Thread: Microscope Consensus

Is there any consensus on the best microscope for blade viewing (under $150). I read a few posts on the topic and a lot of you recommended the radio shack hand held. The big kick here seems to be that its hand held and does not have its own light source). A few others recommended recommended the QX3 or QX5. There was also some discussion of 60x magnification versus 100x versus 200x. Any one care to chime in with some recommendations and suggestions (I'm trying to finalize my xmas list for Mrs Claus). Thanks in advance and best regards

The Radio Shack $10 jobbie has it's own light source. Try it first. Even if you're not satisfied, you're not out much. You'd probably still find it useful even if you graduate to a higher priced model............Jeff

I'm guess I'm fortunate in that I bought a very high quality stereo microscope many years ago for about what you want to pay and based on my observations its the resolution and not the magnification that is most important. I think if I was buying just for straight observations I would check out edmunds scientific they have several reasonable microscopes that should fit the bill. Just do an internet search and they will come right up.

I find that between 20x and 40x shows me anything I need to see on a razor.

If your going to only buy a couple of razors then go the cheap route.
The Radio Shack would be sufficent in that case. It has its own light source and although the resolution stinks it will show the nicks in the blade. Use the 60X setting.

If you plan on doing a lot of razor restoration then a scope with better resolution is called for. But note that 30X is ample, just make sure it has its own light source.

If you like the techy side of razor restoration and honing then the QX5 would be really cool.


Hope this helps,