Thread: What microscope is good for fixing damaged edges?

Hi Ricky,
I got one from eBay for $0.01 + $7 (odd) shipping from China.
The first one got lost in the post but the replacement they sent works fine for me.
It's a 60x with both white and blue LEDs - just PM me if you would like to borrow it for a while.
Geoff

For 13$ you can get a cheap and very effective scope from radioshack, it has a zoom feature of up to 100x magnification and will show you everthing you need to know.

If there's a jeweller's supply house in Australia, they'll have a 10x triplet "diamond loupe". It won't be cheap, but it will have a fairly flat field, and no "color fringeing".

Like this one:

Bausch & Lomb 10x & 20x Hastings Triplets | National Jeweler's Supplies

or this one:

NJS Hex Hastings Triplet Loupe 21mm 10X | National Jeweler's Supplies

Charles

PS -- A 10x loupe will _not_ show the scratches left by an 8K stone on the bevel. But for checking for "swiss cheese", pitting, chips, etc, it's perfectly adequate.

I've had the same question for a while now - loupe or scope. I'm headed to RadioShack today to see what options they have. I know they have a pocket magnifier like Mainaman shared a link to, but I know everyone talks about their $15 microscope as well. There's a USB lighted microscope on Buy.com for ~$35 that is supposed to be good for this type of use as well.

I think, if I had my time over, I'd go for a 30x lighted loupe - only because it shows more of the edge and you don't need to touch it on the blade

I make do with a good light source and a 10X loupe.

I have a 60x with white and blue light that shows me things so small I'm not sure they even matter. Cost me $2.50 AUD inc freight from China off eBay. I also have a two stage 5x + 5x loupe I ... acquired back in primary school that works pretty well.

Originally Posted by Havachat45

Hi Ricky,
I got one from eBay for $0.01 + $7 (odd) shipping from China.
The first one got lost in the post but the replacement they sent works fine for me.
It's a 60x with both white and blue LEDs - just PM me if you would like to borrow it for a while.
Geoff

Thanks for the kind offer Geoff
I would like to give you a call to arrange it
and naturally a meet and greet as well
Are you available in the next few days
I have a few days off work until Friday night
PM me if you like or ring me

Cheers for now

Rick

i have one of the radioshak 60-100x scopes.... it works well... but... you have to be careful or you can damage the edge while looking at it.... and it shows you WAYYY close ups of the edge... maybe too close....

I have a 7.5X el cheapo for the checking up on 'bigger' chips, uneven bevels, pitting and the likes. I can do most of it by eye though, I use this mainly for checking if I saw it right, which I usually do. For edge comparison and close inspection I use a 60-100X handheld microscope with LED-light. I picked it up for around €14, so about $19. Works like a charm, although it took me about 15 minutes to figure out it gave me a mirrored image .

But yes, like Paco664 said, these are extreme close-ups for close edge inspection, anything from 5x-30x should be all you really need. It's not rocket science, it's honing.