what optical magnification for nibwork?

[jskeen]

I'm looking at buying a loupe or possibly a set of clip on's like a behr 55 for checking out nibs, as the old mark one eyeballs, just ain't quite what they used to be any more. Question is, what power is the best compromise between magnification and focal length? I don't think you would want to have to work 2 inches from your eyeball to get 16x magnification, but if 2x or 3x is not enough to see if the tines are aligned, it dont' matter if you can work a comfortable arms distance away. So, rather than trial and error, I thought I'd ask you guys.

And yes, I do have a desk mount mag-lamp, but am looking for something portable.

Thanks.
James

 

[DCBluesman]

10x minimum

 

[ldb2000]

I use a 10X for general inspection , 20X for actual nib work and a 100x handheld microscope (one of the radio shack ones) for inspecting the tipping material of nibs that don't write right .
The 10X and 20X are high quality achromatic loupes and the 100x microscope is just a cheap one that gives good performance in the center of the field .