Thread: What Magnification Microscope

Hi all

I have been honing my own razors with a fair degree of success, however i was planning on using a microscope to see what is going on and maybe improve things what magnification do people here Recommend i use???

Thanks

Tom

Originally Posted by warbs1

Hi all

I have been honing my own razors with a fair degree of success, however i was planning on using a microscope to see what is going on and maybe improve things what magnification do people here Recommend i use???

Thanks

Tom

between 60 and 100. With 100 you can really see a lot.
I don't have one myself. I use a professional one at work.

going beyond 100 will increase the cost of a microscope to several thousands of $$, and does not add that much when you want to inspect a blade.

Thanks Bruno

Much appreciated ill have to see what i can find, my parents have a couple as my mother use to work with them in a lab.

Regards

Tom

Hi Tom,

Check out my thread in the hones section titled 'The bigspendur's challenge' I have posted 3 microscope pictures that were taken at almost 60 magnification.

That way you can estimate what you can expect from 100 times magnification.

The pictures show the heel, middle and toe of the razor that I am trying to bring back from the dead.

Thank for the link those pictues help a lot i can see now why people use microscopes to aid honing, you can get a lot of info from those pictures.

Thanks

Tom

Remember its all about resolution not magnification. With low power, even 30x and a good field of view and resolution you can see way more than with 100x and poor resolution and a narrow field of view. Truthfully for most razor work all you need is to be able to check the edge for micro chips and irregularities in the edge and you don't need much quality for that.

Of course if your anal about this and you want to see the bacteria on the edge, well then you need the big guns.

Thanks for that i did have a look at one of my razors on 30X and found out why it is not shaving as it should. It has some micro chips an irregular bits on it so its back to the hone for that one.
Thank you all for your time

Tom

I use a binocular microscope with a range of magnifications but up to about 100x is all you need to see grains. You need to be able to illuminate from the top down instead of the bottom up as with most biological slides. I also use OptiVisors with a range of lenses, jeweler's loupes, and the Radio Shack lighted magnifier which goes up to 100x. At different magnifications you will see different things which will clue you in to what's going on at the edge. Remember to look at the toe and the heel of the razor and not just the middle. You'll be amazed at how this informs your honing.