Low-cost Borescope

A small-diameter borescope now offers images as good as today's micro borescopes at a fraction of the price. The Hawkeye SuperSlim borescope is only 95 thousandths of an inch (2.4 mm) in diameter – about the diameter of a pencil lead. Its probe can be inserted through small openings to let technicians, operators or inspectors view spaces and surfaces they can't see with the naked eye.

SuperSlim's small diameter is perfect for looking into bores, deep holes, tubes, or pipes, checking for defects such as burrs, cracks, roughness, pits, or tearing. Workers can use borescopes to examine machined parts, molds, fuel injectors, transmissions, engine injectors, and solder joints.

SuperSlim, like other borescopes made by Gradient Lens Corporation in Rochester, NY, is based on a new technology that keeps image quality high, yet lowers costs. That's about a third to half the price of borescopes which rely on conventional optics. Yet SuperSlim's image quality is as good or better, users say.

The SuperSlim, which weighs less than four ounces, is a slender stainless steel tube filled with optics and comes in two working lengths, four and eight inches. The basic instrument, which gives a straight-on view, is about 2.4 millimeters wide, while the mirror for a sideways view brings the diameter to about 2.8 millimeters. The borescope includes a battery-powered MINI MAGLITE to illuminate whatever is being examined.

Gradient Lens Corporation, 207 Tremont Street, Rochester, NY 14608. Tel: 800-536-0790; Fax: 716-235-6645.