Wearable magnifying glasses for soldering?

[jfiresto]

These work. Mine were made out of some weird plastic though which disintegrated in the course of 12 months or so. First started cracking, then broke in smaller and smaller pieces. Probably a bad batch and manufacturing fixed long time since, but am hesitant to buy the cheap ones again.

Plastics continue to react after formation, some much more slowly than others. My father has some coupons from the 1960s that have gotten sticky over the last couple decades. As the eldest son, I shall continue the experiment.

[IanJ]

Flip up headset x1.0 / x2.0 here to get me a bit closer on the fine stuff. The ones I have have 2 sets of lens and you flip both down to get x2.0.

For quick work I just put on x1.0 reading glasses.

I am short sighted so need glasses for computer also.......its a nightmare switching out glasses every few minutes!

Getting old sucks.

Ian.

[nigelwright7557]

I use 2.5 mag reading glasses for basic viewing.
For getting up real close just a hand held 10x magnifier.

Yep, the kind you get at the drugstore for cheap works just fine for soldering. For really fine work I use a stereo microscope. But for basic soldering, reading glasses are just fine.

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Mine were £5 from Tesco. The magnifier was a couple of GBP on ebay.
The alternative was prescription glasses but they were going to be £130 !

[jfiresto]

It is funny to have this thread reactivated today.

I had just ordered a pair of mid-grade, correctable 2.5X achromatic loupe glasses after using a simple-lens magnifier for a few years.

Zeiss has some really nice ones with Keplerian optics, but they cost the earth.

[MudMan]

I like this one: https://www.eschenbach-sehhilfen.com/en-GB/278/product-overview/detail/65/maxDETAIL. It has a large working distance of 40cm. No more burn marks on your nose from soldering.

[jfiresto]

I would have liked to have bought those, but my left eye has too much astimatism and the model can not correct for it (correct for cylinder). I am ordering the 2.5X achromatic model, I linked to, as they give the maximum working distance and field of view, 340 and 74 mm, respectively. I hope 34 cm will be enough.

[1276-2449-1-ND]

Commenting on the reading-glasses:

I wear glasses, and had a set of "computer glasses" made, which are just lenses ground so the optimal focus is about 40-50 cm away. Then bifocals were added with the focus at 10-20cm. Now I can look at the monitor (schematic) and the desktop (soldering or breadboard) without having to focus on either. There's little magnification, but everything is in razor sharp focus with no eye-strain so I can work for hours. I rarely need use a magnifier any more.

They came out better than expected because the very top of the glasses are out of focus in a way that makes them just like regular glasses so there are three usable zones of focus. I used a cheap online glasses vendor and did the lens calculations myself using online calculators.

[nigelwright7557]

I use 2.5 mag reading glasses for basic viewing.
For getting up real close just a hand held 10x magnifier.

Yep, the kind you get at the drugstore for cheap works just fine for soldering. For really fine work I use a stereo microscope. But for basic soldering, reading glasses are just fine.

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I am short sighted so anything up close without glasses is just a blurr.
With 2.5 reading glasses everything is clear.
I can sometimes even manage 0.5mm pitch SMD.

[jmelson]

Its the fine SMD 0.5mm micro's I have trouble with.

OK, if you are doing 0.5mm lead pitch, forget those visors, eyeglasses, etc.  You NEED a stereo zoom microscope.
If you wear glasses, take them OFF when using the micorscope.  You will have to adjust the diopter compensation on
one of the eyepieces to get a stereo image that merges, but the field of view becomes at least twice as large.

Also, for any soldering microscope, you want one with an absolute minimum of 100 mm working distance, and 150 mm is
better.  That gives you plenty of room to get your hands and soldering iron below the scope.

I use a flip-down visor for some low-tech soldering jobs where I just need a little enlargement.  But, when doing almost any type of
SMT work, I go to the microscope.  I hand-soldered at least 1000 0.4mm pitch TQFP-128 parts on one project, and could not have
done it at all without the scope.

Jon

[jfiresto]

... If you wear glasses, take them OFF when using the micorscope.  You will have to adjust the diopter compensation on
one of the eyepieces to get a stereo image that merges, but the field of view becomes at least twice as large.

If your eyeglasses provide anything more than a mild correction – keep them on and get some halfway modern, high eyepoint microscope oculars! Good grief, I have a student stereo microscope from the mid-1980s that assumes people that need glasses will wear them, and does not penalize them with any less field of view.

[NorthGuy]

I am short sighted so anything up close without glasses is just a blurr.
With 2.5 reading glasses everything is clear.
I can sometimes even manage 0.5mm pitch SMD.

10 years ago I needed +1.5 for reading and +3 for soldering. Now I use +1.5 for PC, +3 for reading, +6 for soldering. Sometimes I add a magnifying glass, but I'm still ok without it. I can solder 0.4mm pitch.

[DrG]

I'm getting older and wear glasses for reading and distance. Todays fine pitch devices are a real challenge even to do a visual inspection, let alone soldering.
I've used a desk magnifying glass but that isn't very mobile.

What are people's experiences with the wearable magnifying glasses that are typically advertised for jeweler/watch repair applications? There appear to be a range of designs. What features are important. I need something that still allows me to wear my glasses underneath.

A solution that works for one person may not work for another; it is highly personal. That suggests starting with flexible simple cheap solutions.

With one exception, I find stereo microscopes impossible to use, even though I've been taking stereoscopic pictures for 35 years. There's the added complexity of ensuring nothing gets deposited on the lens.

My preferred solution is a cheap head-mounted visor with multiple lenses. They aren't heavy, can be used with spectacles, can be used for other things (e.g. peering into equipment), have 1.2/1.8/2.5/3.5 magnification lenses and you can put two lenses "in series". The LED is not much use.

Example, but they are widely available under different brands: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-60390-Loupe-Magnifier-Visor/dp/B001MJ0JW2

To add my experiences to the pot. I wanted to be able to do detailed soldering along the lines of smt carrier boards - that sort of thing. I debated three avenues: 1) wearable magnifying glasses, 2) bench mounted, swinging arm, large magnifier and 3) digital microscope with screen.

I could not decide on the correct cost/quality break point for the digital microscope and got a little tired of evaluating them. The bench mounts I have used before, but they are cumbersome for my hobbyist area. So, I settled on a wearable.

This one https://www.amazon.com/Magnifier-Interchangeable-Replaceable-Professional-Electronic/dp/B075R5HSMM USD$12

I am not unhappy and have used them effectively. These are NOT lenses that can be combined.

3.5x is a bit too low and I would have preferred a 5x in there. So, the combinable lenses may be a real advantage.
The lower powered lenses do not get used.
The lenses are surprisingly scratch resistant (something that I worried about).
The LED is inconsequential and I do not bother with it - I use a great deal of light when doing fine work and I have several lamps for that.

Overall, for the price, I am very happy. If I had a 5x I would be happier. One issue with the wearable is that you have a limited focal area and that can be a problem. I "want" to move my head a bit and not strain and, of course, you can't do that.

edit: I forgot to mention that I find them much more comfortable to wear than I thought and they are quite light.

[ivaylo]

The problem with larger magnification of course is focusing distance and depth of field getting short/narrow. I had no idea Keplerian optics exists for wearables (thanks to jfiresto in this thread now I do). I took the leap and ordered one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-0x-Magnification-Prismatic-Keplerian-Style-Dental-Surgical-Medical-Loupes/192455875976. The optics is actually decent but the aligning hardware is garbage (super important at 6x magnification!) so I ended up rebuilding them (first picture). I wouldn't use them for soldering (there is a binocular microscope for that), but for doing small things on a lathe and such they are great. Tried the Eschenbach-s, but at magnification 4x I find the outside ~30% of the periphery blurry (although they advertise decent field of view). If you know where to look eBay is great for old watchmaker's magnifiers (second image; by a company called American Optical, they are upside down on the table). Not sure why this format disappeared, I find them superior to the Optivisors and similar.

[SilverSolder]

I find Optivisors to be excellent:

1) obviously, they magnify what you are looking at - different strengths of lens are available
2) they shade the light, so you can use a strong desk lamp over your work and the light won't go straight into your eyes when leaning in
3) unlike desk mounted magnifiers - you can move your head around to easily look at something from different angles
4) full 3D vision which is surprisingly helpful
5) they are pretty comfortable to wear for long periods

I use them for  soldering and any other detail work.