Thread: Microscopes Revisited

I have been getting more into using a Norton and my barber hones over the long weekend and once again thought about getting a real microscope instead of using my Radio Shack version.

I thought about the Digital Blue QX5 but see there are other options out there in basic student and inspection microscopes. What has been the general concensus on ultimate power needed to effectively hone a decent edge? I don't really need to see the bacteria on the edge itself or the structure of each individual scratch line but a happy medium is desired.

I am also curiuos about your experiences with each type....the conventional style where the light is below the speciman and the "inspection" type where the subject is usually illuminated from above such as those for inspecting circuit boards etc....

I kind of want something more substantial than a QX5 though as this can be used for other examination related to my "real" job.

Tony

Hi Tony:

The QX5 has a maximum magnification of x200 and the camera resolution is 640x480. The scope is digital only (view image on the PC, no optical viewing). The construction is all plastic, and you have to fiddle with the focus a bit. The x200 magnification is more than enough for blade edge inspection, but the low resolution of the camera and lenses makes for a low quality image. I can see more detail in my optical hand held x50 quality scope than at x200 in the QX5.

You have a choice of incident or transmission mode (light on top or bottom). In both cases these are white superbrite LEDs. For blade inspection incident light is the way to go. Incident light is fixed in the QX5 so you have to shift the blade around to get the light at just the correct angle. It is not an easy matter to balance the str8 on the viewing platform and get it at the right orientaion for the light and have it just in the right position under the lens.

I am thinking of using one of those USB LED lights for laptops as a flexible incident light source. They come on a flex tube so you can place it as you wish. That way at least the angle to the light would be adjustable separately.

I only bought the QX5 because it was cheap ($79.95) and in the worst case my kids could use it for fun.

I would think that for anything other casual usage you would be better served with a bit higher quality scope. The image quality of the QX5 is very low. There are other digital scopes with the same camera resolution but the quality images in their "gallery" would blow the QX5 away. Quality of lenses matter. Quality of the digital camera matters. There is only so much you can squeeze into $79.95.

Olympus digital scope ($795)

ProScope (handheld) ($289)

Another options is an optical microscope with a digital camera built in. You will have higher resolution visually and even if the digital camera is 640x480 just like the QX5 it will only affect the quality of the images you record not the quality you see. You can also use it without a PC.

Optical with digital camera ($799)

Digital Microscopes on e-Bay

If I could justify the expense I would opt out for a better quality scope.

I have a qx5 and it's decent but I am really wanting to upgrade to something better.

I agree that incident light is the way to go and a nice featire of the RS hand held scope. I saw quite a few on eBay that were "normal" scopes with digital cameras added. Most are setup for transmitted light and those that are for incident light like the inspection microscopes all are lower power with 60x near maximum. Quite a few in the $200 range that I suppose would still e better than a QX5.

Tony

Well I'll tell you I've been having this go around with Joe Lerch about magnification and resolution he maintains you need at least 100x or so to see the proper detail but my position is that you don't need anything near that. Resolution and light gathering power is far more critical than magnification.

I have a Nikon Stereo microscope I bought 30 years ago while I was in the navy in Japan. I think I paid about $200 for it with accessories of course it was 360 yen to the dollar then but I can see more with that scope at 20x then most of the pictures I see here at 100x because of the resolution. Before you buy do yourself a favor and try and examine a razor with a quality scope at low power and you'll see what I mean.

I'm into amateur astronomy and its a well accepted fact that a better quality scope at lower magnification will resolve much more detail than a cheaper or cheaper and larger scope at higher magnification. Its all resolution and light gathering power not magnification. I think its the same with microscopes.

I just realized that the QX5 is advertized as 640x480 but gives only 512x384 image. That is 36% less pixels.

A microscope. I have three different models. two of them are 30X and the Radio Shack 60X-100X. I do not use the RS anymore. The resolution is to poor.
The 30X has served all my needs. It tells me the starting condition of the bevel, width, nicks rust spots etc and shows me the changes as I hone the blade.
While I am honing I look for:
1.The removal of the nicks and rust spots
2.The uniformity of the bevel, width, and most importantly, that the entire length of the edge is coming into contact with the hone. This is because of some razors having a slight warp or bend in the blade or the razor has been honed improperly in the past.
3. Color, I want to see a uniform brightness on the width of the bevel. If the edge is darker than the rest of the bevel than the bevel is not fully formed.
4. Wire edge


All of the above can be seen with a 30X handheld microscope. A 10X loupe, bright light, back honing and the thumbnail test can be used for most of the above.

The 100X and up scopes would be a great learning tool, and really cool, but are not necessary for successful honing.


Just my two cents,

Randy,
I have other uses for one as well and was most interested in the ones without the movable stage, typically labled as inspection microscopes. They seem to top out at 60-80x which I felt would be enough based on what I see with the RS scope.

At work I examine or foundry sand structure as well as the fracture structure of metal tensile test specimens and a lower power incident light scope would be handy there too.

Tony

I agree with thebigspendur. You don't need digital microscope for your blade examination. You will be just fine with student optical 400x, cost about 50$. I like durfee's 1000x pics


no fins here!

Nenad

There must be somebody on here with access to an electron microscope!
To be honest I make do with a 30x loupe. It is more than enough for my needs. The key is proper lighting and angle.
I'm sure for really detailed research the equipment needed is too expensive for any of us to bother with.