Magnifying Glasses

[Tom A Hawk]

Its getting so my arms aren't long enough to read the menu and I like some sort of magnification when working on fine detail gun work. I have a visor but i don't like it very much. Recently I found a couple of alternatives on Amazon.

Forget this one. I was not able to adjust the eyepiece width enough to get a single image view and the focal length is really short. I sent it back.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QCX8PZR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
I ordered this one as a replacement and so far I find no faults with it. Magnification and focal length are very good and the LED illumination helps with inletting those tight places.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZCH3SL4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

FYI

 

[64Springer]

You can buy reading magnifiers at most drugstores for 15 bucks. Worth every penny.

Magnified 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and so on.

I use a 3.0 or higher for close in work.

 

[1950DAVE]

I use 1.75. Dollar Tree, $1.25

 

[andy52]

I'm so lucky even at 71 I still don't need cheaters.

 

[TDM]

I like the 2nd one @Tom A Hawk, might have to try it.

 

[TDM]

I'm so lucky even at 71 I still don't need cheaters.

You are very lucky indeed! I have to have lots of light plus some level of magnification.

 

[andy52]

You are very lucky indeed! I have to have lots of light plus some level of magnification.

Light certainly helps but I don't need magnification under normal conditions.

 

[TDM]

Light certainly helps but I don't need magnification under normal conditions.

Good lighting makes all things better for me for sure.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Its is difficult for me to imagine doing this work by window and candle light as the old masters must have done.

 

[billraby]

Surgical loupes is about the best you can get. Good magnification and you can work at arm's length. Only problem is the cheap ones are few hundred dollars and the good ones cost far more than that.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

My teacher got me using a pair of OPTICAID wire clip ons. They work great and you can look over them or move them up out of your way when not using them.

 

[andy52]

Its is difficult for me to imagine doing this work by window and candle light as the old masters must have done.

You bet, I started out in my shop with t-12 lighting, then I moved up to t-8, I thought about t-5 but decided to go full LED dang this stuff is really bright.

 

[dave_person]

Its is difficult for me to imagine doing this work by window and candle light as the old masters must have done.

Hi Tom,
Most of the "old" masters were dead by 60.

dave

 

[LongWalker]

Hi Tom,
Most of the "old" masters were dead by 60.

dave

Yep. Others, like Nickolas Beyer, died in a poorhouse. I've heard suggestions that, based on his last work, he may have had to give up riflemaking because his eyesight was gone.

 

[necchi]

Its getting so my arms aren't long enough to read the menu and I like some sort of magnification when working on fine detail gun work.

Why not just get prescription glasses with tri-focals?
I gotta tell ya,, they work great!

 

[Jedidiah]

Why not just get prescription glasses with tri-focals?
I gotta tell ya,, they work great!

i tied them ,progressives etc , made me sea sick, nauseous. Nope, not for me. I will get Lasik done again, or if I have a cataract, that is even better! New lens!

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

I use 2x readers ($1.25 at the Dollar Store) for shooting.

 

[Crow Choker]

I bought from Brownells around four years ago one of the flip up/headband type optical rigs ya see Jim Kibler wearing all of the time. Works well, out of the way when not needed. I do like the rig Tom A Hawk posted (the 2nd link), looks effective and not pricey. I asked my dentist before buying the optical visor about the rig he wore when doing his work. Shied away from that one real fast. It had small lights and was small-he advised around $1000 . I had cataract surgery last October. Was near sighted, see things close even without glasses before cataracts started. Now I can see a fly on a tree at a 100 yards, but close up things are a blur. Tired readers but PITA as always laying down and having to look for and/or taking on and off when doing things.. Now I wear progressive bifocals that allow me to read and see close detail. Top portions have no power. Wore glasses for 65 years, 74 now, guess another 20 years or so not going to bother me. I do use the reader once in a while I bought, think it is around a 1.75 or 2X power.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have a #7 optivisor and ordered an el-cheapo off eBay that came with 4 lenses so I would have some longer focal lengths. The lenses are good quality and fit an optivisor. They did cost $12 when I bought mine but have gone up since.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2946532942...Xz00CaApK3EMCO3Tud87WYvvVd|tkp:Bk9SR8aZtom2YQ

 

[oldwood]

I've been using an Optivisor for 50 + years. Keeps me working on 'em. I can see to remove splinters , and tiny metal shards from my old skin , as well.