Magnifying lens/light

[Crumpet]

Hi all,
I’ve been working on a template and have to cut out 39 pieces. Problem I’m finding is that as I try and concentrate on following the lines I get almost hypnotised and struggle to keep on the line. I’m thinking that maybe a decent quality table mounted magnifying glass with a light might help but I bow to the more experienced members to advise me. Thank you

 

[TRITON]

Stop, blink and refocus on something else before continuing.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I would sort some lighting first - it's cheaper. I have a few magnetic LED sewing machine lights, they're excellent and only £7 a throw on the bay. You may find then you don't need the magnifier. I did have to change two pin plugs, but that appears to be common to many of them.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I would agree that lighting can make a big difference.

I have a previous model of these which I find useful for anything detailed or intricate …

https://www.axminstertools.com/ligh...7725?queryID=fcad4728de8a2ad4e06fb6037126db9b

 

[Crumpet]

Stop, blink and refocus on something else before continuing.

Thanks, will try

 

[Crumpet]

I would sort some lighting first - it's cheaper. I have a few magnetic LED sewing machine lights, they're excellent and only £7 a throw on the bay. You may find then you don't need the magnifier. I did have to change two pin plugs, but that appears to be common to many of them.

Thanks Phil, I’ll check these lights out

 

[niall Y]

For small intricate work - and even the work I carry out on the metalwork -lathe, I use one of those magnifying headsets, that the' clock guy' on the 'The Repair Shop', uses. They also feature a lot in 'Outback Opal Hunters ' when the opals are being cut and polished.
It is basically a headband with a plastic window that holds pairs of interchangeable lenses. The only niggle ,is that the different magnifications have different focal lengths - the higher the magnification - the closer your head has to be to the work

 

[ajs]

For small intricate work - and even the work I carry out on the metalwork -lathe, I use one of those magnifying headsets, that the' clock guy' on the 'The Repair Shop', uses. They also feature a lot in 'Outback Opal Hunters ' when the opals are being cut and polished.
It is basically a headband with a plastic window that holds pairs of interchangeable lenses. The only niggle ,is that the different magnifications have different focal lengths - the higher the magnification - the closer your head has to be to the work

Sadly that is an inescapable law of physics. Magnification is the ratio of the focal lengths on either side of the lens. Since one length is fixed (that between the magnifier and your eye) the other one has to vary. This applies even to more complex eyepieces in microscopes and telescopes - different powers in the same range are often "parfocal" but there it is the length of the eyepiece that alters, so that the instrument settings don't need to be adjusted when swapping eyepeices.

 

[niall Y]

Sadly that is an inescapable law of physics. Magnification is the ratio of the focal lengths on either side of the lens. Since one length is fixed (that between the magnifier and your eye) the other one has to vary. This applies even to more complex eyepieces in microscopes and telescopes - different powers in the same range are often "parfocal" but there it is the length of the eyepiece that alters, so that the instrument settings don't need to be adjusted when swapping eyepeices.

This is indeed true. but my camera is able to overcome this limitation with a zoom facility

 

[ajs]

Hi all,
I’ve been working on a template and have to cut out 39 pieces. Problem I’m finding is that as I try and concentrate on following the lines I get almost hypnotised and struggle to keep on the line. I’m thinking that maybe a decent quality table mounted magnifying glass with a light might help but I bow to the more experienced members to advise me. Thank you

I would echo the above comments about lighting, along with the the other ergonomic stuff, i.e. you are comfortably seated, working at a natural angle and on a stable, stufficently large and clear surface. Lighting does not need be elaborate. For small stuff I find cheap desk lamps such as that linked below perfectly fine. For slightly larger stuff anglepoise lamps. Most important and easily overlooked is the bulb. I'm LED across the board these days but for really fine work I like the high colour temperature "daylight" bulbs, I find I can e.g. drill accurate to 0.1mm purely by eye. Flip side is they do seem very harsh to the eye at night when lighting is generally dimmer. Warm white bulbs in the order of 3000K are a lot more comfortable but just don't seem as well suited to fine work.

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-black-desk-lamp/p/0325668

 

[Jacob]

A head-torch without magnification can make a big difference with small close-up stuff.

 

[Ollie78]

I have some of those cheap sewing machine lights as well, very handy.
Another thing to try might be coloured acetates or glasses, this is especially useful for dyslexics, everyone has certain colours that work best for them but it can help others without dyslexia. Different coloured lighting may work, if you got an RGB led light you could try them all quite fast and see if it helps.

Similarly, try different colours on some of the lines when marking out which adds another differentiating factor for your eyes.

My optician also told me that sunglasses don`t have to be quite as perfect a prescription because the tint allows the eye to relax a little, hence my current sunglasses are my old prescription but still fine.
Might be an idea worth testing.

Ollie

 

[scrimper]

I did discuss magnifying lamps in one of my videos, I find they are not that easy to use and I often find it easier with a decent adjustable lamp, I am lucky in that I have some old industrial lamps that were thrown out by a local factory. So I agree with others on using a good lamp. My video link is below.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Much of the problem is lighting rather that magnification.

 

[MikeJhn]

I use one of these when fly tying: https://uk.farnell.com/duratool/dt0...ce=true&CMP=KNC-GUK-GEN-SHOPPING-PMAX-CLM-NCA, although when I bought mine the lamp was a Florissant, LED's where not around then, am I really that old.

 

[ColinDeVelen]

I recently purchased some clip on lenses to aid me in situations like this, and in saw sharpening and other detail work. They are made by a company called ClipFlipz, (I got mine from isunglasses in the UK), They work well on my safety glasses, they are always where I am looking, and they don't interfere with head mounted lights or peripheral vision. Fifteen quid a pair, I bought a +1 dioptre and a +2 dioptre. Well worth the money for what I do, but not for the fashion conscious.

 

[Johnwa]

I agree with the other members, improve the close up lighting of the object, I find daylight lamps the best for this job rather than warm white. I also use a magnifying headband. For me it allows me to move my head around rather than having to stay in one spot which I prefer. Just one warning, don't throw the headband across your workshop when you c*ck something up. The lenses are quite brittle and delicate!!. Dont ask me how I know

 

[ey_tony]

I'd always say get the lighting sorted first as magnification is not going to help if the lighting is inadequate.

However, assuming you have decent lighting, you could either purchase a table mounted light with articulating arm and built in magnifier which are good but aren't exactly cheap or you could buy a set of those shown in the link below. They're sold under several brands and Ideal for closeup work. I paid just under £11.00 at the end of 2021 for the ones I have.

I don't use them often but when I do they are very useful to have and save me struggling to see what I'm doing plus they have the added bonus of a built in light so they may suit your needs.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D2DF6F8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Phill05]

Most folk now have a cell phone do you have an old one you don't use?, I have an old Andriod Blackberry that I don't use and downloaded an app called weZoom made a frame to hold the phone at any angle and use it all the time now I can take to little lathe for small work when doing clockwork anything I need to see a little better it is ready, it has 8x zoom, extra lighting, black/white or colour filters if you have vision problems you can capture an image whilst working, the pinion in the image is less than 1mm.

 

[trvlr]

interesting use for olde fones...