On Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:49:27 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:

Square Peg wrote:
Any recommendations for magnifying lenses for very fine work?

I've used those lighted magnifying desk lamps with some success, but
they are only good for desk work. I am wondering if some sort of loupe
like jewelers or dentists use might be worth buying.

My dentist told me that dental loupes cost $1,000 or more. That's a
bit more than I was planning on spending.

How much magnification is needed or useful? According to Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loupe, jewelers use 10X magnification to
inspect diamonds for blemishes, but dentists only use 2X-5X, so
something in that range ought to be good enough for removing slivers
and soldering. ;-)



Two mostly unrelated points:

1) Try a pair of the highest-power reading glasses from your local
drugstore first and see if that does it for you.

I'm up to 2.5 - 3.0 for normal reading. I think I tried a pair of
3.5s, but maybe I should check that. Good idea.

2) The best lenses might be triplets, but they are not *that* much
better than doublets, and singlets are probably good enough.

I have a cheap (about $1) 4x loupe from HarborFreight that I use for
removing tiny splinters, etc. But for most close work I just use
reading glasses -- I think they are 2.75x. The focal length of the 4x
loupe is less than 6", so you have to hold the work close to your eye.

Bob