Which is more helpful: magnified eyewear or a desk mounted magnified lamp?
DMFC
| Posted in General Discussion on
Let me start off by saying I hope this is the appropriate forum section to pose my question.
I’d like to buy either a magnified pair of glasses (the lighted specialty kind) or a desk/bench mounted magnified lamp for doing fine work like saw sharpening. Which do you feel would be more helpful and less obtrusive?
I don’t want to take up any bench space if necessary, but I’m concerned wearing magnified eyewear might be more obnoxious than helpful. A floor standing magnified lamp would probably be ideal, but my budget for a tool I’m not convinced I’ll use all that often is fairly low… around the $30 range. Thanks for your thoughts.
David
Replies
I have wondered the same thing too. Usually when I am trying to hold a magnifying glass in the same hand that I am using to pull a splinter out of the other hand. Last time my DDS was drilling holes in my jaw for implants I asked him how he liked the lit up operating room mag- glasses he was wearing and he raved about them. I bet they cost a lot though. My wife uses a bench mounted magnified lite for jewelry making and seems to like it. She got it at one of the office supply stores.
I've got a swing arm magnifier that was thrown in with a scroll saw I bought used about a year ago. I use it for that and it's great to have some magnification for that kind of work, with the caveat that it needs to be pretty close to the work to work (ie., htere's not a lot of extra room). Have to have my face fairly close as well to keep from going cross-eyed..
Good luck!
No Doubt About it
The desk mount is just in the way and especially when using a chisel hammer. I like these things ! ! !
http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/quasar_ls_lighting_system.htm
Batteries last a good long time.
Being a hopeless tool turkey I have three headset/visors and four lenses of different mag. Only one lighted. It is especially great for seeing down into mortises.
Be sure to get the optional loop.
I use them for many other tasks besides woodworking.
I use the high power for sharpening if I have a problem with the edge. One must have the visor within a few inches of the work for that one.
I have a weak one for sawing dovetails that can be well away from the work. Two more in between.
My eyes were fine until I started spending all my time in front of the computer screen in this damned chat room.
: )
I think the best solution is to significantly add to the total amount of light. For detail work you could use dramatically larger amounts of light than are found about anywhere except an operating theater. Why more light. With more light the iris in our eye "stops down" to a smaller aperature. This increases our depth of field just as stopping down a camera lens does. Every thing is sharper.
Steve, You Are Absolutely Right
At work I don't have the visors; just a loop. When I need to hand sharpen a tiny drill bit or determine if a jagged line is a structural crack or merely a scratch in the metal I take them outside in the direct rays of the sun. Makes a world of difference.
My home shop has no windows and I work late at night anyway so I need all the help I can get. Also the more lights the more heat that builds up inside my shop in the summer. So, at home, I mostly go for the mag.
Great - thank you all for your recommendations! More lighting and a magnified headset it is.
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