HO Loco loco Great info. Thanks. I daily wear progressive tri-focal eyeglasses. Does anyone have experience with those and magnifiers like the Optivisor? Do you wear your tri-focals along with it when doing detailed work? Thanks.
Great info. Thanks. I daily wear progressive tri-focal eyeglasses. Does anyone have experience with those and magnifiers like the Optivisor? Do you wear your tri-focals along with it when doing detailed work? Thanks.
davefrThe Optivisor with a glass lens is excellent but don't get that Quasar light. It's a very primitive LED arrangement and not very effective. Just mount a warm/floody Zebralight to the brim. It'll be 100X better.
Totally agree!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Mike,
Your wife will continue to snicker when she sees you wearing your Optivisor until she needs a necklace untangled or some piece of jewelry repaired. I have fixed and untangled many necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other items for my wife, daughters and granddaughters. They don't laugh anymore.
I love my Optivisor.
Jeff
The Optivisor with a glass lens is excellent but don't get that Quasar light. It's a very primitive LED arrangement and not very effective. Just mount a warm/floody Zebralight to the brim. It'll be 100X better.
You can also get reading glasses up to 6.0 diopter from Ebay. Search "strong readers".
Tom, yes, that was me.
I had to do a solder repair on a decoder in a tight space. And i was not looking forward to doing that.
Because of that project, I had looked at a HF "Helping Hands" style magnifyer for it, but then found HobbyLobby's version of an optivisor.
And I could not pass up the price the local store marked theirs down to. (I got it for $30....)
I completed the solder repair, succesfully.
And now that I have one, I am now utilizing it on small detailing work on locomotives and railcars. (And it was useful in succesfully replacing a sprung KD knuckle sping or two.)
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
ricktrains4824 I just picked up a "optivisor" competitor from HobbyLobby that they had marked down. Built in LED headlamp, two brightness levels, and 3 seperate magnifiers used alone or together. Can't believe I waited this long to get one...
I just picked up a "optivisor" competitor from HobbyLobby that they had marked down. Built in LED headlamp, two brightness levels, and 3 seperate magnifiers used alone or together.
Can't believe I waited this long to get one...
Unless I'm thinking of someone else, Rick, I thought I remember you being pretty adversed to getting them in the past because you stated your eyes were still good? If so, what changed?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
HO Loco locoDo you wear your tri-focals along with it
I think you can do without unless you have astigmatism.
I upgraded my HF knock off optivisor with a real one, since I posted 5 years ago. I got several different lenses but the downside of the higher power is that you need to get it closer to your face to be in focus.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Guys, if you look back, I already have yearly check-ups, and my next one is in March.
I know all about eye health.
Thank you!
Mike.
My You Tube
BigDaddy Getting high diopter glasses may not help if have astigmatism. You would have to wear those over your normal glasses. I've got an el cheapo knock off of the Optivisor. ....Hey I didn't know. It has a flip up second pair of lenses, but the magnification is so high you have to working extremely close to your face. It is not uncomfortable to wear. Many of us are in an age group where we should be checked for glaucoma, which has no symptoms until you suffer significant vision loss. If your source of eye care is trying on cheaters at Walmart, you are making a mistake.
Getting high diopter glasses may not help if have astigmatism. You would have to wear those over your normal glasses. I've got an el cheapo knock off of the Optivisor. ....Hey I didn't know. It has a flip up second pair of lenses, but the magnification is so high you have to working extremely close to your face. It is not uncomfortable to wear.
Many of us are in an age group where we should be checked for glaucoma, which has no symptoms until you suffer significant vision loss. If your source of eye care is trying on cheaters at Walmart, you are making a mistake.
Hi George:
I wasn't too pleased with the Quasar Lighting System. I found that mine produced very little useful light. The LEDs are not focused so the light is spread everywhere. I even upgraded to 5mm LEDs but that didn't improve things by much.
Instead I attached a strap on headlamp to the top of the visor with a couple of small bolts. I did away with the straps.
The headlamp can be focused right on the work piece and in fact gives too much light when its on the high setting. I got mine from Lee Valley Tools. The style I chose is a bit different from most strap on headlamps in that the batteries are in the lamp. The more common arrangement is for the batteries to be in a separate compartment. The compartment could be easily attached to the Optivisor head strap but mounting the lamp might have to be done differently:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67596&cat=1,43456,43349
Price is in $USD.
The added weight on the visor means that you have to tighten the screws on the headband but it has it stays in place quite well.
The Lee Valley unit is also $10.00 less than the Quasar.
I have probably an older Optivisor. It is a 10 power visor. I picked it up at a garage sale of the widow of a really great model railroader who has been selling his stuff off since he passed away 2+ years ago. I think, with some of the other stuff I bought, it probably was about $1 or less. With my aging eyes, I can't imagine having to do without that thing ever again for close up, HO scale work. Even at full retail its worth the money. Every detail is so much clearer
This is what Walthers has for Optivisor
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?category=&scale=&manu=&item=&keywords=Optivisor&words=restrict&instock=Q&split=30&Submit=Search
A great addition to the Optovisor is the Quasar Lighting System, a set of LEDs that attaches to the lens, and lights where you are loooking. MicroMark has it, as well as Optivisors
http://www.micromark.com/quasar-lighting-system-for-optivisor,8608.html
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Just a quick thanks to everyone. I bought the Optivisor, Walthers has a sale, you get the optivisor and 4 different lenses, #'s 3,4,5 & 7. Walthers is about an hour from me. Great place, except the neighborhood they are in (and have been for ever, I think) is not great.
Now, I just have to remember to take them off when I leave my "shop" area. (wife has caught me a couple of times, and just laughs).
I got advice here when I was having the same problem seeing those tiny parts.
Here is what I got and its really good.
Carson Optical Pro Series MagniVisor Deluxe Head-Worn LED Lighted Magnifier with 4 Different Lenses
I only need the X2 lens but having four lenses is a real bonus if you have to look at something REALLY close.
Chris.
Loco Guy - is a state of mind - not an affinity to locomotives.
Sit back and enjoy your track...
Point taken about eye health. I have yearly exams, next one due in March.
Thanks for all the great feedback!
Hi all
Well I do have a seriouse eye condition and have had it all my life and have a few more eye problems at the moment, and quite frankly the moral checker program would junk my post.
If I said what I think about people who don't take propper care of their eyes and get regular checks when they should.
You only get one set and if you seriously break them or ignore something fixable or controlable then thats pretty much it.
Just don't do it.
Erhm Sorry wild foot stamping rant over.
When it comes to fiddly stuff and fine detail's my prefered visual aid of choice is an optivisor with a 10x magnification that lense might have to be revised when the eye surgeon has finished with me hopefully lower.
It fits over my glasses is comfortable to wear and works.
Forget the it looks pretty and are pretty useless LED lights ones.
The light while bright doesn't shine where you want it so just stick with the non lighted one and the magnification level of lense that works for you.
And any one with possible real eye problem's please just go and get it checked out before its to late.
regards John
Of all the tools that I own for working on my layout, the Optivisor is Number One.
Couldn't do without it.
Rich
Alton Junction
Yes Mike, it is the Donegan OptiVISOR.
I can't "quote" on Fire Fox, but, yes Ken, I mean the +3.00, and , after reading the replys, I might look the +4 or higher.
Mike
So, I just did a quick search on Google, is it the Donagan Optivisor?
Great guys, thanks, I guess I'll start with the Optivisor, and see what's it all about. I do like to add details to locos, and freight cars, such as the hoses, plows, un-coupler levers, wipers, cross over plates, some piping, etc., not that I'm anything close to "rivet counter". Just for my own satisfaction.
Thanks,
My wife laughs at me when I walk around the house with my Optivisor still on my head because I have forgotten to take it off.
Seriously, if I am doing any sort of work up close, the Optivisor is on my head the whole time.
I agree with the suggestion to get a light for it, BUT DON'T buy the ones that have LEDs in a frame that sits around the lenses. They do not focus the light worth beans. I bought a headlamp with a strap, removed the strap and used small bolts to attach the lamp to the top of the molded eye piece. The headlamp has an adjustable beam and two light levels. It concentrates the light right where you need it. In fact, on high with fresh batteries it is too bright.
Be aware that the headlamp eats batteries, or at least mine does. I'm using Duracells so its not a problem with using el-cheapo batteries.
Also, to reinforce a point that Paul made, spend the money on an Optivisor, not a clone. I made that mistake thinking that I would have two visors with different strength lenses, but the clone was so uncomfortable I tossed it.
Optivisor is the best. I have 2 other cheaper brands - they work but are not as comfortable and easy to use. I use the #5 lenses. I like that they flip down over my glasses - since my eyes are different corrections I need that.
Enjoy
Paul
I have a really good pair of progressives for day to day use. I did buy a three pack of very strong over the counters at Costco for cheap. They work great for close work and I keep a pair at the layout and the other two at the workbenches.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I hated my Optiviser's and sold them on e-bay. I use reading glasses from the $ store, you can get them up to a 4 but on e-bay they can be bought for up to 7. I use 1.5 generally just doing stuff but the #4 works great for close up work and these are so cheap I leave pairs everywhere.