Which inspection borescope

I do mostly small scale machining, e.g. current project 2.5cc diesel. I often find it difficult if not impossible to see clearly what's going on at the cutter location using head mounted magnifiers so I'm wondering whether an inspection device such a those sold as borescopes would be useful?

Perusing Ebay there seem to be two main types available at affordable prices, USB devices which plug into a phone at £10 or less and self-contained devices at around £40 or more. I know nothing about this sort of kit so any experiences or recommendations would be gratefully received. Thanks

I needed to use one and had one of the cheap USB which was usable, but packed up just when I really wanted it. I got one self contained one at Screwfix which has a 1 metre length and an 8mm diameter end. It was about £70. There is a similar unit al Lidl at the moment for about half that which I would have bought instead if it had been available at the time.

Hello Roy,

Getting enough light into the area is the main difficulty. borescopes are generally "read only" devices and do not add any light at the point of interest.

You might try running the lathe in reverse with the tools upside down to give you a better viewing angle.

Regards Brian

My experience of the cheap USB ones has been poor. As Brian says getting enough light to see anything useful is difficult. In addition, the ones I used had fairly long focal lengths* and narrow fields of view, so anything close is difficult if not impossible to see with precision. It is also difficult to control the direction the camera is looking when it's on the end of a flexible USB cable.

I hope you only want it for inspection. Using one with the lathe running is likely to be an accident in progress.

Have you considered a dental mirror type device.

* Just looked at a couple of the better £40(?) ones online and they quote best viewing distances of 5-10cm.

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 26/09/2022 18:43:25

Edited By Peter Cook 6 on 26/09/2022 18:50:58

I have a lidl (I think) endoscope. Used a few times for checking out engine internals. I doubt it would be too enlightening for lathe-work.

Any flexible head would need securing to something more rigid if using it where the machine may be running. External lighting is no problem - only limiting when inside a cavity

I have both a usb/pc inspection camera and an Android phone one. Both have adjustable built in lights at the camera end. They are cheap ebay/Amazon products bought for a particular purpose but they are functional.

Rod

The Magnusson that I bought from Screwfix has a 2.3" screen, 640 x 480 and the 900mm long flexible probe is rated IP67. It has adjustable contrast, the picture can be rotated in 90 degree steps, adjustable lighting, from zero to very bright. The focus seems to be good from about 30mm which is twice lifesize on the screen. The flexible probe is stiff and would not move once secured, even 400mm from the tip. I would think that it is intended for use by an electrician. Unfortunately, it does not have a proper case.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-inspection-camera-with-2-colour-screen/7942x

Edited By old mart on 26/09/2022 21:29:06

See Dan Delbart's workshop tour from about 12 Minutes 30.
I seem to recall that one of his other videos mentions it in more detail


Found it; not much extra detail, from 8:30, but really worth watching wthe whole video

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 26/09/2022 21:56:20

I use a cheap chinese one with LEDs built into the lens. It's been excellent for inspecting the inside of boilers prior to purchase. It comes with a handheld display. I think I got it from Banggood.

Thanks everybody for your comments. Thanks Bill for digging out the Dan Gelbart videos. I think I've seen them before, what a workshop. The modus operandi of his device is similar to what I envisage but I don't aspire to the same level of precision! Its primary use would be on the mill but, as he says, it could be useful anywhere. The integral units are rather low resolution so on balance I think the way forward is to buy the best-looking cheap USB camera and see how it goes. Integral LEDs should solve the lighting problem. Thanks again.