New Favorite Loupe

A

Accumulator

Well-known member
I often use magnification to evaluate my paint, and like others here I sometimes use the 30X lighted magnifier from Radio Shack. It's a great tool and perfect for jobs like inspecting the edges of tools during sharpening. But I never really enjoy using it for paint inspection, as it seems to be too high a magnification *especially* when evaluating metallics.



I recently got THIS 15X ILLUMINATED LOUPE and I *really* like it. Powerful enough to see what I want to see, not so powerful that the metallic flakes make everything look like a kaleidoscope- great for inspecting automotive paint. Highly recommended.
 
After the local Meg's class here, where Rod Kraft showed off his 30X Radio Shack magnifier, we all ran out to buy them. Problem was, they had changed it to 60X (or at least that's the ones they had in the stores), which was just crazy. You would spot a defect on the paint, and try to put the thing down over it...but the field of view was so small at 60X that you could hardly ever find the spot you wanted to look at (nice "kaleidoscope" show, tho!). Thanks for posting up that much more usable looking one.
 
I think the 60X magnifier still has use for examining sanding scratch but I agree it’s too much for most defects.



I recently picked up a couple of loupes from American Science & Surplus (sciplus.com) for dirt cheap. (AS&S is sort of a Mecca for school science projects and nerds in general.)



They’re really pretty nice for molded optics, double element acrylic lenses, reasonably low distortion and good image quality. They’re not as nice as ground glass optics but they're a fraction of the cost.



loupey.jpg




The one on the left is the 5X and it’s a honker, 2-1/2� lens. Probably not the best for detailing but fun anyway (stock# 90149, $9.95). I think it’s meant for looking at whole butterflies



The one on the right is 10X with a 1� lens (stock# 90148, $4.95). This one’s a good paint inspection loupe.



They also sell an illuminated 30X pocket microscope.

34407.jpg


But I didn’t see it when I made my last order so I haven’t tried it yet (stock# 34407, $5.95).



They have quite a few of other magnifiers too and lots of generally fun stuff.





PC.
 
Yeah, that's a fun (and sorta wacky :D ) catalog! Funny, I haven't looked through my latest one, just filed it away. Those are good prices all right. That 30X lighted one appears to be the same one Radio Shack used to sell, at least it looks identical to mine (forget the brand name on mine).



That jumbo 5x one does look like it'd be fun for all sorts of stuff.



I spotted some in the Deutsche Optiks catalog too, but IMO they were a bit pricey for what they were.



With all the different magnifications available, everybody oughta be able to find something that works great for them. These things really are handy.
 
Accumulator said:
Yeah, that's a fun (and sorta wacky :D ) catalog! Funny, I haven't looked through my latest one, just filed it away...
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Strangely, the loupes I bought weren't in the print catalog. I found them online. Perhaps they're new since the last printing.



Accumulator said:
...I spotted some in the Deutsche Optiks catalog too, but IMO they were a bit pricey for what they were...
Click to expand...
Certainly not cheap, but there's nothing like German glass, mmmmmmm (and they're coated too). If I was spending hours making jewelry or interpreting photoreconnaissance I'd pick 'em up in a heartbeat.





PC.
 
the other pc said:
Certainly not cheap, but there's nothing like German glass, mmmmmmm...
Click to expand...



Heh heh, don't get me going on the merits of German glass...



[Accumulator and his wife shoot Leicas ;) ]
 
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