Magnifying lenses

if you have other things you could buy there you can get essentially the same head gear at harborfreight.com for $5.00

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37586
that's kinda what I got at hobby lobby... works fine with my glasses on. but if you're at a loss what to spend your money on the others will work!

I've done lots of business with Lee Valley; it's a good company. The magnifier probably will work fine if either (a) your eyes are nearly identical in their defects, or (b) you wear your glasses or contact lenses under the visor. If, like me, you have difficulty getting focusing both eyes at the same closeup distance, a magnifier that provides the same magnification for both eyes won't help much.

Opinions please...
I have a gift certificate to spend, and I'm suffering the old guy syndrom!

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=40936&cat=1,43456,43351

I had the good fortune to be born nearsighted, so until recently I didn't need magnification to build models. (I did, however, need glasses to recognize my wife from across the room.) In the past few years, though, I've noticed that it's harder to focus both eyes simultaneously on an object at close range. This, according to my optometrist, is due to a mysterious, insidious phenomenon known as getting old.

I've never been able to get along with Optivisor-type magnifiers, for two reasons. One - my eyes (like most people's) are different from each other, so the power of magnification that works for one doesn't work for the other. (Generic reading glasses don't work for me either, for the same reason.) Two - I've found that such magnifiers destroy my depth perception. If I'm trying to paint a detail under an Optivisor, for instance, I lose my perception of how far the brush is from the model. (I once watched a ship modeler at Mystic Seaport Maritime Museum working with an Optivisor, and asked him how he managed it. He grinned and said, "No problem. I'm used to judging depths with one eye. I'm blind in the other one.")

The solution for me turned out to be a gadget I found at a Woodcraft woodworking supply store (also available online at <www.woodcraft.com>). It's a simple pair of magnifying lenses with a clip in the middle that fasten to my regular prescription glasses - exactly like clip-on sunglasses. The prescription lenses take care of the difference between eyes, and the gadget flips up out of the way when I want to focus on something across the room.

If I remember right, the gadget cost about $10.00. I recommend it highly.

I use the strongest reading glasses I can find. I use the cheap, drug store, ½ lens kind so I can see over them to find the tweezers, read a paint jar or watch the history channel….

I’ve tried the Optivisors and the work bench mounted magnifier/light combos and keep coming back to my reading glasses.

Another thing to consider of course is what is the size/scale of the kits that you want to paint.

I do a lot of large scale figs and found that the table mounted lights tend to get in the way as an assembled figure stands about 23cm & 45cm tall.

I agree with Probuilder.
They have some really nice reading glasses at Harbor Freight for $4.

Mike

Just swing over to Wally Mart and buy a few sets of magnifying reading glasses(wife calls them cheaters) that way you don't have to worry about the headband or changing lenses and you can replace them for a few bucks and get them in a range of magnifications

Saul, not sure if you have a Hobby Lobby near you, but I picked up a nice head mounted magnifier this last weekend and I love it! It comes with a 1.5x and a 2.0x lens and has extra ones as low as 1.25 and high as 3.0x you can buy seperately.

It's really light weight and you can turn it upside down so you look down into it as you are working instead of bending over close to the subject. (Great for my old back)

But to answer your question I have both, the light and 2 head sets (the newest one is replacing the one I already have) I use the headset almost exclusively... especially when painting because the one in the light gets in the way of my paintbrush sometimes.. but for really tiny detail or some PE I use the light..

If I were faced with a choice of only one of the two I would pick the headset personally. Just all round more useful for me, plus it's neat to go out and scare my dogs with it!

The type I just bought should be able to be purchased at any sewing store, look in the needlepoint section... the interchangable lenses are what caught my eye.

I prefer the Optivisor type. I have 2, one for medium work & one for close work magnification. But my eyesight aint great to start with.

Regards, Rick

Really depends on your preferences.

I got a set that you put on the head and has a build-in light too, reason why I got that one is that I can change the lenses and thus can adjust the magnification to what I need.

Added bonus it doesn't take up any space on my already small workbench.

I use the type of lamp that attaches to the workarea with lamp and magnifiying glass. I like the motion you can acheive for the different angles that you need for up close work.