a useful tool for knife (and general) sharpening

[Ken S]

A friend sent me this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Horizon-Optical-Magnifier-Lighted-Jeweler/dp/B00CMDIOBK

There has been some useful and interesting forum conversation recently about USB microscooes. I hope to purchase one in the near future. That said, I just received this lighted optical magnifier I ordered. I am very pleased with it. It looks well made. The magnified image is bright and clear. I am impressed with the unit and amazed with the low cost. I recommend it highly. I think it will work well with the USB microscope, and it is easier to view than my old machinist loupes.

Ken

[SharpenADullWitt]

Well I be a........


I inherited one of those, and it is around here somewhere.  I always thought with where it was, it had something to do with stamp collecting.

[Ken S]

I'm sure it would do a fine job for a stamp collector. It ain't too shabby for a sharpener, either.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

The magnified image is bright and clear.

I'm surprised by that, too. I would think that at that low of a price there would be chromatic and spherical aberration.

Reading the reviews on Amazon I see that it has both millimeter and one-sixteenth inch gradations in the scale. And it can be used with a cell phone to take excellent pictures for sharing here on the forum! The case would be must for keeping it clean in the shop so that it's ready when you need to use it.

It's on my shopping list.

[Ken S]

Herman

The low price surprised me, too. I have an old Schneider 4X magnifing loupe from my film photography days. It cost a hundred dollars twenty five years ago. Frankly, I have no illusion that this fifteen dollar magnifier will compare optically with a top of the line quality loupe. However, for fifteen bucks, it has a lot of firepower. The measurement lines are rather thick, too thick for critical measurement. Do not expect this to rival a Starrett rule or machinist's optical reticle.

It comes with a good zippered case. The scales are both horizontal and vertical for metric and imperial. The light is bright. The image showed the scratches on my chef's knife. I would not complain at twice the price.

Ken