Thread: New toy! USB microscope

Congrats. The scope seems to focus quite well. I've gone thru 3 of these things & I found the generic Chinese one I bought on eBay wouldn't focus properly. My 2 Vehos focus well but the software is crucial too. I use a Mac & the best software I found was one called WebCam Monitor. Don't even know where I got that one but for razors it's even better than the OSX supplied Photo Booth. Also 200 x max is all you need . 400x is really hard to work with.
The shiny strip as on the right of 3rd pic can also be an incomplete bevel. At the lower grits you should see next to no shine at all apart from any burrs you might drag up. After finishing & stropping you will see the slightest hairline glint & even that should be hard to see.

Originally Posted by mikeadams

Hey, Jimmy's right! Lower the magnification and they look fantastic! LOL!

gssixgun - This is the one I got:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/636

Pretty basic, but it works well enough to fit my needs so far. Ask me again on day 2 after using it to help me hone. May have to call my niece over to help me out with these new-fangled gadgets!

Steve

that looks like the Veho usb microscopes that are used around here, only the magnification is different.
I wonder if the quality of the images is the same.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

snip..
I use a Mac & the best software I found was one called WebCam Monitor. Don't even know where I got that one but for razors it's even better than the OSX supplied Photo Booth.

.....

I don't know if you have tried others, but I use a software called MicroCapture.
Not the finest piece of coding I have seen, but it will take pictures from the Velo cams decent enough

Originally Posted by mainaman

that looks like the Veho usb microscopes that are used around here, only the magnification is different.
I wonder if the quality of the images is the same.

Looks to be on par to me but the mag is fixed at 20x or 200x. Maybe the 400x starts at 50x

Originally Posted by Birnando

I don't know if you have tried others, but I use a software called MicroCapture.
Not the finest piece of coding I have seen, but it will take pictures from the Velo cams decent enough

Yes B. That's what came with the Veho & is inferior to WebCam Monitor.

Originally Posted by HNSB

Half the fun is trying different things and observing what happens. The next time you set a bevel, watch for that thin shiny area at the edge. Rotate the blade different directions to see how the light moves across it. Then you can try different things on the hones to see what makes a difference. If you start with a flat bevel, watch for that micro to appear as you go up on grit or strop. If it's there from the beginning you may not have a complete bevel set.

If you wipe the oil off that Boker it probably won't make you say "yuck" any more.

Cool. Thanks for the tips! Lord knows I'm not a honemeister.

A friend gave me a balsa strop and I'm thinking about putting CrOx on it. Another new thing to try.

Steve

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Congrats. The scope seems to focus quite well. I've gone thru 3 of these things & I found the generic Chinese one I bought on eBay wouldn't focus properly. My 2 Vehos focus well but the software is crucial too. I use a Mac & the best software I found was one called WebCam Monitor. Don't even know where I got that one but for razors it's even better than the OSX supplied Photo Booth. Also 200 x max is all you need . 400x is really hard to work with.
The shiny strip as on the right of 3rd pic can also be an incomplete bevel. At the lower grits you should see next to no shine at all apart from any burrs you might drag up. After finishing & stropping you will see the slightest hairline glint & even that should be hard to see.

Thank you for the input! Hopefuly this will help me get better at honing.

The software it comes with is for windows/mac and is pretty simple, but will take snapshots and video and that's all I would need it to do. 90% of the time I use ubuntu and used guvcview to connect to it, which is what I used on the Boker photo.

Steve

Originally Posted by mikeadams

Thank you for the input! Hopefuly this will help me get better at honing.

The software it comes with is for windows/mac and is pretty simple, but will take snapshots and video and that's all I would need it to do. 90% of the time I use ubuntu and used guvcview to connect to it, which is what I used on the Boker photo.

Steve

Thanks for the ubuntu software tip. I assume mine will come with PC/Mac software and so was wondering what the heck I would use if I wanted to use it with Ubuntu.

You could also use it with Cheese in Ubuntu.

Originally Posted by HNSB

You could also use it with Cheese in Ubuntu.

Cheese would have been my first thought as well, but for whatever reason, it does not run on my machine. *shrug*

So far, guvcview has been working just dandy.

Steve

Very nice photos. I think having purchased a microscope marks us as more than casually into the world of straight razor shaving. I bought an "Amscope" stereo microscope on line and get good views at 45X with it tho, as has been noted, lighting makes a huge difference. I have not tried pictures thru it yet. The thing I have found most consistent on my very best shavers is a very bright hairline at the very edge, just outside of the dark bevel. I'll work on the photo thing.