Microscope lighting question
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- This topic has 14 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 01/21/2015 at 1:05 am by
tcmeyer.
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01/19/2015 at 3:12 am #22772
First, as a brand new user, Clay – I have to say I’m impressed with the results I’m starting to get (stone starting to break in/technique getting better). I finally sharped my first ‘good’ knife a Spyderco Stretch VG-10 with it and it came out razer sharp and I now have two bald spots on my arm I’m so happy 😉 .I almost cut myself cleaning the blade – first time in a LONG time that’s happened – they aren’t joking when they warn you in the manual! So Clay thanks for putting out this system, been wanting one for awhile and finally bit the bullet after eyeing it for two years – one of the few knife related products I didn’t instantly have buyers remorse over hah.
Now enough sucking up and gloating and on to the question, hopefully someone has some insight on this.
I bought an AVENs microscope from Amazon. It’s got good enough detail to see what’s going on and it’s lighted. The only issue I have with it is even with the LEDs turned to low I get massive glare from the blade when trying to view it. This is the scope I bought:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004M8SQ6Q/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thinking to avoid the glare I may get one that has a polarizing filter at some point later on:
Attached is a picture I took after going through the PP1 kit (100-3.5 micron strops) on my strop. I’m sure that a polarizing filter would take care of the glare but I’m not positive if there may not be another way around it? What technique are you guys using to see your edge better?
Thanks for any input!
Attachments:01/19/2015 at 9:30 am #22773Welcome to the forum! I dont have my scope yet, its currently somewhere over the Pacific, but if I did I would possibly suggest trying to change the angle to the blade. Im sure you have done that so got me thinking that maybe the led’s are situated closer to the focal point then others or something like that.
I do have a pocket scope and when I hold it just wrong I get a blinding flash right in the eye. Ive learned to avoid that angle at all costs 😛
The McGyver in me would suggest diffusing the led light somehow. I built a light box for photography recently and regular copy paper can work to let light thru while softening it. Or even more radical posiibly stick some small pieces of electrical tape over the leds to blunt the direct throw of light back towards the lens?
Just some far reaching ideas from a crackpot to make you feel welcome!!! :silly:
01/19/2015 at 10:52 am #22774I think that glare is just a fact of life when you’re trying to ‘scope shiny metal finishes.
I’m sure that if your ‘scope has dimmable LEDs you’ve already tried just about everything. In my situation, I find that other light sources in my shop throw off the automatic brightness adjustment built into the software. When things get really dicey, I’ll put my hand alongside the ‘scope to block a particular light source – usually the flourescent lamps over my woodworking bench.
I’ve heard one fellow here tell of holding his hands on both sides, trying to reflect light into the area being inspected. I think he did’t have LEDs, or at least the dimmable kind.
01/19/2015 at 9:19 pm #22776Cliff, I’ve thought about diffusers. I’ve thought about putting some translucent vinyl on it, but having issues trying to source it at a reasonable cost – cause I wouldn’t need that much!
The second idea that popped into my head, the problem is the direct light. If I had most if not all my light coming in from behind the scope, or from around the sides or the scope it would be ok, the leds are in a ring around the clear edge of the scope. Great for looking at non-reflective stuff – not to hot with knife blades that are polished. Crackpot ideas are normally the ones that work the best for me in most cases. 😉
tcmeyer , Yeah I know it’s a fact of life but I figured someone may have found a way to at least minimize it. I’ve tried everything the scope will allow – I did find that if I put them on low and put the blade edge in the upper 1/3rd of the scope and wait the software dims it reasonable enough – about half the glare, or my shot attached above.
I’m thinking probably the easiest solutions are either #1 find a bright desk lamp and turn the leds off – indirect light I think would work better, or #2 start looking at my edges from the top down instead of from the side. I have found it I put my scope on the knife edge then rotate left or right it looks much clearer and the glare is minimized. I can cant it over about 45-50 degrees before any real brightness comes into it.(Would attach an image but I’m at work right now – I may get to it later this afternoon)
Just one of those things – guess talking about it sometimes help me think it through. Thanks for the ideas/tips guys, I really appreciate it!
01/20/2015 at 4:06 am #22777I bought one of those $2.81 nicroscope (loupe) on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQAANDS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It’s really tiny, but it really works well. The LED is shone in from the side and the angle of incidence avoids the glare problem. Maybe that’s what we need – a differeent source of light.
01/20/2015 at 4:14 am #22779Qazme,
Light from two sources at oblique angles from what you are trying to see rather than direct light seems to work for me. You will have to experiment with a number of settings to get what you want. I found that a dual LED setup for music stands works quite well with my loupe, like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Bright-51810-Duet2-Music/dp/B001AH83UG
The ones designed for music stands have longer flex arms and the one indicated has two LEDs per side and a power supply as well as battery power.–Gregg
Attachments:01/20/2015 at 7:14 am #22783Greg, thanks for the heads up on the dual head lamp. That looks like the ticket and what I had in mind! Gotta play around with my current setup to see what works best for me. I’m still in the ‘figuring it out’ stage of progression. Thanks again!
01/20/2015 at 8:14 am #22785Thanks for the link Greg, that dual light setup could be very useful for everyday inspection while sharpening as well. Great share!
01/20/2015 at 12:07 pm #22786How would you position that dual-lamp rig around your active area? Do you / would you move it into position each time you do an inspection?
01/20/2015 at 12:18 pm #22787I’m thinking to clip centered on back of base down low, then if arms would be long enough have them positioned “wide and outside” at about the same horizontal plane as the blade? Possible to even use them as rod catchers like Josh and others use electrical house wiring for from the looks of it?
My poor wicked Edge will be a franken-sharpener by the time I’m done with it! Hahaha
01/20/2015 at 8:17 pm #22796How would you position that dual-lamp rig around your active area? Do you / would you move it into position each time you do an inspection?
I clip it to a RAM mount that I made up; but here are a couple of pictures of it clipped to a water glass from when I first started using it:
–Gregg
Attachments:01/20/2015 at 8:42 pm #22797Gregg, that looks pretty good I would imagine in the picture that light brightens up ~1/2 that knife? Probably once you get the angles set it should light up a 3.5-4.5 blade pretty easily? Ideally what would be nice is if I could find an led diffused white light that could clamp on something and had a swing arm – sort of like a magnifier arm minus the magnifier. That would be really nice, something like this but with brighter lights: http://www.amazon.com/Alvin-G2540-B-Swing-Lamp-Black/dp/B001DNFLYS/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1421771985&sr=8-16&keywords=magnifier+arm
That price is a bit steep though – gotta be a cheaper source for one. I would imagine that would flood enough light for my scope to see without the need of using the leds built into it. Not sure though.
01/20/2015 at 11:18 pm #22798What do you think of stealing the light off the $2.81 loupe and attaching it to the side of the USB microscope? It’s got a self-contained battery and switch. Not to mention the addition of an ultraviolet LED.
Just remembered that I still have my first Celestron I could experiment with. It still works – just has some dust contamination on the sensor.
01/20/2015 at 11:32 pm #22799tcmeyer, that would put me in the same basic situation as now. The light is too bright, too close, and very concentrated. It works as intended on non-reflective surfaces. What I need is more light from an indirect source. I’ve been thinking about pulling out the soldiering gun and playing around with some leds etc and see if I can come up with something that fit’s the wicked edge setup specifically. Maybe something that would attach to the paperstone and be adjustable in both angle, light, and dimness. Or even something that can merely clamp to it.
Or maybe I’m severely over thinking things. I have a tendency to go a bit overboard when I get started down a direction – guess most of us do or we wouldn’t have WE’s!
01/21/2015 at 1:05 am #22802Well, you’re right, the LED is too bright, but putting it on the side does help. Here’s a photo of my jury-rigged effort. I suppose I could kill one of the two bright LEDs. It’s only too bright when you get close to perpendicular to the bevel. All that, and it’s more than a bit clumsy to work with. Not enough benefit. As Roseanne Roseannadanna would say, “Never mind”
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