On Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:49:26 -0400, Jim Wilkins wrote:

"Winston" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:02:59 -0400, Jim Wilkins wrote:

wrote in message
...
I'm assembling a little metal thing under a microscope right now.
It's very time-consuming, switching between eyeglasses for reading
documentation and bare eyeballs for using the microscope.


Yup. Those two concepts have become my workaround until someone buys
me a stereo microscope. --Winston
(Well, I've *got* a nice stereo microscope. Here I was referring
to the Mantis Elite. Ooooo. Baby.

Could you get a 14" or 20" working distance lens to read the
documentation with the Optivisor?
http://www.loupe-magnifier.com/optiv...ens-plates.htm

The ones I grab most often have 14" #3 lenses and a swing-down closeup
lens. I've soldered a whole lot of surface mount with them, mostly 0805
and 0603 caps and resistors and 0.5mm pitch ICs. The 8" #5 is nice to
inspect the fit of a thread gauge etc but it's kinda too close for
comfort on the lathe or mill.

My best vision is at 18-20". When I was young I could read the states
around top of the Lincoln Memorial on a $5 bill.

My vision was *never* that good.

I really like my 10 diopter Optivisors but the working distance
and lack of magnification make them non-starters for me, now.
Back 'in the day' they were perfectly fine for my SMT projects.
Not any more, though.

--Winston