iGaging 36-LED10-9 Stand Measuring Magnifier Comparator, 7 LED Lighted Loupe 10X with 9 Reticles Scale Illuminated

Having spent thousands of dollars on measuring tools to measure and inspect micro machining I purchased these just to have a quick peak kind of tool. Little did I know it would replace ALL of my other measuring tools. I have tested against a $12K comparometer and it measures within 0.0005" using the scale with line widths of 0.002, 0.003, 0.004 etc. That is using those to shave .001 layers off a part until I reach my intended size then measuring on the comparometer. I Hit my target within .0005 and eyeballing high or low is very easy. I am dumbfounded at having spent two years with clunky digital microscopes and even mounting microscope with display to a tool holder and using my $70K Haas mill to jog 0.0001" steps to measure parts. I can check the same part on the machine in 5 seconds and tell if I need to shave a 0.001" off or not. The only down side, if you can call it that is that the lights are BRIGHT and DO burn through batteries. Those two go hand in hand. I NEED it bright to see detail on parts that are .005" in size so I am happy to change the batteries every day of heavy use. By heavy I turn it on and off about 200 times and it is on for roughly 20 seconds each time. The lights are still shining when I change them but as soon as they start to dull I change them for maximum accuracy. Changing is easy. Just unscrew the two halves, hold the bottom upside down and use the included hooked tool to pull the 4 batteries out. I buy the batteries 50 at a time and change every day of production and have not had any issues screwing them together. I DO wish I could buy the lenses individually but the sad truth is anywhere that DOES sell the lenses they cost more for ONE of them than this entire kit does. Needless to say I have several of these. Extended usage and bumping against my tool steel parts does scratch the glass a little, but for how cheap these are in a production environment making thousands of parts I am happy as can be.

There are two strikes against this magnifier which limit the usefulness: 1. The reticle extends beyond the field of view of the magnifier. This is most apparent with the reticles that have a lot of elements at the edges. At the edge, the image is distorted which makes for poor accuracy. 2. the focal plane is at the outer surface of the reticle. Due to the relatively short focal length, objects that are more than about 0.5mm away from the reticle surface are not in sharp focus. This makes it difficult or impossible to measure components that for example have a shoulder. Due to the reticle position, care needs to be taken to not scratch it when examining metal parts--as noted above, the part needs to be brought close to the glass surface. Added information: one can remove the reticle from the magnifier body to bring the object under inspection into the focal plane. However then the measuring function is obviously unavailable. The field is reasonably flat within about 25mm as the product description says. The focus ring moves smoothly with no backlash.

Works great and you can’t beat the value for what you get….🤙🏼

Purchased October 2019 iGaging 10X Optical Comparator as I am a horologist clock maker making gear cutters checked out tool immediately and I was extremely happy with the quality of the tool. Real glass lens easy to focus on micro small parts . Has a very large lens easy to see thru and love the LED light system. This tool had some real weight and the box said ISO 9001 certified. Would highly recommend this tool to any body who is doing micro machining and or electronic inspection or jewelry fabrication. Had spare set of batteries (Every ready 394) for LED system. Absolute 5 Stars.

I am a Project Manager for a roofing company that does silicone coatings. Some specs require different dry mil thicknesses. This comparator is perfect for measuring dry mil thickness. The light is bright. The other lenses could be used for a multitude of projects.