Loupes

Discuss Spyderco's products and history.
Skidoosh
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Loupes

#1

Post by Skidoosh »

Talk to me about loupes, what magnification do you use, anything in particular to look for or stay away from?
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Mr Blonde
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#2

Post by Mr Blonde »

I have 10x power folding loup, I've seen that type of loup being used most at knife shows and gatherings of knife knuts. You can spend a lot of money on one if you want to. I went with an Eschenbach with a plastic body; the lens quality is great and the pricing very reasonable.
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Invective
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#3

Post by Invective »

I was at a Gem and Jewelry show last year and found 10x and 30x loupes for under $10 total. I use the 30x way more than I do the 10x barely even use the lesser. It has served me well and greatly improved my sharpening abilities as I am able to see just exactly where I am hitting with my stones. If you have the chance, I would definitely recommend a 30x. I believe Amazon has cheap ones
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#4

Post by Pinetreebbs »

After reading a previous thread on this topic I bought Belomo lens loupe magnifiers in 10x and 20x. Excellent glass and very well made.
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#5

Post by ChapmanPreferred »

I use this one:

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... 3351,51092

which works really well and has its own illumination.
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#6

Post by N. Brian Huegel »

http://www.ottofrei.com/10x-Triplet-LED ... Loupe.html

Here's one the works great. I gave one to Sal a couple of years ago.
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#7

Post by phillipsted »

I like the BelOmo Triplet loupes - either 10x or 12x. Any more powerful, and the depth of field gets too shallow to be useful. These can be found with a quick Google - my Brother turned me on to these, he's a geologist and this is the most popular loupe in his circles. They are a little more expensive than the plastic lensed loupes - but they give you a nice flat field of view and are clear as a bell. I've got three of them.

TedP

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#8

Post by xceptnl »

I have a 10x, 20x and 30x to be sure I can view my scratch patterns.
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#9

Post by jackknifeh »

I've had a few inexpensive ones. All under $10. I now have one I got on chefknivestogo.com that has a 30x and a 60x lens on it with LED lighting. It is $8 or $9 also. I like it a lot. It is plastic and I'd say not all that durable. However I've had it for a couple of years and had no problems. If I needed to carry one around in my pocket all the time this may not be the best choice. It's not a piece of junk though. Plenty durable for working at a bench or table IMO. It does just fine for quick looks at scratch patterns when sharpening. The next thing I'm going to get for looking at magnified edges is the Veho microscope that connects to a PC via a US cable. It comes with software to allow the user to view and take pictures up to 400x. It runs around $65. This is the least expensive microscope I've seen in the small amount of time I've spent shopping for one. My actual needs aren't that demanding and I'm not a rich person. I've seen loupes that cost $30 and more and always wondered why buy one of those instead of adding some $ and getting a microscope. Keep the quick glance loupes cheap. I only say this because my cheap one works fine. Everyone buys what fits their needs though.

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#10

Post by Tdog »

My honey says I'm looped............ 10 fold. :p The CNTG works ok for me though I have a backup
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#11

Post by Pinetreebbs »

phillipsted wrote:I like the BelOmo Triplet loupes - either 10x or 12x. Any more powerful, and the depth of field gets too shallow to be useful. These can be found with a quick Google - my Brother turned me on to these, he's a geologist and this is the most popular loupe in his circles. They are a little more expensive than the plastic lensed loupes - but they give you a nice flat field of view and are clear as a bell. I've got three of them.

TedP

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+1

It your previous post that got me to try a Belomo, thank you very much, excellent glass.
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Cheygriz
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#12

Post by Cheygriz »

To me, the VEHO digital microscope beats the dickens out of any loupe.

Inexpensive, easy to use, and works great. Takes pictures of your edges for future reference as well.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... &A=details
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#13

Post by jackknifeh »

Cheygriz wrote:To me, the VEHO digital microscope beats the dickens out of any loupe.

Inexpensive, easy to use, and works great. Takes pictures of your edges for future reference as well.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... &A=details
Thank you for this link. I've been wanting one of these for a while. It is much better than anything I've ever used (owned) for looking at edges. Also, my grandson is now 3 1/2 years old and I'm sure he will be needing something like this when he gets older. My Dad had one I used for science class in jr. high. Of course, using my grandson's needs is just another justification for getting something I want for my knife/sharpening hobby. :) I told my wife a couple weeks ago I want this on my Christmas gift list. HOWEVER, the price at the link you provided is much less expensive than the site I have been looking at. However the price on the other site is high enough that it qualifies for free shipping. Either way, I'll be getting this microscope soon I hope. Of course to get it for a Christmas gift requires I be good. :( I may need to buy it for myself. :)
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#14

Post by jackknifeh »

Cheygriz wrote:To me, the VEHO digital microscope beats the dickens out of any loupe.

Inexpensive, easy to use, and works great. Takes pictures of your edges for future reference as well.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... &A=details
Question about this microscope. Here is a statement from the advertisement on the page your link goes to:

"Light on the pocketbook and fun for the whole family, the Veho VMS-004D 400x USB Microscope provides a closer look at the world around you with either 20x or 400x magnification."

I am assuming this could be written better to indicate a gradual zoom between 20x and 400x is what this microscope is capable of. To me, from reading the add the thing can magnify at 20x or 400x but not at 100x, 200x, etc. Can you clear this up for me please? Thanks.
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#15

Post by DRKBC »

I have had this one for years, its a great loupe but there are other that are also very good. What is important in a good loupe is that it is a corrected loupe. Meaning it is corrected for spherical and chromatic aberration. As loupes have a convex lens, poorer quality non corrected loupes will distort the image (spherical aberration) and the colours will come into focus in different planes (Chromatic aberration) so you get colour smear. More power isn't necessarily better 10 power loupes are very popular for a reason and that is the focal distance, 7 power is fine too but when you go higher than 10 power you will find you have to be right on top of the object with your loupe to bring things into focus, as the focal distance is very short it is also easy to move it out of focus. Just my .02.

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#16

Post by jackknifeh »

DRKBC wrote:I have had this one for years, its a great loupe but there are other that are also very good. What is important in a good loupe is that it is a corrected loupe. Meaning it is corrected for spherical and chromatic aberration. As loupes have a convex lens, poorer quality non corrected loupes will distort the image (spherical aberration) and the colours will come into focus in different planes (Chromatic aberration) so you get colour smear. More power isn't necessarily better 10 power loupes are very popular for a reason and that is the focal distance, 7 power is fine too but when you go higher than 10 power you will find you have to be right on top of the object with your loupe to bring things into focus, as the focal distance is very short it is also easy to move it out of focus. Just my .02.

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Very interesting info IMO. I think your $.02 is worth a dime. :)

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#17

Post by kbuzbee »

This Bausch & Lomb 40X has always worked well for me.

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Depth of field is no problem and I can see all the detail I need.

You do need decent lighting. I have a slf lit as well, but the optics are no where near as good.

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#18

Post by DRKBC »

kbuzbee wrote:This Bausch & Lomb 40X has always worked well for me.

Image

Depth of field is no problem and I can see all the detail I need.

You do need decent lighting. I have a slf lit as well, but the optics are no where near as good.

Ken
I have had many Bausch and Lomb loupes over the years I still have a 30 power, they are great loupes. The thing I really like about this particular loupe is it's optics and its physical size, its big and has lots viewing surface, you don't find yourself squinting.

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#19

Post by JD Spydo »

For the past 8 years I've relied on my Bausch & Lomb 10X x 17X loupe and for a relatively inexpensive unit it's done quite well for me. I got mine through a machinist's supply warehouse here in Kansas City, Missouri USA Earth. The supply house I got it from carries high dollar, high quality stuff for the most part.

The unit I really wanted to get and someday I'm going to get one is a German made Zeiss. You can get the Zeiss in just about any power you want. A friend of my dad's who was a real, old school watchmaker who used to work on everything from Bulova to Rolex told me that Zeiss was truly the best out there.

There are other great optics on the market but I've had my best luck with the German and Japanese made units. I do most of my work with the 10X and I don't often use the 17X attachment but occasionally I'll check my freehand blade sharpening with it.

But a Zeiss unit is my next one to be sure. There are 3 really reputable dealers on the internet that sell Zeiss here located in the USA in case anyone is interested in checking them out. >> JD :spyder: O
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#20

Post by JD Spydo »

jackknifeh wrote:Question about this microscope. Here is a statement from the advertisement on the page your link goes to:

"Light on the pocketbook and fun for the whole family, the Veho VMS-004D 400x USB Microscope provides a closer look at the world around you with either 20x or 400x magnification."

I am assuming this could be written better to indicate a gradual zoom between 20x and 400x is what this microscope is capable of. To me, from reading the add the thing can magnify at 20x or 400x but not at 100x, 200x, etc. Can you clear this up for me please? Thanks.

We had microscopes in our machinist's lab where I got some of my schooling. The ones we had were called "disecting microscopes">> now they would put a knife edge up close like you wouldn't believe. I would love to land one of those someday. The ones we had at the school were made by Nikon of Japan and they were very expensive. But if I was to use one for knife edges that would be the one I would like to have.

Is this one you're talking about a "disecting microscope"??
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