Family

Pocket Microscope

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Dirt cheap microscope with UV light and LED

I started using these pocket microscopes when I found people using them at a gem and mineral show. I thought at first these were kids’ toys because they were pretty cheap. I bought one so I could inspect stones and minerals closer during the show but found that they were fun to play with. I got home and my mother, who loves flashlights and things, wanted to get a bunch so she could hand them out to her friends as a novelty item.

I actually bought a few dozen of these for about $2 each on eBay. They are really all the same design and made in bulk from China. These are simply jewelers’ loupes with an LED light powered with 3 button batteries. Combined with your phone’s camera, you can turn this 60x loupe with the 10x magnification on an iPhone into a 600x microscope, and take pictures and videos of the items.  I have two kids and we use them for various science functions. We really got interested in inspecting US currency to see all the anti-counterfeiting marks on dollar bills.

These would make cool stocking stuffers.

 

-- Joe Kouba 06/29/21
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