I need an eye loupe, what power??

[nessmuck]

Am looking to get rid of my radio shack scope and get an eye loupe. What power should I get to see the bevel of the razor? Thanks

[Crzylizard]

I use this... and I think several others use it as well

Lighted 30x

Widget Supply 25mm 30x Chrome Teardrop Jewelers Loupe, Illuminated

[thebigspendur]

Depends on the quality of the loupe. 10x should be enough is it's a quality piece.

[diyguy]

I have the same loupe. It's labeled 30X like above, but I suspect that the real power is about 10X. I also have an 80X stereomicroscope. I use the 10X loupe most often though.

[Fender57]

I found a nice 30x \ 60X loupe with led illumination on ebay for $4

[mattluthier]

This is the loupe I use, good quality and works great.

BelOMO 10x Triplet Loupe Magnifier. 21mm (.85") NEW. BRAND. Jewelry Instrument | eBay

[Birnando]

I bought a couple in decent quality, one 7X and the other 10X.
That is really all I need.
I have the 60X and 100X small microscopes found on ebay as well, but the quality on those are not quite up to snuff IMHO.

[mrsell63]

I use a 60x from widgetsupply.com
Whatever loupe you end up with, make sure it is "illuminated".
Lighting is very important.

Jerry

[Double0757]

The pocket microscope gave me a headache, but the magnification is impressive for its cost.
One of the best loupes I've used is actually a camera lens held with the rear element to the working surface. It's easy on the eyes, and there's a pretty wide FOV too.

The wavelengths of light produced by LEDs hide some distractions - you can train you eye to see through the issue, but for me that's more trouble than it's worth. In some cases, it can make blackened engraving on chrome totally invisible to the eye - I found this out when working on tube amps. I was using a surefire G2 LED to inspect panels and I couldn't read or even aee the writing. After dialoging with their engineers - the story seems to be that the issue of color balance and reflectivity was a hurdle that was outshadowed by the extended battery life. The inability of LED to show black on chrome well translates to razor work to some degree, at least in my experience. I've used a few loupes like that, I still have one actually, I keep it in the bathroom.
At any rate, having spent most of my career using a loupe as a tool that was critical to my continued employment, I'm probably way more sensitive to optical and lighting distractions than most people. I've probably invested more on loupes in my lifetime than most people would believe. Like any tool - if it works then it works. But that doesn't mean there isn't a better option.

I value you're opinion. You think you could post links to some loupes that are better than the suppose "30X LED china" special that would not cost as much as a razor? Thanks Double O

[Johnus]

If you can't see it, you won't worry about it! What power did your great grandfather use?