I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop for working on small stuff. I picked these no name, no markings, made in India glasses up for about 8.00 at a show several years ago. They have two glass lenses, an elastic headband, and as for as magnification goes I would compare them to about a pair of 2.5 reading glasses. and unlike the cheap plastic lens types that are out there, surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any objectionable optical distortion with these. The only problem with these glasses is the working distance of 6 or 7 inches.

I was talking to my dentist recently about the magnifiers that he uses. he seems to have what he needs as far as magnification and with a 2 foot working distance to boot. I asked him about the glasses and he couldn't comment on the technical specs of them except to say that he purchased them while in dental school, and that they were hundreds of dollars.

I also use a jewelers loupe for very small things, and although the magnification of that reveals a whole different world to me the focal length of 2 inches or less is very difficult to work with.

Does anyone know if it is possible to see what my dentist, or a surgeon for that matter is seeing for a reasonable price? Thanks, Lenny

On 3/5/2015 7:20 AM, wrote:
I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop for working on small stuff. I picked these no name, no markings, made in India glasses up for about 8.00 at a show several years ago. They have two glass lenses, an elastic headband, and as for as magnification goes I would compare them to about a pair of 2.5 reading glasses. and unlike the cheap plastic lens types that are out there, surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any objectionable optical distortion with these. The only problem with these glasses is the working distance of 6 or 7 inches.

I was talking to my dentist recently about the magnifiers that he uses. he seems -focuseto have what he needs as far as magnification and with a 2 foot working distance to boot. I asked him about the glasses and he couldn't comment on the technical specs of them except to say that he purchased them while in dental school, and that they were hundreds of dollars.

I also use a jewelers loupe for very small things, and although the magnification of that reveals a whole different world to me the focal length of 2 inches or less is very difficult to work with.

Does anyone know if it is possible to see what my dentist, or a surgeon for that matter is seeing for a reasonable price? Thanks, Lenny

I have a head-mounted device called "magni-focuser" by

Edroy Products Inc.

It takes two lenses to get what you want.
So, they're like two telescopes.

I find them absolutely useless.
You move the lenses in and out to match the distance
between your eyes EXACTLY so the images overlap.

If you move your head ever so slightly or wrinkle your brow
or the wind blows or anything happens within a mile of you,
the images no longer match up. I found them far more distracting
than helpful.

My dentist had glasses with little protrusions glued on the surface
to do that function. I assume they work somewhat better because
they're much closer to the eyes and have less weight to move them
around as you move your head.

I think I asked him what they cost, but I fainted when he told me
the number and don't remember what it was.

Might be interesting to do some experiments using reading glasses
plus a head-mounted magnifier to get the effect of the two lenses
in increasing the working distance.

I think there are optical newsgroups that might be more helpful.
Report back what you find.

On Thu, 5 Mar 2015 07:20:47 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop for working on small stuff. I picked these no name, no markings, made in India glasses up for about 8.00 at a show several years ago. They have two glass lenses, an elastic headband, and as for as magnification goes I would compare them to about a pair of 2.5 reading glasses. and unlike the cheap plastic lens types that are out there, surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any objectionable optical distortion with these. The only problem with these glasses is the working distance of 6 or 7 inches.

I was talking to my dentist recently about the magnifiers that he uses. he seems to have what he needs as far as magnification and with a 2 foot working distance to boot. I asked him about the glasses and he couldn't comment on the technical specs of them except to say that he purchased them while in dental school, and that they were hundreds of dollars.

I also use a jewelers loupe for very small things, and although the magnification of that reveals a whole different world to me the focal length of 2 inches or less is very difficult to work with.

Does anyone know if it is possible to see what my dentist, or a surgeon for that matter is seeing for a reasonable price? Thanks, Lenny
If you look on ebay you can find magnigfiers that are cheap enough
that if they are not good you won't be out too much money. The problem
is that you need telescope type magnifiers to get a good working
distance, good depth of field, and goodm color correction. This
requires at least two lenses. And the two magnifiers need to be
centered on your eyes, as well as pointed in slightly toward each
other. This angle changes with the working distance. Another type of
magnifier that can work almost as well is the type with lenses that
have an adjustable center distance. These can be had that clip onto
your regular glasses. The lenses sit some distance from your eyes and
have a screw with both left and right hand threads that you turn to
change the center distance of the lenses. These can make life way
easier, like good binoculars. However, for most of the close up work I
do I use a single lens and one eye. I have a good B&L lens that clips
on my glasses and swings down that gets a lot of use and I also have
several loupes of different powers that I use. Next week I will be
ordering the lenses to make my own Galilean type telescopic binocular
magnifiers because I don't wanna shell out 300 bucks for the good ones
I want, don't trust the Chinese ones, have a machine shop, and mainly
because I want to. If you would like I can post the lens info when I
order mine.
Cheers,
Eric

Try Edmund Optical.
http://www.edmundoptics.com/microsco...magnifier/1859

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wrote:

I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop for working on small
stuff.
I don't know if this will be any help. I have several of those
visor things, but almost never use them. I'm nearsighted anyway,
so for a quick look I just look under my glasses and can see quite
a lot. For REAL close-up examination or anything that will take
some time, I have an Olympus stereo-zoom microscope I got by contacting
an eBay seller. (I didn't buy what he had on eBay, but some other gear
he had.)

There are lots of these stereo-zoom microscopes. The trick for electronics
work is to get one with a long "working distance". We have 2 other units at
work, too. All of them have at least 4-5" of working distance, which is
enough to do micro-soldering on ICs and other tricky stuff, with hands and
tools under the scope. I do chips down to 0.4mm lead pitch.

Note that there are binocular microscopes that are NOT stereo, they only
have one objective lens, and beam splitters to feed both eyes. You really
WANT true stereo.

Maybe more hardware than some people want or need, but doing the level of
stuff I do, I really love the microscopes.

Jon

On 3/5/2015 3:25 PM, Jon Elson wrote:
wrote:

I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop for working on small
stuff.
I don't know if this will be any help. I have several of those
visor things, but almost never use them. I'm nearsighted anyway,
so for a quick look I just look under my glasses and can see quite
a lot. For REAL close-up examination or anything that will take
some time, I have an Olympus stereo-zoom microscope I got by contacting
an eBay seller. (I didn't buy what he had on eBay, but some other gear
he had.)

There are lots of these stereo-zoom microscopes. The trick for electronics
work is to get one with a long "working distance". We have 2 other units at
work, too. All of them have at least 4-5" of working distance, which is
enough to do micro-soldering on ICs and other tricky stuff, with hands and
tools under the scope. I do chips down to 0.4mm lead pitch.

Note that there are binocular microscopes that are NOT stereo, they only
have one objective lens, and beam splitters to feed both eyes. You really
WANT true stereo.

Maybe more hardware than some people want or need, but doing the level of
stuff I do, I really love the microscopes.

Jon

I have a Unitron ZSM stereo zoom microscope.
Unaided, I have to get the lens too close to the work to do anything.
For inspection, it's fine. If you want to work under it, it's difficult.
Also has a lens that extends the working distance at the expense of
viewing angle. Also has the fiber optic illumination from a ring around
the lens.
It's still hard to get a soldering iron under it to work on a
circuit board.
Also has the mount that extends up to two feet from the base support
and can move up/down to accommodate thicker parts.

But, with all that, it's still a pain to use. The depth of field is
so low that I'm always refocusing it.

For inspection of stuff that has a very narrow height variation, it's
great. For doing any kind of work at all, I find it not much help.

If you can find someone to let you demo theirs, I'd do that before
spending much money on this stuff.

On Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 7:20:53 AM UTC-8, wrote:
I have a pair of magnifiers that I use in the shop ... no name, no markings, made in India glasses
I was talking to my dentist recently about the magnifiers that he uses. he seems to have what he needs as far as magnification and with a 2 foot working distance to boot. I asked him about the glasses and he couldn't comment on the technical specs of them except to say that he purchased them while in dental school, and that they were hundreds of dollars.

I also use a jewelers loupe for very small things, and although the magnification of that reveals a whole different world to me the focal length of 2 inches or less is very difficult to work with.

Does anyone know if it is possible to see what my dentist, or a surgeon for that matter is seeing for a reasonable price? Thanks, Lenny

The things your dentist uses are dual telescopes, and require accurate fitting to your face by
an optometrist or somesuch. Designs for Vision is one outfit that makes these, in lightweight
form in a glasses-like frame.
Simple magnifiers (lenses) only magnify well with short working distance.
Non-head-mounted stereo microscopes (STEREO NOT BINOCULAR) are a better viewing
experience yet.

mike wrote:


I have a Unitron ZSM stereo zoom microscope.
Unaided, I have to get the lens too close to the work to do anything.
For inspection, it's fine. If you want to work under it, it's difficult.
Also has a lens that extends the working distance at the expense of
viewing angle. Also has the fiber optic illumination from a ring around
the lens.
It's still hard to get a soldering iron under it to work on a
circuit board.
Also has the mount that extends up to two feet from the base support
and can move up/down to accommodate thicker parts.
Yes, there are microscopes specifically made for assembly and other
manual tasks that have MUCH more working distance than those made
just for inspection.

I make my own LED ring illuminators, they are pretty simple to
make. A piece of PC board, cut a groove to make two concentric
copper rings, solder LEDs and resistors to the rings, add a
wall-wart power supply. Best to make the PCB ring on a lathe,
but it can be done by hand, too.

Jon