Hello, how much magnifications do you guys use and recommend? ive tried reading up on it but found conflicting advice. How much magnification would be too much?
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Hello, how much magnifications do you guys use and recommend? ive tried reading up on it but found conflicting advice. How much magnification would be too much?
Use as much as you need to see what you gotta see. I use 200x. Others will say a 30x loupe is enough. Maybe it depends on your eyesight.
30X
It works for me. At meets I discovered that we all get used to out loupe and if you just grab whatever loupe off the table it won't always be the view you are used to even if they are all 30x
30X as well.
An 11x triplet magnifier (achromatic loupe) works for me. I look at the bevel by reflected light and the edge in silhouette.
Yes, you will get lots of conflicting replies. Personally all I have ever used is a low power loupe to see what is what. From that experience I would not go to a very high magnification scope because if I can't see a problem with a 30X loupe there is no problem with the edge for the purpose of shaving with it for me. When you are first starting to hone it will take a while to properly interpret what you are seeing anyway.
Bob
I use about a 30X loupe, anything more for me and the way I work is overkill.
An inexpensive 30-60x LED loupe from Amazon does the trick for me.
The 60X i use was/is cheap and available. The real difficulty is eye relief for me. I hate to hold a cranked angle of my head to use some of the devices available. directed light, for this old phart, is important
Those lighted cheapies' allow my eye to be a few inches from the eyepiece, that way I can see what I am doing with the holding hand and change the light direction at the same time.
Attachment 275262
A Jeweler's loupe is similar in that the position of the loupe stuck into the eye socket allows viewing with little distortion.
As said many times above.. use what works, and that may change over time.
~Richard
I have a 30x stereo microscope which is probably 30+ years old but works as it should. I mostly use it as one way of checking that the bevel is set, and it's plenty of magnification for me. I can look straight down on the edge with it, gives a good view. If I didn't already have that I would have just bought a 30x loupe.
100x stero microscope for me. I don't like using handheld loupe. I have one, but I just don't like it.
A 30x loupe for me too...
I have found it provides enough info...
I prefer to use it in daylight.
I do have one like Geezer mentioned but mine ataches to the cell phone camera by a clamp...60 china Xes...I use it rarely.
When I need to realy test and compare high dollar hones I go to a friend that has a metalographic microscope ...I belive it can go to 1000x
It's old but extremly high quality optical microscope.
It's hard to take pictures from it.
But the detail you get contrast...sharpnes...light... is unbelivable compared to cheap digital usb microscopes that ''correct'' or digitaly enhance the image for more ''clarity''.
One must interpret an image of what is at the edge not what a soft thinks is at the edge.
Beside the magnification...and the image quality...the observer must be able to interpret what he sees...
Good quality usb microscopes made in the USA...can go up to 150$.and they are worth it.
A good quality metallographi microscope can go @500-1000$
Thanks for great answers. Allright so 1000x times is not an overkill? im aleready going to buy a good microscope.
It is definitely overkill. I have one that goes to 1000x and it provides no useful info. My scope is also capable of 400x and 100x. The 100x is just right.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamesalot23
I was going to chime in so I went to the start of this thread and I while I would recommend a good 30 power loupe the most magnification that see was 100.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamesalot23
So I'm wondering where the 1000 power came in (see in Red above). One too many zero when typing :thinking: :shrug:
If so it happens to the best of us. :tu
I find X100 to be my go to magnification. It's about as much as you can use and still inspect the whole edge in a reasonably short period of time. X10-30 is very useful, but if X100 is available I would always go to it.
No need to go over 100x optical magnification for our needs...you just need to see whats going on at the bevels and edge...the amount of info provided under clear magnification from 30x to 100x is more then enough.
The rest can be deduced.
I would worry more about the knowledge needed to interpret the images...as knowledge is of much more value then an image. And interpreting an optical image is most of the time easier then a digitaly enhanced one.
You are not going to get better edges just by looking at them under 1000x...you need to be able to understand what you see and corelate that with your technique...and hones...razor geometry and steel.
A good understanding of an image gets you valuable feedback to adjust your technique...change a hone in the lineup....use tape to modify the angle of honing....understand what the steel can take.....slurry or no slurry...finishing on water...oil etc...and number of laps....pressure of the stroke...and where you apply the pressure...be it at the edge end by torqueing or at the spine...
There are so many variables that need to be understood before going after the ultimate magnification.
Otherwise you'll be just looking at pretty pictures
30x for me too. I have a 300x usb scope and find it frustrating to use because it gives too much detail. a 30x and some good light tells me what i need to know.
I just use a 30x loup. I struggled initially then I got one with a built in LED light. The light makes all the difference for me. It wasn't expensive either.
Good luck.
At the beginning of this thread the 1000x was mentioned. I also have a metalurgical scope with the capability of 1000x .It is primarily for looking at the grain size/composition/structure of a metal. It is not useful for razors, hence my post.Quote:
Originally Posted by cudarunner
Frankly I used a 30x handheld scope for many years and it is more than adequate for the task.
I also use a 30x-60x hand held loupe.
I prefer the 60x myself, I can hold it far enough from the blade and not have to have my eye right at the loupe.
Different strokes for different folks :D
I used to use a 10X jewellers loupe.
Still do every so often.
The last few years I’ve used it if for some reason the resulting edge wasn’t up to snuff.
Most of the time though, I simply hone and test-shave nowadays.
I also bought some USB thingy with hundreds of magnifying power.
Useless shit, that has been tossed out years ago
I use a USB digital microscope because it's easier for me to see the image on a lap top screen. It's capable of about 500x magnification but I normally use it at around 100 to 150. Anything more than that I don't find useful. I prefer to see an image showing a longer portion of the bevel and edge.
Depends on what you are looking for and how good your eyes are.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamesalot23
I use a 10x or 14x hastings triplet (geologist hand lens).
For me the important detail I like to look for is the small pattern of ink
when I use the marker test. If a single stroke on the hone cleans the ink
to the edge of the razor toe to heel the bevel is set, my hone stroke is fine
and the edge will be fine with modern fast cutting hones.
As for magnification you can look at the grit size of your hone kit and
then do the math so you see the scratches of your rocks on steel.
I use the Shapton Glass advertisements to look up grit...
30,000 is 0.49micron ( 0.49µ).. and 1K is 14.7µ.
This sets the scratch distribution and the bounds of what you might want to look at.
Inexpensive USB microscopes will let you see more than most of us need to see.
To confound the issue read about the pyramid method some here use that mixes
grits in a systematic way. The shave is much better than the scratches from the
4k left by the last light laps on the 8k would imply.
Pyramid honing guide - Shave Library
Victor: is your 100X a hand held device and is so would you mind telling were to buy one. I have a 60X that serves me well but I would like toQuote:
Originally Posted by bluesman7
try a 100X. Thank you, Tom Du Jardin
