The Cleaning and Preservation of Metals - Resources

BINOCULAR MICROSCOPE

This is to metal cleaning what the 'looking-glass' was to Alice. Quite frankly without the optical equivalent of an elephant's trunk, the near surreal world of the metal surface with all the stories and clues it hides is a closed book. A binocular microscope is essential - poor cleaning and fake patination fall under scrutiny at 40x magnification. At 25x magnification, cleaning is a dream - 'mistakes' at this magnification 'disappear' when viewed with the unaided eye and the assualt-on-the-surface can reesume without that fear of loosing another one. 10x magnification is usually sufficient to glean the metal's tale necessary to diagnose the mechanical cleaning techniques to employ.

A monocular microscope is not,however, recommended. Typically 100x magnification or greater is far too large to be of cleaning value. The image is also upside down and can be invert before your eyes - it's about as valuable a tool for eating breakfast as a telescope.

Having set the scene for the binocluar, there are two main types: zoom (great) and fixed (still pretty good). Second hand is best - a good purchase can be recouped on the increased value/sale of a fine coin.

Back to Polymathematica Home Page Background Binocular Microscope
Hand Tools Chemistry Set Specials

Polymathematica, can be contacted by email at polymath@polymathematica.co.uk or by response form

A Q-ten site
Last Update, 1-July-96