I am doing more and more detail work with resin and photo etch. Needless to say, I am having a hard time seeing what im doing!
Any ideas on where to purchase such a set up?
Thanks Everyone!!!
Magnifying lamp. Mine clips to the corner of my desk.
Sounds perfect, I dont want to sound silly but, where can I get one? Does it work well for you?
Try Micro-Mark.com, Amazon.com or ebay. I’ve had mine for about 15 years and it works great .
Mine wasn’t a hobby one, I got it from a surplus/overstock tools store. Its marketed for being attached to a table saw, so they sell it for $20.
I use a combined magnifier and lamp- a round fluorescent tube with about a four inch magnifier in the middle. The mounting arm is articulated with adjustable tension knobs. I really recommend a lamp like this for good model lighting. I found mine at a local building supply store (Menards). I also use 2 diopter reading glasses. If I have those on, and look through the lamp magnifier, I REALLY get a closeup view.
The magnifier/lamp I picked up recently is my third. I have been using that kind of lamp now for over forty years, and swear by it.
Being nearsighted I just have to remove my glasses to see fine detail work. However, I have had a major problem when it came to holding small PE parts or soldering and tinning wire. I started looking for a good set of third hands, but did not like the sets with alligator clips as they will not hold thin wire well. After looking for a couple of weeks I found what is called a Jewelers stork on Ebay. It’s a bit more pricey then the third hand sets you get at the hobby shop but it’s far superior imo.
I also have more problems these days with finger agility than with eyesight. I can always add more magnification. But when I use both my closeup glasses and my big magnifier I can see parts that I cannot work with. So I also have holding hardware and several good tweezers. Even so, when doing very fine work like PE I find that after awhile my fingers break into tremors, and I have to take a break for awhile. Rigging, also. During those sort of tasks my building time gets more limited, alternating building with doing something else for periods.
I feel for you, the older I get the higher the power of specs I have to buy from Wally-World. The good news is, I can’t see the mistakes anyway.[;)]