Thread: Cheap microscope here

There's been a bit of microscope talk lately and I've seen a few threads regarding which scope to buy, so I just wanted to post up the one I got because I think it works well and it is super cheap.

You can find it here. It's $7.05 shipped worldwide. It takes about a week, maybe a little more, to show up. It it LED illuminated, 60x to 100x. I use mine at a setting of ~85x as I'll describe below. Just an FYI, the ad says it uses 2x AAA batteries, but they are not in mine, they are the 3 little ones in the picture on their site, type LR1130.

The way I use mine that is very easy and very repeatable is to turn the focus and zoom knobs all the way counter clockwise (when facing them), and then turn just the zoom knob back such that the lens goes down ~1/8" (just under). In this configuration, you can hold the scope with the clear plastic piece end in the grind of the razor, not quite at the spine (but close), and then you basically focus by raising and lowering the other end of the scope (or tilting the razor) which is quicker and easier than twisting a knob. When using this configuration, the zoom/focus point is just right such that the reflection of the light off the bevel is great for determining where you in removing scratches while honing. Once you get the hang of it, you can very quickly analyze an entire razors edge, with the razor in your hand, by sliding the scope along the grind/spine of the razor.

Just thought I'd share.