We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
It’s perhaps the ugliest photo of my Roubo-style workbench ever taken, but the image above is a picture of its Southern yellow pine benchtop that’s magnified 200x. It looks a bit like the canals of Mars filled with Marshmallow Fluff (sorry, I’m still a bit hungry after lunch).
Isn’t it a fascinating and useful photo? Nah. But I have a new toy on my workbench and I had a few minutes to kill before a photo shoot this morning. The new toy is the EyeClops BioniCam, a digital microscope intended for children who like to look at bugs and (most likely) their own boogers.
The EyeClops magnifies things by 100x, 200x and 400x. And when you take a photo it drops the picture on a USB flash drive that you can then put in your computer. I’ve always wanted a decent digital microscope so I can view sharpened edges for defects and for fun (the threshold for “fun” is fairly low in Southwestern Ohio).
This isn’t my dream microscope. But Amazon.com recently discounted the EyeClops to $20 from $80. So I bought one to get SuperSaving shipping on another order. I’m still learning to focus the thing , it’s a bit touchy. But it’s fun.
My edges look horrifying at 400x. But then so does everything else (freckles, notebook paper, apple skin). In the photo above, I think the white lines are actually film finish , my benchtop has an oil/varnish blend on it.
After I get a little better at using the instrument, I’ll post some more photos. I took some cool photos this afternoon of what maple looks like after it has been smooth-planed.
OK, now I gotta get back to work. I have split infinitives to reunite.
– Christopher Schwarz
Looking for More Woodworking Information?
– Sign up for our newsletters to get free plans, techniques and reviews HERE.
– Looking for free articles from Woodworking Magazine? Click HERE.
– Like hand tools? Read all our online articles on hand work HERE.
– Want to subscribe to Woodworking Magazine? It’s $19.96/year. Click HERE.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
