens for the price, especially since it has an unusually large diameter for a 16x lens (about an inch) http://www.frostproof.com/catalog/m37.html (I have one of these and rather like it when the 10x just isn't enough)

These are so easy to use... if you don't have a lanyard, you can use string and just hang one around your neck where you can just grab it for a quick lookie while you're in the middle of sharpening (best to hold it up to your eye with the back of your thumb touching your cheek and then bring the knife up with your other hand to focus on it... you can use a finger of your magnifier hand to steady your knife hand if needed to keep the focus sharp).

The pocket microscopes are informative but not so easy to use for a quick progress check and are not so easy to focus (I don't have one of these since I have a stereo inspection microscope like this one http://www.greatscopes.com/vision.htm for checking the dust motes and micro-scratches)

Kooters has some decent lower priced triplets too http://www.kooters.com/handlens.html

Some reviews http://www.njminerals.org/loupes.html

Here's a knife place that seems to have picked up on the magnifier bug http://www.heimerdingercutlery.com/catalog/category.cfm?Category=138

Edmund Scientific is still around with their Hastings triplets too http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=1730
 
05dr said:
2. Pocket microscopes, also cheap and really about the same price as the loops. available in either 30x fixed or 60-100x adjustable.
Click to expand...

I purchased a pocket microscope from Edmunds, which lasted one day, and one from Radio Shack, which lasted two days. Keep your reciepts for these items.
 
thanks everyone. i am probably going to give the lee valley loop a go as i think the lighted feature would be darn helpfull. if i need more help a microscope might be in my furture. thanks for all the help!
ryan
 
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