microscope for viewing knife edges?

N

ninjajoe

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Nov 6, 2006
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I am thinking about buying a microscope for viewing edges, something cheep in the less than $100 range. 500X, Would this be powerful enough? I'm mostly looking for feedback on sharpening technique and various sharpening substrates; I just have no idea what’s appropriate for this purpose.

any suggestions on what to look for when viewing the edge (and microscope features / suggestions) would be apreceated.

thanks in advance.
 
Don't know what you're looking for, but the QX5 microscope produces some decent pics for the cost.

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500X is very powerful. IMO, 20X is just fine. You can pick up a jeweler's loupe for $10-$20. Radio Shack also has a lighted mini microscope that adjusts from 60X-100X, though I find that is too close up to be used easily with just your hands. 20X will show you all you need to see.
 
I have the $10 Radioshack 60x-100x. Works great. You have to steady it by resting it on the blade. It's small enough to fit with the rest of your sharening gear.
 
DocWorkingday said:
I have the $10 Radioshack 60x-100x. Works great. You have to steady it by resting it on the blade. It's small enough to fit with the rest of your sharening gear.
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I agree. It takes a few minutes to get used to it, but the cheap price and great view of the edge it gives you are great for learning about what your edge is doing as you sharpen it. I found it was the one piece of sharpening equipment that really helped me improve my edges, as I could see the actual edge, I could see the burr, and how it acted (flip flop, or cut off clean, or stropped off ragged, ect.), and make sure I got rid of it. Once you minimize the burr your sharpness and edge retention greatly improve.

Mike
 
This may be what you want http://cgi.ebay.com/50X-STAND-SHOP-MEASURING-MICROSCOPE-PENLIGHT_W0QQitemZ170078736733QQihZ007QQcategoryZ48741QQcmdZViewItem a shop microscope. Sevreal places sell them (some are less than $100) and range from 20 to 100 power and use real microscope parts. 20-40x is about all you'll need to show burrs and things or be able to handle easily (at higher powers, just the movement from your breathing or pulse can throw you way off target). That QX5 digital scope does a decent job for knives, as you can see, but you probably wouldn't keep it near your stones. A geologist's hand lens of 10x-20x is really the handiest for checking your work since you can just hang it around your neck and grab for a quick peek at your progress.
 
For some reason I got the impression you were looking for more than a handheld device, but yeah, the RadioShack microscope is great... I always have that close by... using it more now for final inspections, or problem areas. For quick looks while sharpening, I use a 15x lighted loupe. Having a light on the device seems to help see things a bit quicker & better than some of the other loupes/magnifiers I've used.
 
I agree that 10x or 20x is all you need. The Radio Shack although is inexpensive but, I find it hard to use & way too powerful.
 
I have the Radio Shack too, and it gives me a headache. The eyepiece is tiny, it is hard to steady, and it appears to move backwards.

John
 
John Frankl said:
I have the Radio Shack too, and it gives me a headache. The eyepiece is tiny, it is hard to steady, and it appears to move backwards.

John
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Initially I found it a pain, but after using it a few times I can hold it steady (just lay it on the knife blade), follow the edge easily along the length of it, and my brain is used to the reversed picture by now. Initially the first few times I tried to use it I was holding it above the blade, which isn't very effective, but once you lay it flat on the blade and get used to the reversed picture it is very intuitive and useful IMO. The $10 price and easy availability is what sold me on it, and once you spend a few minutes using it it becomes pretty intuitive, and gives you great visual feed back on your edges. You can really see the burrs, and how the scratch pattern tightens as you go to higher grits.

Mike
 
I have a 10x hand loupe for wood anatomy lab that I use when sharping to watch my progress. Wouldnt mind something in the 15-20x range, but 10x gets the job done.
 
John Frankl said:
...and it appears to move backwards.

John
Click to expand...

That's the nature of microscopes. Because of the optics, everything viewed under a microscope looks upside down and backwards. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature, just ask a microscope technician!

You can get dissecting microscopes that will make everything appear right-side up and forwards. There area few on flea-bay in the 10x-40x range for just over $100.

J-
 
thanks for the verry informative replies guys! yes, I was originally thinking of a statonary rotating objective lens type (like the ones in high school biology) becouse these are the only ones I have experience with. it is clear now there are better options.

Question to all: do you think it would help if I welded up a "base" for one of the scopes like this one yuzuha suggested: http://cgi.ebay.com/50X-STAND-SHOP-...GHT_W0QQitemZ170078736733QQihZ007QQcategoryZ4 8741QQcmdZViewItem I'm thinking of a low c-shaped base I could slip the blade between, maby even with some extra light in there. it would be solid, with the scope clamped in, and I would think that would help with the vibration / holding the scope steady problume. this would be fairly small and thus still portable, but wide enough to support a blade. Something like this would be easy for me to make, do you think it would help? is there any time you would want to view the blade edge on?
 
If you want a base, why not just get a dissecting microscope. The image in them is right side up, they come in monocular, binocular and trinocular models ranging from about $70 to $1,000. They have a base with holding clips and plenty of room to get things under them and many come wtih a built in halogen or LED spotlight and some have lights in the bases for transparent objects.

Cheap monoculars: http://www.amscope.com/Dissecting.html
cheap lighted binocular with 2 powers http://www.microscope-depot.com/seriesD.asp
a reasonable low priced zoom http://www.bargainmicroscopes.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=106&products_id=377&zenid=3e32d68940aa06c11cc2f60d4dc3563d

I have this one http://www.greatscopes.com/vision.htm in the 10x/30x. which I picked up for rocks and fossils. It is 8" wide, a food deep and is build like a tank so it isn't very portable, but has a lot of room under the lens. Here's a pic of a dime that I took with it:

Lots of choices out there
 
Back about 4 years ago when I was taking some college courses I got to take a Botany class. We did a lot with Microscopes in that class. The Microscope I liked the best for studying with the middle powers was called a "Disecting microscope". It had binocular eyepieces, was easy to focus and was easy to adjust your object of study within the field of range.

If I remember correctly the 2 brands of "Disecting Microscopes" we had were Nikon and Zeiss. Both were very good. I actually wouldn't mind finding one of them to study blades with. Interesting thread. JD
 
In biology they are called dissecting scopes, in industry they are called inspection scopes, or mostly just low-power binocular microscopes (often a dissecting scope and industrial inspection scope will use the same head but the difference will be that one is mounted on a lighted table stand and the other on an articulated boom stand). I've never seen one of these that doesn't give a normal right-side-up image.

Nikons, Olympus, Zeiss and Leica scopes aren't cheap either! They are better quality than the cheaper stereo microscopes, but the much cheaper stereo microscopes I was pointing out will get you 80%-90% of the way there. I'd say my LW scientific is about 80% - 90% of one of those for about 1/3rd to 1/4th the price of the "legendary brands" like those you mentioned. Lomo is in the middle pricewise and are extremely good Russiian made scopes. Meiji are also high quality Japanese scopes that run a little cheaper than a similar Zeiss or Olympus (if you watch those shows about moon rocks or meteorites you'll notice that NASA has a bunch of Meiji scopes)
 
thanks again for the great responses, that 2 power lighted binocular looks like it would be perfect (the cheeper one). whats the difference between binocular and monocular as far as image quality, or are they just more comfortable to use? I read on one of the discriptions that the binocular produces a more 3-D image?
 
More comfortable and supposedly have a more 3d view, but then I have a lazy eye so that advantage is lost on me and I'd do just fine with a monocular.
 
thanks yuzuha and everyone else. looks Like I'll go with that binocular then. definatly glad I asked for advise here instead of getting something that wouldent have worked!
 
For inspecting what you are doing while you are sharpening, I still think a little 10x-20x geologists had loup/lens on a lanyard around your neck is the most useful. But, if you want to have fun inspecting everything from knives to bugs to rocks and anything else you can find lying around, then a low power binocular microscope with a dual lighted base would probably be the easiest and most pleasurable to use.
 
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