Official Luthiers Forum!

I have the B&L Optivisor knock off and while it works ok, when I'm doing a lot of fine work, what I actually prefer is something like this:



I have a 3.5x which has a field of view of about 2" because I wanted to get in there nice and tight. 3x or 2.5x might be better for general guitar work.

The thing that makes these great is that the working distance is about 15" plus or minus. This allows you to use your regular work bench with your regular stool or whatever without having to lean down right into the work. With the optivisor (mine came with 3 lenses and I think one of them is 3x) the working distance at high mag is like 6" or something like that so you have to get your face right down in there.

Now while a good set of these will set you back $600 to $2500 depending on the magnification you're looking for ($2500 would be for a Zeiss designed for neurosurgery) you can find them on e-bay for like $100. The optical quality isn't as good as the high dollar ones but they're good enough that a dental hygienist can do her/his job effectively without going broke from purchasing them.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Alex, I use these http://www.gesswein.com/p-6654-bausch-lomb-magna-visor.aspx from the Toronto supplier.
They work great, and have different strength lenses.

Bob

My dental hygienist uses one that looks similar to that. She said the cost was $750.

Like I said, the good ones are expensive but here's a set for under $60 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dental-Loupes-3 ... XQNo5TbG28

I bought mine several years ago and they were like $125 or something.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

I have lusted after surgical loupes for a long time. I just can never pull the trigger. I have heard you really need to work w/ someone to figure out exactly what you need and that puts them in the high dollar zone. $125 is pretty inexpensive Andy. Unless they hang on a nail like Hesh's Optivisor because there not quite right.

An optometrist is a good health check up as md54 mentioned. The one I went to made me a set of progressive readers that are considerably better then the drug store ones. I told him I needed to be able to read and see my table saw blade well without jacking around looking for different glasses. The Opti-visor still comes out when I really need to see up close like nut slots, but it just flips over the readers.

45 years of perfect vision then boom! I'm old enough to be loosing my vision but young enough to still be bitter about it.

As always, everything is relative. I got the idea to buy these from my day job back then working in neurosurgery in the OR. I asked a few neurosurgeons to look through their telescopes and was absolutely amazed. Some of the guys are using up to 6x and the image quality is incredible. That said, these guys are dropping anywhere from $750 up to $2500 for the 6x that's fitted and the whole shmeal. Although I was making good cash at the time, no way can I justify $750 for those things.

I too agree that $125 is quite inexpensive for what these are and that's why I took a chance on what I ended up buying. If they had them for $60 back then I probably would have tried them instead of the $125 model I got.

For the amount of money spent, I think they're a very useful vision aid and a major improvement over the optivisor in terms of comfort while using them. I now use the optivisor for strictly low magnification work. No, they're not as good as a $1000 set but they're good enough that I use them when I need to do that kind of work. Give them a try, you'll love them.

_________________
http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

I hate wearing anything on my head like Hesh too. I have to wear reading glasses though and I wear the flip up magnifiers that clip on your glasses like the one that Michael posted the link for. I buy them on Amazon and they come in different strengths. I find that every year I seem to be ordering the next stronger one but they're only $15. I'm happy with them.

I'm another guy who's been in trifocals for decades. I have a couple of pairs of optivisors with different magnification, one with about a 20" working distance and the other at more like 10". I've had some of the knock-offs, but prefer the glass lenses of the optivisor. I also have a pair of the dental loupes like Andy uses, except that they clip on to my regular glasses instead of having their own frames. I use these for really fine work that I can't put under a microscope for whatever reason. Finally, I have a separate pair of "shop glasses" that are single vision, matching the middle tier of my trifocals. I wear these most of the time in the shop to avoid the appearance of things suddenly jumping as the "lines" of my regular glasses are crossed--things like moving saw blades that can be very dangerous when they're jumping around, even if its an illusion! The magnification of the middle tier is right for most every shop activity. Good for working on anything that is arms-distance away.

I do most of my engraving using a binocular zoom microscope with an additional lense that increases the working distance enough for my hands and a graver to be able to move between the microscope and the work. Normally these things only have a 2 or 3 inch working distance. I'd be using this even if my eyesight was perfect--it's amazing how much easier engraving gets with a bit of magnification.

Dave

I use the Optivisor No. 4 and I really like them. Dave Nichols put me onto this specific magnification No during an inlay class I attended at his shop last year. I use them for all of my up close work now.

Most devices that magnify will require you to move in close. Bending and twisting to do this can be tough on your back and/or neck. DAMHIKT. That's why I strongly agree with the previous suggestions that, whatever else you do, be sure your shop is brightly lit. It's amazing how much less magnification you need in really bright light.

As well as lots of overhead lights, I now have a couple of portable lamps that I can adjust to shine extra light wherever I need it. The one I use most is a photographer's reflector lamp clamped on to a gooseneck microphone stand.

_________________
Tim Allen
"Never hurry, never rest."

I have something like that too It has it's uses but often I find it in the way of things. I detached mine from the clamp and it had a peg like protrusion that I just insert in holes that I drilled at each corner of my bench so I can move it easily. With the optivisor you can get up close and personal. You can't do that with those.

_________________
Another day, another dollar.