Magnification.

I don't because it gives me a headache. I work with very small fine details at my job also, and don't use magnification there either. I assume that eventually I'll have to start using it, but I'm putting it off as long as I can. I'd rather not have to eat that much Advil if I don't have to.

The work light that I use has a magnifiying glass in it. As my eyes are'nt what they used to be, it comes in handy for me.

I have an "Optivisor" that I use for all my work with PE, minute detail painting, drilling out 1/35 scale MG barrels, scratch-building small components, etc, etc, etc...

i have one of those lights with a magnifying glass in fron but the magnifying part kept getting in the way when i was using a tool / knife.

so.. i bought an optivisor also and it works great. love it !!!

gw.

IMHO Optivisor is a God send.

If it weren't for my two Optivisors I would have to give up modeling. I keep two, one with medium & one with high magnification. At 67, my eye sight just isn't good enough for fine detail work even with corrective lenses. The Optivisors come to the rescue.

Regards, Rick

I don't use the mags cause they usually have some dust on it, which gets plenty annoying, and my mags make the image warped at the edges -and it has a big edge- so I never use them for building.

I wouldn't work with small parts and detailing without my magnifier. It's mounted on a long swing arm and has a circular true daylight tube around it. It's great and makes the small work much easier. Incidentally, I will get headaches if I do the small stuff without the magnifier. See photo

I use and Optivisor virtually every time I model. After turning 40, my close-up vision went, and I could not see a ruler clearly enough to mark out accurately. Without the Optivisor, I could not build models. Now that I use it, I feel I am a better modeler than before. It took me a few weeks to get used to wearing it, but you will adapt.

By the way, this is a case where you get what you pay for. The cheaper imitations lack the adjusting screws on the side, so the tension becomes too loose. The adjusting strap at the back is inferior, and the padding on your forehead insufficent. The optics are better too - the extra weight of the glass is offest by the increased clarity, durability, and resistance to static dust attraction.

Kurt

I bought a cheap pair of reading glasses from the supermarket to see if magnification made a difference. It did, so then I also bought an optivisor and it is a very useful tool that gets used every day. My eyes are getting older now and I use reading glasses (+1 strength) for everyday things. The visor makes all the difference.

At work we have pedestal mounted circular magnifiers with a circular lamp built in. They are good, but tend to get in the way for my likes and are quite big. When you have finished the close up work it is easier to raise the visor than it is move the big glass. If you do it 40 or 50 times it will soon become tiring. If you use a magnifier frequently then the visor may be better, if not then perhaps the glass would be better.

I have tried magnification but it didn't wok that well for me. I found it difficult to do detaild work because of the size difference between what I was seeing and what was in my hands. A sort of "detached" feel (does this make sense for you?)

This is a good thread, I've been considering getting an Opti-Visor for doing cockpit detail work and PE. I think I definitely will now. Thanx

Maybe my experience with this problem would be useful for middle-aged (and older) eyeglass wearers.

I was born nearsighted, and for a good many years I built models with no magnification. (I needed glasses to recognize a human being from across a room, but had no trouble seeing fine details close-up.) Recently, though, I've been having a little trouble with short distances. My 54-year-old eyes, without the help of glasses, can focus simultaneously only at a distance of about a foot and a half.

I've tried Opti-Visors at various times, but I've never been able to get along with them. There seem to be two problems. One - when I look through an Opti-Visor I lose some of my depth perception. (I have trouble judging, for instance, how far the tip of a paint brush is from what it's about to paint.) Two - like most other people, I have two eyes with significantly different characteristics. The right and left lenses of an Opti-Visor are identical, so if one eye is in focus the other one isn't.

The answer turned out to be simple. Several tool dealers, including MicroMark ( www.micromark.com ) and Woodcraft ( www.woodcraft.com ) sell magnifiers that clip onto regular eyeglasses - the same way "clip-on sunglasses" do. They flip up out of the way when you don't need them. Your regular glasses take care of the difference between the right and left eye, so both are in focus. At least in my case, depth perception doesn't seem to be a problem (probably because I'm so accustomed to working with my regular glasses). And these things are surprisingly cheap: between $10 and $15.

I'm sure this solution won't work for everybody, but I urge those who wear glasses to correct significantly different right and left eyes to give it a try.

I use a pair of drug store reading glasses (1.5+) and they work great for working on models. I get magnification and their depth of focus is about right for me.Much stronger and the depth of focus gets to narrow. I am normally near sighted. I also have a 2x, 5x, and 10x magnifier but they seldom get used.