magnifying visor

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chuck in ny

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looking for something above the regrettable level. what do you guys use?
 
My Opti-Visor, with interchangeable lenses, has served me well for over 30 years. I use it for extremely close up work when I need 10 power. Recently I've preferred standard reading glasses of 3X and 4X for general closeup work. They are more comfortable and pretty cheap when ordered on line.
 
I use a cheapy like the one in the picture, works fine. One lens, a flip down one for more magnification, I take off the monocle as I find I don't need it.

head-band-magnifying-glass.jpg
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
My Opti-Visor, with interchangeable lenses, has served me well for over 30 years. I use it for extremely close up work when I need 10 power. Recently I've preferred standard reading glasses of 3X and 4X for general closeup work. They are more comfortable and pretty cheap when ordered on line.
Click to expand...

optivisor looks good thanks chuck.
 
I saw a really cheeky but quick solution to this somewhere and I use it from time to time. If you wear glasses, you probably have a spare pair? Well put both pairs on at the same time. Gives you my patented "Cheep-o-Vision".

yes I really am that tight!

Max
 
orangeena said:
I saw a really cheeky but quick solution to this somewhere and I use it from time to time. If you wear glasses, you probably have a spare pair? Well put both pairs on at the same time. Gives you my patented "Cheep-o-Vision".

yes I really am that tight!

Max
Click to expand...

ha ha ! I do that too, otherwise I cant read the fine print on the aspirin bottle, a pair of 1x and another pair of 2x and now I can READ it. It's like the tiny printing is for the land of Lilliput or something. !@#$%^!!!
 
printer2 said:
I use a cheapy like the one in the picture, works fine. One lens, a flip down one for more magnification, I take off the monocle as I find I don't need it.

head-band-magnifying-glass.jpg
Click to expand...

My distance vision has improved as I age, but up close I'm hopeless. I've had an Opti-visor for years. I've also collected a couple of the cheapos. Every time I put on a cheapo I tear it back off and go looking for the opti-visor. Vision is too important to me to screw with it. I'll grab a trashy one for pulling a splinter or something in the house, but out in the shop its got to be the opti-visor. The world is beautiful close up. Why settle for a second rate version of it?
 
jcalkin said:
My distance vision has improved as I age, but up close I'm hopeless. I've had an Opti-visor for years. I've also collected a couple of the cheapos. Every time I put on a cheapo I tear it back off and go looking for the opti-visor. Vision is too important to me to screw with it. I'll grab a trashy one for pulling a splinter or something in the house, but out in the shop its got to be the opti-visor. The world is beautiful close up. Why settle for a second rate version of it?
Click to expand...

jc

what focal distance and magnification do you use?
 
chuck in ny said:
jc

what focal distance and magnification do you use?
Click to expand...

I really don't know. Its just the unimproved Stew-Mac version of the Opti-visor. I should mention that I also wear progressive reading glasses under the visor. With them I can focus to a couple inches. Without, maybe 10". I wear the glasses all day long. Their range is about 1-3'. I just slide them down my nose to look across the room.

At H&D they looked askance at me when I first brought in my opti-visor. Now I see them all over the shop. You can't do good work if you can't see it properly.
 
chuck in ny said:
jc

what focal distance and magnification do you use?
Click to expand...

Depends on your vision and how you want to use it. For general work I'd suggest 3X, maybe 4X. I often use 10X but your focal length at that power is only a few inches. That gets pretty tiring. John is right about not scrimping, you'll have them for a long time. Good optics and comfortability are essential.
 
If you wear glasses look for clip on magnifier for glasses, they are everywhere it seems. I get them at fishing shops that sell fly tying gear. They flip up with ease and come in many powers. Much lighter than the larger ones and cheaper too.

Bill
 
I always use my x 4 reading specs,

And when I work close I use this visor kit.

And when I get desperate I use this.
 
Another plug for Optivisor, I've had mine since I was an apprentice engraver a hundred years ago!

Bob
 
I use the Optivisor also. 2X, 3X, 4X, and 7X. I wear the 3X all day long, unfortunately. The lower the power, the longer the focal length, so I use the least powerful one for the job. I also have the Optivisor set up with the lights ringing the lenses. Sometimes it's only more light you need. My lights are on the 2X set-up and that works as good as 4X in some situations and gives me the longer focal longer. I have a really deluxe little Bishop Cochran router base that I occasionally use, but since it is a rather bulky machined aluminum base, it can be difficult to get light on your project. Until I started using the lighted Optisor, I could not use the BC base at all. Now it is my go to base for certain things.-Bob
 
My Optivisor seems to be bullet proof. I've had the same lens in it since I bought them around 1989 and they still are scratch free (for the most part). The readers (2x) I use tend to get scratched easy and replaced every few weeks it seems. I've looked at the other magnifiers out there to add a higher power magnifier to the mix, but it seems Optivisor is still the cat's meow.
 
Flyfish57 said:
My Optivisor seems to be bullet proof. I've had the same lens in it since I bought them around 1989 and they still are scratch free (for the most part). The readers (2x) I use tend to get scratched easy and replaced every few weeks it seems. I've looked at the other magnifiers out there to add a higher power magnifier to the mix, but it seems Optivisor is still the cat's meow.
Click to expand...

The Opti-Visors have glass lenses so they can be cleaned with acetone if you get glue or finish on them. The full frame readers I use have glass lenses in them. You can buy them on line from: http://www.boomersintheknow.com/stwipoov40.html
They have powers from 3X up to 7X. I find these to be much more comfortable to wear now than the Opti-Visor. I have several pair and mark the ear pieces with strips of tape indicating the power.
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
The Opti-Visors have glass lenses so they can be cleaned with acetone if you get glue or finish on them. The full frame readers I use have glass lenses in them. You can buy them on line from: http://www.boomersintheknow.com/stwipoov40.html
They have powers from 3X up to 7X. I find these to be much more comfortable to wear now than the Opti-Visor. I have several pair and mark the ear pieces with strips of tape indicating the power.
Click to expand...
They are not too expensive either. I'll be trying these out. Thanks!
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
The Opti-Visors have glass lenses so they can be cleaned with acetone if you get glue or finish on them. The full frame readers I use have glass lenses in them. You can buy them on line from: http://www.boomersintheknow.com/stwipoov40.html
They have powers from 3X up to 7X. I find these to be much more comfortable to wear now than the Opti-Visor. I have several pair and mark the ear pieces with strips of tape indicating the power.
Click to expand...

i checked at boomersintheknow.com. they emailed me back that all their glasses have plastic lenses. the bit that i will need it, the opti visor with glass lenses seems a better bet.
 
Taken from the Optivisor site, here are the focal lengths for the various lenses:

Item No. Focal Length Magnification
DA-2 20″ 1.5 times
DA-3 / LX3 14″ 1.75 times
DA-4 / LX4 10″ 2 times
DA-5 / LX5 8″ 2.5 times
DA-7 / LX7 6″ 2.75 times
DA-10 4″ 3.5 times

I think that I have the #4 lens which gives me a working distance of 10 inches. I find it a reasonably comfortable level of magnification.


http://www.doneganoptical.com/products/optivisor
 
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