Microscope advice

[eccvets]

I've been looking for a Microscope to look at my edges and came acrosse these types of Microscope. has any one used these before? some of them go up to 500X zoom.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0025U0L8Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3SPLR0MSOYZ8O

http://www.amazon.com/Escope-Wirele...0MSOYZ8O&s=electronics&qid=1312664607&sr=1-18

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Deluxe-Handheld-Digital-Microscope/dp/B004QF0A1Y/ref=pd_sim_e_8

http://www.amazon.com/GSI-High-Defi...opic-Industrial/dp/B004OYO5O0/ref=pd_sim_e_27

http://www.amazon.com/Microscope-en...CQ5C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1312664966&sr=8-7

http://www.amazon.com/GSI-High-Defi...PENG/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1312664966&sr=8-8

 

[knarfeng]

ummm...exactly how much detail do you want to see?

Remember that, the higher the magnification, the smaller the area you are going to see.
At 500x the field of view is going to be a tiny fraction of an inch. That would mean that, in order to see the entire blade length, you would have to look many, many times.

That being said, there is this fella, who got truly impressive results looking at edges of planing blades with a $30 intel kids computer microscope:

http://bladetest.infillplane.com/index.html
http://bladetest.infillplane.com/html/the_microscope.html

 

[clayallison]

I've had a lot of success with the Dino-Lite microscopes. They offer a large variety with different zoom characteristics and filters. Here are some shots I took with mine: http://sharpeningtechniques.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html and http://sharpeningtechniques.blogspot.com/2009/12/micro-photos-of-identical-knives-after.html

 

[doriandk]

I've had a lot of success with the Dino-Lite microscopes.

Which one did you use for those pictures

 

[doriandk]

I've had a lot of success with the Dino-Lite microscopes.

Sorry, didn't do the quote right. Which Dino-Lite model did you take those pictures with?

 

[eccvets]

which model do you use? i see them anywhere from $30-$600+

 

[clayallison]

which model do you use? i see them anywhere from $30-$600+

I'll have to double check when I get into the office tomorrow but I think it is the AM413T-DZT model.

 

[GlennS1956]

I also decided to get a digital microscope to help with my sharpening. After A LOT OF research, I settled on the Aven Digital 1.3 Meg Mighty Scope...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00475C43K

Now when sharpening, I can see EXACTLY what I'm doing, as I'm doing it. The Aven takes excellent pics and videos, and I've been posting them on my YouTube page...

Sharpening Video #1
I'm going sharpen my knife to a 20 degree angle, and then put a 25 degree primary angle on it. The first side of the blade shown clearly needs more sharpening; the newly sharpened part hasn't reached the edge yet. Then the video flips to the other side of the blade, and shows that side is ready.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A1vQSzam_I

Sharpening Video #2
In this video you can clearly see both the 20 and 25 degree angles that my KME Sharpener ( http://www.kmesharp.com/kmeknshsy.html ) put onto the blade. This microscope has taught me today that I've been sharpening my knives WAY too much. Now that I can see what I'm doing, I just do what needs to be done. No more guessing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvKG_8k7FPA

Sharpening Video #3
I've always heard that leather strops do not remove metal, they only straighten and polish it. However, my strop turned the two angles I had put on my blade into a beautiful curve, with about one fifth of the stropping I usually do after sharpening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSOh4GuCFVk

Happy sharpening!

 

[Jason B.]

The ones you have linked and various USB microscopes work very well to around 300-400x but even at that level its pushing it because the lighting is never enough. Lighting and focus issues can be a PITA but they give you a good view of what is going on.

Everything in this price range gives about the same result, you would need a scope in the $1k price range to get to the next level of viewing.

I use a kids toy called a bionicam
This is a edge finished at 8k and viewed at 200x

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