What do you use to view your blade's condition?

W

wcpender

Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
1
Hello,
I am a newbie and would like to buy something to view my blades condition or quality of my sharpening. What do you use to see your blade?
A magnifying glass, loupe, or microscope, etc..

Thanks
 
I have been using anything from 3X to 10X magnifiers. I'm finding that even those can help a lot, IF (and this is a BIG "IF") you use them under very good light. Many members here are using microscopes (USB type, used connected to a computer) up to 200X or higher, and that's great I'm sure. I still will likely move in that direction. But, with BRIGHT light, you can accomplish quite a lot with much less magnification. I do think ~10X is pretty ideal at the lower end, though. If using a lighted loupe or magnifier, make sure the light is BRIGHT. Otherwise, it's a waste of batteries. Too much detail will be lost, under dim light.
 
Good,strong overhead lighting and either a big 8x loupe or a smaller 15x. Microscopes are nice, but everything you need to know can be found with a loupe under 20x, pivoting the knife under some good lighting, and a few cut tests.

I have access to a metallurgical microscope at work - I have yet to find a burr at higher magnification that couldn't be seen at 15x. Tho the pics are pretty cool.

This is 1095 carbon steel off a King 1200 grit waterstone - at 1600x - pretty neat patterns in the grind from using a slurry.


1095_1200k_slurry_backhoned1600.jpg
 
I used a 10X loupe for quite some time, but it didn't have the magnification that I desired, so I purchased a small digital microscope, that is variable from 40X to 400x. It plugs into the computer, via a USB connection. I am well satisfied with it.

Ben
 
I use a Bausch and Lomb watch-maker's magnifier, a little double-lens arrangement that clips onto my glasses frame. Flip the first one down and you have a 4X, flip the second down as well and you have 7x. My corrected vision is quite good, so I have no problem picking out burrs with that and decent lighting. :)
 
HeavyHand, This is very interesting! So, as long as we're not finding it with a 8X, your not finding it with 1600X. Good to know. I use a 8.5X OptiVisor headset. These are not cheap but allows for hands free use. DM
 
Not yet, though things do look a whole lot different at that scale - huge difference from 120x to 640x. At first I couldn't really see much of a correlation between looks and performance. After looking at dozens of edges, now I can tell pretty well how somethings going to cut by how it looks at that magnification. My father in law spent many years designing and testing cutters for industry assures me that anything under 2000x is quite crude, though it is "a good starting point"!
 
I'm at an absolute beginner level with my sharpening skills, but I've found that a good bright light, with a small magnifying power, has improved my skills alot. I use something like this:

http://www.dmail.it/prodotto/169400...l#scat=C114&search_string=lente ingrandimento

and so far I'm fine with that. Mine has a bright white light and a 2,5x/8x lens, and allows me to inspect the knife easily since I don't need to use one hand to hold the magnifier.

:cool:
 
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