Some Thoughts on Magnifiers (Not Microscopes)

From time-to-time, I like to think about my honing kit/equipment and try to make it better or identify new things that I want to try. I've recently added a Shapton glass HR 4k and a Bausch and Lomb 7x Hastings triplet, and believe my comments about the magnifier may be of help to others.

When I began honing razors and needed to check the apex for bevel set, chips, wires/fins etc, the first thing that I did was to round up most of the magnifiers around the house and try them out. I used mostly a 5x hand held 'glass' and it worked pretty well. I had decent relief (distance) from the edge and could see a decent length of edge so that checking the entire length wasn't a chore. But the lens had distortion typical of cheap lenses, barrel distortion (the edge looks curved), color fringing (chromatic abberation), sometimes some annoying brightness that could be confused with wires or fins (probably specular abberations) and so on. But by shifting the edge, glass, and light, I could see what I needed to see.

A friend gave me a 10x and 20x probably Chinese loupes, and those were useful too. The 10x and 20x got me too close to the edge for my comfort and of course the higher the magnification, the less of the edge you can see at once, so inspecting the entire bevel requred a lot of shifting, focusing, getting the light right, and so on, but you can make it work. The abberations and distortion with both these were as bad or worse than the 5x glass as might be expected from higher power glass, and could be annoying trying to get a really good look at the apex.

Years ago, I had a 10x Bausch and Lomb Hastings triplet, but it had vanished over the years. I decide to give the 7x Hastings triplet a try, but at about $35 it is a considerably larger investment than the cheap Chinese glass or a hand magnifier. I hit the 'buy' button wondering if it would be worth it.

The answer is yes, because I do quite a bit of honing and the cost is a one-time cost, and unless I drop it I'll likely never need another. The B&L triplet has no visible distortion or abberations that interfere with getting that critical look at the apex. That is really nice - I wish I'd gotten one years ago. No doubt it does have some abberations and distortion, all lenses do - but the difference between the B&L and the cheap glass is pretty large.

So if you hone a lot or just enjoy not having to fight your magnifier, I'd say it is worth the $35 as a one-time expense.

Cheers, Steve

I've got the same loupe. I bought it to speedily check points on tattoo needles before starting a job. For the same reason I also have a B&L 14X Hastings Triplet and a B&L 20X HT. For honing I bought a 30X from Widget Supply. The thing about the B&L glass is precision, accuracy, and no distortion. A friend gave me a medium size magnifying glass for reading.

https://www.widgetsupply.com/product/BCX46.html

I checked it out on a printed page and only the very middle was distortion free, the rest was like a funhouse mirror. The same in an old B&L I've had for decades is distortion free from edge to edge. The nice thing about the 7X is the large size compared to higher power loupes. Plenty of light gathering and you don't have to be so close to the object that it makes focusing difficult. The 14X is small with less field of view, and the 20X is even worse.

The 30X from Widget has good optics and is as large as the 7X so has the same characteristics of light gathering and field of view. You do have to be quite close to the object to focus. Made in China (who would have thought it) while my old B&Ls are USA made.

Yupper, you do not need very high magnification for honing. What you do need in a lens is a flat field of view, wide angle, triplet design and good lens coatings if you can find them in a loupe. Unfortunately a lens like that is expensive to make but a joy to use.

Bob

Aloha!

Good thread.

My other hobby is vintage High Fidelity Stereo equipment and Vinyl Records and I collect and restore vintage audio equipment, espeically vinyl turntables. You need a similar loop or magnifier to view the stylus (needle) of your turntable to look for damage or wear on the stylus.

I have been using these 40x illuminated magnifiers from Amazon for a long time. They are dirt cheap and they seem work OK for me for viewing my honing edge. I use them because I have them all over the shop from my Audiophile hobby.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

40x is probably a bit of overkill for a honed edge, but their field of view is decent, the clarity is surprisingly good, and I don't mind the illumiation. For viewing a turntable stylus it's perfect. But I would not mind a lower power for Honing. So, I will look at the 30k listed here.

-Zip

Great advice! I too have found x7-x10 magnification is more than enough for all intents and purposes. Well, may be except for creation great educational videos some of the honemeisters here had published on the tube :chapeau
There is one big problem with cheap Chinese loupes and magnifiers sold on Amazon and eBay: one can never believe the stated magnification. I have x30 triplet I bought for a couple of bucks on the bay, and what can I say, it's not even a true triplet (I actually opened the threads to check) and not it is even near the promised x30.
On the other hand, I got BelOMO 10x Triplet Loupe (there are x7 x10 x12 x15 and x20) and it's entirely another league. I even think it's better than the B&L you've mentioned: very bright coated aberration-free optics.

Aloha!

Good point on the cheap Chinese magnifiers power being questionable. The reason my so-called 40x magnifier works well enough for honing is probably because it's really only a 25 or 30x. Again, I bought these for viewing stereophonic turntable stylus (needles), but they seem to work well enough now for honing. Still, I'm ordering one of the loops listed above so I can really "get the full picture" of my edge evaluation.

-Zip

With any kind of optics the goal should be when you look through it the device disappears and all you are aware of is the item being magnified. It's all about resolution and eye relief. Maybe your wallet won't thank you but your eyes certainly will.

A 30x loupe is all you should ever need for honing. As a matter of fact if you have quality optics 10x will show you plenty.

I have to say I agree with thebigspendur. I went through a stage where I was checking edges under 200x magnification, and my edges went downhill and shaves suffered. I have a 20 x loupe and I only use it sparingly. Result being that my shaves were back to normal, in other words my face couldn't feel what my 200 power scope was seeing. I believe magnification should be as a diagnostic tool, not a checking one.

I have a good few loops now and the7x Hastings triple looks like one I should get.
The only thing is that I rely on the LED light because I hone in quite a dark room.

I may well invest, the only problem is all the customs malarkey that goes with it .

( you can't beat the naked eye and light reflecting imo but you need great eye sight also)

Like the OP, I also like a low-mag achromat triplet to view my razors. For the past couple of years or so, it's been a surplus ~10x achromat triplet intended for binocular or telescope viewing. Works great. The B&L triplets work well too. 7x, 10x, or 14x is good a good range IMO as they allow the bevel to be viewed by reflected light and the edge in silhouette. 20x is a bit too close for me and not really feasible for viewing the bevel.

My B & L 7x triplet shows me all that I need to see..

I have a 7x, 10x and 14x triplet and the 10x does most of the work.
The big value is checking for any bit of magic marker on the edge side of the bevel.
The magic marker test tells me a lot more than looking at scratch patterns.

Our eyes differ enough that the magnification is a choice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by niftyshaving

I have a 7x, 10x and 14x triplet and the 10x does most of the work.
The big value is checking for any bit of magic marker on the edge side of the bevel.
The magic marker test tells me a lot more than looking at scratch patterns.

Our eyes differ enough that the magnification is a choice.

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Interesting post! At what grit level are you looking for Sharpie with the 10x?

Boy howdy about eyes and magnification.

Cheers, Steve

I tend to agree with you Steve about. 20x. I wasted a bit of time on high mag USB rubbish. So at first 20x seemed good but I've reconsidered and I'll be going similar to you. Thanks Bob.