Lighting & seeing the little things

[Tom McMahon]

The best lights I have found are old drafting lights. I have 3 in the shop, 1 on each of 2 benches and 1 on the lathe. I got them at garage sales or antique stores. I am always on the watch for more. I use tri-focal glasses with two different close up focal lengths. I even had a pair with the close up part on the top of the lens for a while. I had a friend, now past, that had a pair made with 4 different focal lengths, made just for shooting pool.

[Tom Vanzant]

Tom McM... My father was an ophthalmologist. One of his patients was a cabinetmaker, and Dad made him a set of glasses w/ one bi-focal "thumbprint" on top and another at the bottom. One very happy patient.

[Jim Matthews]

I'm using an old Stanley magnifier with an outboard light.
I like to have a Shadow cast on the teeth, so I can better gauge depth.

I already have a high-Diopter correction, so wearing additional magnification is clumsy.

I've had good results with the Rockler "ring light" but it's an LED source, and those tend to flatten the shadows I want.

I find that the magnifying lenses are dust magnets, and keep them in a drawer between sharpening sessions.

Bright lighting allows me to discern to about a 32nd - but no finer than that.
It's the same principle as using a pinhole camera - brighter light means your pupil constricts and the image has a smaller 'circle of confusion' as played along the back of the eye.

I play better tennis outdoors, than under lights in the Winter for the same reasons.

I figure I'll have too much light about the time my wife says they're casting for Oompa-Loompas.

GuidoOompa.jpg

[Mike Holbrook]

I now have the Daylight UN1081 5-inch LED Floor and Table Magnifying Light, Black. It is sitting on the floor beside me now. So far I like it. I have glasses for near, far & progressive, no matter which I have on, the magnifier on this light works for me. It even works if I just remove my glasses. There are only small variations in the focal length under the lamp.

Although this lamp has a base that will work on a desk/table top I like having it on the floor beside whatever chair I am sitting in. It is easy to adjust the lamp simply by moving the whole lamp or twisting the pipes. The power cord attaches to the side of the top adjustable portion of the light so the wire does not get twisted while adjusting the light. The 5", 2X magnifier seems like just the right size & magnification for my work. The LED's make a nice bright "daylight" light, but do not even make the top portion of the light warm. The gooseneck adjuster is very solid in whatever position I put it in when I move it.

I am happy thus far as the one light is handling lighting issues at my desk and in the workshop.

[Jon Nuckles]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I am looking for a magnifying lamp for dovetailing. Anyone have updates on the lights they use? I was going to order this one from LV, which is only $45, but they want a $10 surcharge in addition to their already substantial shipping cost, so I'd like to know it is a good one before buying. It has the advantage of coming with a bushing to put it in a 3/4" dog hole, but I have a lathe and figure I can do that for myself with most lamps that come with a clamp. Other woodworking suppliers and Amazon have many additional options. I'm not particularly price-sensitive (up to a point!), but I want something that works, stays where I put it, and doesn't break with normal use.

(I wear strong prescription lenses and am unable to wear contacts, so I think reading glasses and the optivisor will not work for me. In addition, I think the focal length would be a problem when dovetailing, as I don't like to lean down when sawing.)

Thanks for your input.

[Tom M King]

Do a search for "dental loupes" on ebay. I should have not spent the money on the two visors that I didn't like, and gone straight to the dental loupes. You can get them with a nice little LED light that shines the light right where you're looking. The field of view is much smaller than the visors, but the image is crystal clear. The higher power you get, the smaller the field of view. 2.5X turned out to be plenty of power. I figured that if a dentist could work in a person's mouth with them, that I could learn to use them, and in fact, it didn't take long.

They come in mm for distance from eyes to focal plane, and I'm sorry I don't remember which ones I bought. I measured before I ordered.

They are about 60 bucks, with the light, and free shipping on a slow boat from China, but I really like the ones I ended up with. They clip onto your eyeglasses, or come mounted on clear safety glasses. They are a big step above the visors that gave me headaches because they weren't optically correct.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I want to try the dental loupes myself, but until then, I've got the lamp you link to, Jon, and I really love it. It is higher quality than I expected, and has suited me we'll for a variety of different tasks.

[Jim Matthews]

Bayco LED task lighting works for me.
Reasonably priced, not cheap. The battery powered version is brighter.