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Thread: Aging eyes

  1. #16
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    My dad is a professional hand engraver....think dies not jewelry. He uses a specific magnifying glass held up with an arm. They look like this. By the way, the piece he uses is the one situated on the table, not the one on the "hand." He has an eye appointment tomorrow and indicated he might have to retire if his eyes cannot be corrected. He's 86.

    2magnifrs-stand.jpg

  2. The thing is as we age the eye's lens becomes less flexible and so for most of us seeing across a range of vision that was normal at 25 is not so normal at age 55 or 65. It's just a natural process. In some cases there may be other vision degradation factors, too, but we all get a little less flexible over time. One answer is obviously better lighting, another may be Walmart readers, or prescription bifocals/trifocals.

    I went through the cataract thing a few years ago in both eyes. My ophthalmologist and I worked on a plan for my vision correction. I've been exceptionally near-sighted since the 2nd grade, so I wanted unfettered long distance vision and readers for close work. My brother had the same procedure a little while later he opted for long distance in one eye, and closeup vision in the other. We're both happy.

    The bottom line, get at least an eye exam with an optometrist, and recognize that your vision problem is not a weakness, just a normal process that goes along with the calendar flipping over year after year. Then make the adjustment that you need so that you can continue to enjoy what you do, rather than having to work harder at it.

    At 69 years, it's all good!

  3. #18
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    FWIW I use a couple things that I've accumulated over the years from soldering/electronics and similar hobbies, so this isn't strictly for woodworking.

    I have a pair of LED magnifiers (2X and 5X) on swing arms that can be dropped into dog holes in my bench, such that both of them can reach the entire work surface (I bought 1/2-to-3/4 bushings from McMaster IIRC). I also have a pair of OptiVisors set up with 4-diopter (2X) and 10-diopter (3.5X) lenses. Both of those have LED light attachments. The reason I have two of each is because I try to avoid "stacking" magnifiers, because aberrations and distortion tend to get very when you do that. In my experience that sort of setup can be headache-inducing if you have to look through it for any length of time.

    One consideration with saw-filing is that you often want raking light, which means that the light source should ideally be controllable independently of the magnifier. What I usually do is set up one or both of the swing-arm magnifiers as raking lights at whatever angle I want, and then use a visor or (more often) the other magnifier for viewing.

    Another consideration with saw filing is that you ideally don't want to be hunched over the saw if you can avoid it, for two reasons: First, it's uncomfortable. Second, it leads to a "cramped" filing stroke and that can hurt tooth geometry (at least for me). Lower magnification allows longer working distance, and bench magnifiers permit somewhat higher working distance than visors at any given magnification because you can vary the distance between the magnifier and your eye. I therefore mostly use the 2X magnifier for saw filing.
    Last edited by Patrick Chase; 10-18-2016 at 12:36 AM.

  4. #19
    optiviser and better task lighting works for me

  5. #20
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    Thanks for the input gentlemen. My eyes have been getting progressively worse since I turned eleven.I have an astigmatism so surgical correction is not without it's problems.I think I will try the optivisor and see how I get on.

  6. #21
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    David; I purchased the Optivisor but found its benefits were limited due to its lack of an inbuilt light source. My new magnifier with L.E.D. better suits my purpose, of which includes sharpening high tpi backsaws,


  7. #22
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    Just TRY out some drug store reading glasses next time you are at the drug store,or even some super markets. You don't have to buy them just to put them on and read a magazine through them.

    DON'T try those $2.50 ones that our Ace Hardware here sells(and others in that chain might also). As I mentioned,they have cheap lenses,and sometimes mis matched lenses. I found that out trying them myself. My partner Jon always wore them and liked them,but not me!

    If your eyes are not of similar optical value,you might have to get a prescription glasses made. I did do that,but had them mount my prescription lenses in the frame of a pair of drugstore glasses. After a CAREFUL inspection,looking at the frames the optician had for $50.00 +,I decided they were EXACTLY the same Chinese made frames I already could get cheap with the drug store glasses. And,I only wear them when doing small work anyway. No need to let the optician sell you the same frames for bigger bucks!

    Personally,I can't stand to have a head band around my head with that "roof" coming out that holds the lenses. The eye glasses do as well,or even better,as I think the maximum magnification of the optivisors is 2.75. Yes,they can have a little extra lens that can swivel out. But then you are looking through 2(or more) lenses. That cuts down on the quality of the image,and uses up a good bit of the ambient light,too. Looking through ONE lens is by far the best option. I even tried a set of those high quality swing out lenses that clamp to your eyeglass frames. The kind watch makers use. I didn't like those either.

    This is a struggle I have already been through,tried everything,and the reading glasses at 4x are my best solution. You may not need to get such powerful glasses as the 4x. But,with them I can make a 1/32" high letter "e" to replace the one that cracked off in my old set of 1/32" letter stamps WITH SERIFS.

    Looking at the pictures below,it was about impossible to get my small Canon self focusing camera to focus on what I WANTED it to focus on! Anyway,I got a good closeup of the finished letter E. If my 4x glasses allow me to do this,they are good enough for anything I'm doing! There are only a few thousandths of space between the elements of a letter "E" this tiny. So,I recommend my approach to magnifying glasses.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by george wilson; 10-18-2016 at 9:39 AM.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by george wilson View Post
    Looking at the pictures below,it was about impossible to get my small Canon self focusing camera to focus on what I WANTED it to focus on! Anyway,I got a good closeup of the finished letter E. If my 4x glasses allow me to do this,they are good enough for anything I'm doing! There are only a few thousandths of space between the elements of a letter "E" this tiny. So,I recommend my approach to magnifying glasses.
    Yep, glasses/visors definitely work.

    That picture of the "E" is really good for handheld macro work with a point and shoot. You must have steady hands. I'd probably be running off to get a tripod and focussing rail if I needed to take a picture of something like that. The fact that you're imaging a small subject makes things easier since you don't have to worry about tilt/parallelism (i.e. you only need one point in focus) but even so that's fairly tricky.
    Last edited by Patrick Chase; 10-18-2016 at 1:06 PM.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stewie Simpson View Post
    David; I purchased the Optivisor but found its benefits were limited due to its lack of an inbuilt light source.
    That can be fixed easily enough.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Curt Harms View Post
    +1 on more light. It's pretty universal I think that eyes lose acuity in low light as they age.
    Yes, just turn on a light in a toddler's room and watch his reaction.

    I was about to suggest more light too, maybe try that first. My shop is so bright with a bunch of T5 HD fixtures that some joke about needing sun glasses.

    More light closes down the iris, and like a camera lens, which gives better depth of field and focus. In addition to the bright overheads in the shop, I use even brighter LED task lights for close work. The best I've found are from Ken Rizza, Woodturners Wonders.

    I do use the magnifiers as well for very small work but I usually don't need them with enough light.

    JKJ

  11. #26
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    Just lucky on the little E,Patrick. That camera wanted to focus on whatever it decided to focus on. I have a load of BAD pictures as a result.I now have a Canon Rebel with a macro lens attachment,which I can manually focus. I need to take a lot of new pictures,and weed out the old ones. I will one of these days.

  12. #27
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    Dave, I feel your pain brother!


    Saw sharpening (especially small TPI back saws!) is one area of woodworking where being able to clearly see the work is absolutely essential. I've sharpened waaaay too many saws; it used to be a lot easier when I could see the details clearly without having to bend over to get so close and my back didn't hurt nearly as much as it does now.


    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Cannon View Post
    I have an inexpensive magnifying headset, similar to what dentists and jewellers use. It has two strengths of interchangeable magnifiers, flips up when you don't need it, down when you do. I only wish it had a lamp. A good LED headlamp would probably have eliminated the need for the magnifier in my case. Five years later they told me that my problem was cateracts. What a difference.

    +1 to what Wayne said. I use a magnifying headset and an adjustable, inexpensive desk lamp to get the light where I need it. I think you can get the headset from Lee Valley, or certainly Amazon - I think I got mine for around $25. I also have a much cooler headset with built-in lights courtesy of my friend Creeker Don S. Maybe he will chime in and mention where he got it.


    FWIW, once I had a magnifying headset, I was surprised at how often I use it for things other than saw sharpening – it's been a real lifesaver for me. Only challenges is the focal length requires you to get pretty close to the work, so that typically requires little bending over - my back hates that!


    My personal calculus is I'll happily take better vision and deal with the back issues (my personal remedy is bourbon and Advil). I'm not a doctor, but, I'm pretty sure that combination isn't great for your liver. The way I see it is I'm lucky to have made it this far and I don't plan to live forever. I guess solutions often require compromise – I'm good with that.


    All the best, Mike

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010 View Post
    My personal calculus is I'll happily take better vision and deal with the back issues (my personal remedy is bourbon and Advil). I'm not a doctor, but, I'm pretty sure that combination isn't great for your liver.
    Acetaminophen and alcohol together are very bad news for your liver. They're each somewhat toxic to the liver, but the combination is "synergistic" (worse than the sum of its parts).

    Ibuprofen and alcohol both irritate the stomach lining so if you're susceptible you probably don't want to mix them for that reason, but it's not as problematic as the acetaminophen interaction.

  14. #29
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    Thanks Patrick, I really appreciate your advice. I will endeavor to make more responsible choices..

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Allen1010 View Post
    Thanks Patrick, I really appreciate your advice. I will endeavor to make more responsible choices..
    Sorry, that was meant more as an aside than as advice. I have an unfortunate level of familiarity with this stuff because of getting clobbered by a truck while riding my bike to work a while back. I gave up drinking, period.

    Advil is Ibuprofen, so what you described isn't bad IMO. If your stomach isn't irritated then I wouldn't worry too much about it. I refrained from saying that in my first post because I've been accused of being cavalier about potential health issues in this forum :-).

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