What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Where to find a good magnifying glass?

Ender

Active Member
I've been trying to find a good 5x (preferably 10x) mag glass for general use around the shop.

I've searched the **** outta google and amazon and of course there is tons of hits, but they all seem to have review's saying it's not actually the power noted or some other deficiency. Most of them look like very cheap pieces from overseas.

Yes, I have looked at my local HW stores, but they are all 3X. Maybe 3x is enough and 5x or 10x is just gonna make me drive myself crazy trying to fix tiny things.

Does anyone have a link to a mag. glass that they use and have found to work well around the RV building environment? I know you all have answers to what you use, but I'm looking for specific links for ones that have worked well.

Thanks!
 
The product you're looking for is sold by Delasco (delasco.com). It is item #BF35/P. I bought mine about a year ago.
 
+1 on the Donegan Optivisor. I do a lot of miroscopic surface mount soldering and I have many thousands of dollars invested in handheld and head mounted magnifiers, bench mounted magnifiers, microscopes, and video inspection systems, but I always come back to my head mounted visors.

I actually prefer the Donegan OptiSight over the Optivisor and it is a little less expensive and there is a good set with different power lenses that are easy to change. This is where I got mine:
http://www.techni-tool.com/298IN200

On the left side of that page if you click on Lighting and Inspection you will find tons of other magnifiers including the Optivisor.
 
I have way too many magnifiers in my life, including the Coddington that Dan mentioned and one of those big fluorescent ring lamps with a central magnifying glass. Another that I use regularly but has apparently been discontinued, is the Bausch and Lomb Lenscope Magnifier. It's an inspection tool, not a device you can use for assembly, but still incredibly handy.
 
To the OP: You didnt say how you want to use the glass, but in general one glass wont do everything you want.

I find I need a bench mount, a hand held and a set of Walmart higher-power-than-regular-reading-half-glasses depending on where I am and what I'm doing. One size doesnt fit all, and sometimes more than one used in combination.

But from all the previous responses, you can get one of each you'll need.....and then theres borescopes, but thats a different thread.....
 
TV repair

Find someone around your area that still does TV and projector repair. I Have a friend that does it and he gave me about 10 magnifying lenses out of projector's and they work amazing. You can adapt them to any kind of bass or handle you want or you can use them stand alone. Oh, and the great part is usually they're free.
 
Magnifiers

When I was assembling my G3X connectors a headset magnifier was absolutely necessary. If you can see the numbers molded into those connectors without a magnifier; more power to ya. You don't want to choose the wrong hole. The headset is of course on your head and goes where you go, wheather it is at the bench or in the plane. My only issue is that with the higher magnification, you need to hold the object close to your face. Like 4 inches. I wonder if there is a high-X magnifier that can be held at a distance; as you would hold a book.
 
Back
Top