Thread: Blade magnifier

So Ive read so many posts about new guys starting out doing more harm than good at times on the stropping and when starting to hone. Ive asked 'santa' for my first set of hones for when im ready to start. What Im interested in also doing in advance od honing is to start by picking up a magnifier Loupe or otherwise to monitor the razor edge when i strop and later hone to hopefully minimize my errors. So the reason for my post is to find out what would be a recommended magnification strength to use. 40x 60x 80x 100x 200x? Obviously higher means more detail but id rather find that sweet spot and not have too much resolution, forcing me to excessively pan the blade. Thoughts?

it's not about the mag it's about the resolution. A great 10x loupe will show you more than a cheap 100x one. I think in general a 30x will show you more than you need unless you want to see all the minutiae. I think some guys would like to use a SEM if they could.

I use a great 6x loupe and if I need to see more I have one that goes to about 20x which I rarely use.

The guys will give plenty of opinions on this. Check out Deutsche Optic for some candidates or do a search for b & l or some of the German brands like Zeiss.

Check out Amazon there are plenty of cheapies there. However with optics you get what you pay for.

Since buying a B&L 8x jeweller's loupe, I have a handful of cheap loupes that just sit unused now.

I picked up a 10x for about 8 bucks at the hobby lobby. It's the first loupe I've owned so I can't say if it's a great one but for a quick close up look at my edge it gets the job done. Whitman is the brand, again not sure on quality of optics.

I learned pretty quickly that looking at the edge with optics didn't tell me anything I couldn't see with the naked eye and a good light or feel with a thumb nail test. My optics were reconsigned to the tool box.

Any magnification is better than none. I like a 60X lighted loupe, that can be purchased for as low as $2. Ironically they are cheaper than buying replacement batteries, so buy a few.

You can buy better quality but for now, learning what you are seeing is more important than the quality of the image, though good magnification is still not that expensive and it’s not like you will wear it out.

What you want to see it the edge, if you see a chip or damage, look at the bevel to see why. The amount of damage will dictate what will repair it. Looking straight down on the edge will tell you if the bevels are meeting. Any shinny spots are where they are not…

Harbor Freight has a clip on set of lenses, 3.3X & 5X that when using both gives 16.5X. They help my old eyes to see so much more than my Cheater non proscription eye glasses.

Having worn glasses all of my adult life, I place an unusually high value on good optics. Your budget will dictate your choice.
Probably no one gets the chance to look at several loupes at one time. Too bad.

I got the often referred to "cheapo" 60x lighted loupe from Amazon. The only difference is that I spent a few extra bucks to get the one that comes with a clip you use to attach it to your phone. Helpful when I need advice or want to spotlight a specific area of the edge, since there are no straight shavers (that I know of) close enough to speak with in person.

The one I got...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JH...YYS6QGH4CNDZH6

And some pics of a razor I picked up to teach myself honing, still with the antique mall edge...




I hope this was helpful.

P.S. If you are old enough to enter such establishments, the batteries for these can be bought in a six-pack for somewhere in the $6 range. The sort of place I refer to sells marital aids & fancy undies & such...

I also own the cheapo 60x magnifier. It works fine and was cheap. Beware that it shipped straight from China and therefor took months. I would have opted for spending a couple bucks more and getting it sooner