Thread: What magnification is best for a budding honer?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Proof of that can be found if you read up on spotting scopes for long range rifle shooting. The quality of the lenses is far more important than the power.

Yes that's true enough. The problem is most folks have never used truly good optics so they have no idea. That was brought home to me years ago when we used to typical B&L Binoculars for work which I always thought were great until we bought some sets of Steiners and the difference was eye opining (pun intended). With good optics the appliance seems to disappear and it's like you're seeing it with your eyes alone.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Yes that's true enough. The problem is most folks have never used truly good optics so they have no idea. That was brought home to me years ago when we used to typical B&L Binoculars for work which I always thought were great until we bought some sets of Steiners and the difference was eye opining (pun intended). With good optics the appliance seems to disappear and it's like you're seeing it with your eyes alone.

Hmmmmm Now that might not be such a great thing for an old fart like Jimmy


***Ducks back out the door before the stones fly

speaking of ducks, i'm so glad my permanent collection is securely protected by many a gun up in idaho
and now i don't even have to worry about the estate taxes

oh this was about optics - i'm a sucker for the good stuff and mine's leica. probably total overkill, but i can hone without touching the edge for testing, just monitoring in the scope when i get to the verge to overhone.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Hmmmmm Now that might not be such a great thing for an old fart like Jimmy


***Ducks back out the door before the stones fly

Better an old one than a dead one.

singlebarrel,

I use triplet loupes of 10, 20 & 30 x, which work fine; the 20x is what I use the most.

+1 to decent quality optics; a flat field also makes loupes a bit easier to use.

The working distance for the higher powers is a bit short, so you have to be a bit more creative to make sure you can get enough light onto the area you are looking at !

For very long sessions, a stereo microscope is less tiring and gives you much more working space !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I appreciate everyone's input. Thanks for layin down the knowledge. Lookin into the jewelers loupes.

For a good 10X triplet loupe to at Bausch and Lomb and/or Belomo.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Yes that's true enough. The problem is most folks have never used truly good optics so they have no idea. That was brought home to me years ago when we used to typical B&L Binoculars for work which I always thought were great until we bought some sets of Steiners and the difference was eye opining (pun intended). With good optics the appliance seems to disappear and it's like you're seeing it with your eyes alone.

+1 on that,i was in a store looking at bushnell binos and then the salesman said take a look through these ( Swarovski ) WOW !! even in low light these binos were wicked and so was the price. You get what you pay for.

Based on my "professional experience" in optics for "other uses" , I would suggest buying the best quality you can afford as long as the magnification is 10x or more. I have looked at my razors and knives with my german 10x loupe and it shows very clearly the change between 2000 and 4000 and 4000 and 8000. I use other tests for sharpness after that but as far as seeing things I know quality buys you a better look than just going for simple magnification. Viet Cong snipers had 4x scopes and shot the hell out of our guys with an inferior round. German snipers also only had 4x fixed power scopes and were a formitable opponant. Thankfully quality american glass was available duriing both periods and today. My favoriate rifle has a fixed power scope made by an english company that hand laps and polishes their own optics, not sure who does their coating then they had fit each scope. 6x can be a dangerous thing!