ONE OF THE ABSOLUTE BEST TOOLS ANY GUNSMITH (or amateur) CAN EVER OWN!

[chief38]

The Donegan OptiVisor! Used by Jeweler's, Machinist's, Watchmaker's, Gunsmith's, Dentist's or anyone who works with small fine precision fitted parts. They do come in different focal lengths and there are charts to help you find what you need for what you are doing. The set I have is a #4 lens and has a focal length of 10" with a magnification of 2X. You can get increased magnifications but the more you magnify the closer the focal distance is, so be sure to find your optimal working distance you typically work at. There is a chart on their website so if you do order one read that first.

The different lenses are quick and easy to swap out and the headband is very comfortable and adjustable to fit anyone. Before I bought one of these about 20 years ago, I used to use one of the bench mounted magnifying circular lights. I still have it but have not really used it much since buying the OptiVisor.

I would strongly advise anyone interested in getting a GENUINE Donegan OptiVisor and NOT a Harbor Freight knock off!! When it comes to clarity, durability and longevity the Chinesium knock off's just don't hold a candle! It's a lifetime purchase and worth every penny - I have been using them religiously for 20+ years and there is rarely a day that goes by I do not use them - seriously! They are even more important when we age, get cataracts, loose close up vision, etc. They can be used with or without prescription lenses as there is plenty of room to accommodate glasses.

I am not affiliated with them in any way and don't benefit at all - I just like passing along information on really great products! This is one of them! They are the Bee's Knee's!!!!

ADDED: BTW, the lenses are made out of thick glass so they are very very scratch resistant and virtually impossible to break - believe me I've tried! lol They are also very resistant to sparks and metal shavings from Grinders, Dremel's, etc. They are still in perfect shape!

 

[Erich]

Good looking-out, Chief!
(And here I thought this was going to be a post about a Dremel tool. )

 

[Erich]

I use tiny East German JENA 2x glasses that Dad picked up on a research trip to the DDR in the Seventies. Fantastic optics: the Commies got the optics scientists when WWII ended (which is why all our optics got cheaper and better when the Iron Curtain fell). The thing is, I have to put protective gear on top of them - I've used cheapie Halbol Flayt plastic ones, but - as you note - notso hotso. I've wanted to look into buying the real deal, but never got around to researching what they'd cost and what brands to consider - you gave me a big boost here, chief38; thanks again!

 

[45Smashemflat]

Great suggestion, I’ve been fighting with the lighted ring magnifier recently.

 

[oldbrownhat]

I bought an Optivisor years ago. Donegan make good gear. I also have (and actually prefer) the more open Optisight:

although you can't really add illumination to it. With my wet AMD I am increasingly reliant on these for detail work, not to mention the instructions in miniscule print on many items

Erich, those Jena glasses look interesting, too. Lots of el-cheapo knock-offs on Amazon but the real deal - not necessarily Jena but commercial quality - will be pretty expensive. If you know an about-to-retire dentist, you might get a deal on a serious set of optics

 

[Truckman]

I just ordered my OptiVisor 2.5X from Amazon...This may save me some further embarrassment by misreading the S/N's in that older deeply stamped font S&W used several decades back......Ben

 

[Frailer]

I an a True Believer in the Optivisor. They are game-changers for those of us whose eyes don’t quite work like they used to.

 

[Bald1]

Soooooo there’s something better than my reading glasses and a small flashlight in my mouth ?

 

[huthike]

Love my Optivisor, too - my most used tool.

 

[Imissedagain]

After cataract surgery my eyes are 20/20 but reading glasses are necessary.
I have a pair that is a bifocal, 48" to 18" and 18" to 6".
Great for shooting, reading music and not as great for wood and metal work, especially when running machines, as the fine debris gets into the eyes.
Got two pair of swim goggles at +2.5 and +3.0 diopter.
Keeps the fine stuff out of the eyes.
Routers, on the carving machine, throw chips every which way.

Really close up filing/sanding for grip/stock work etc etc, the dust rises and goes every where, so it's magnifiers and a fan behind my head.

 

[oldbrownhat]

BTW, for those who need safety glasses over their prescription glasses, I've found these "No Cry" glasses pretty good. Available from Amazon.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have used those and other variants when micro soldering, doing intricate fretboard inlay work and detailed wood repairs on instruments.

 

[pmanton]

I've got 3 of the OptiVisors with different strength lenses.
One had an added swing down lens for real close inspection.
Love em.

 

[s&wchad]

Good looking-out, Chief!
(And here I thought this was going to be a post about a Dremel tool. )

And I though it was going to be about a Babbit bar!


I love Optivisors!
I'd never be able to deal with watches without one. They're indispensable when you need to deal with tiny parts and keep both hands free. Mine came from estate sales over the past 20 years.

I've got two Donegan's (a 2X and a 3X with a Optiloupe's) and an old US made General 7X. I sometimes use my bench mounted magnifier with an Optivisor!

I also have a B&L 10X loupe in my desk and a Whitman 10X pocket loupe in my gun show bag. My eyes aren't what they used to be...

When I just need to read some small print, I've been using the camera on my iPad. The resolution and clarity is pretty amazing!
The image on my tablet is about 4X larger than the compressed forum photo display, but even these are easy to see.

 

[chief38]

And I though it was going to be about a Babbit bar!


I love Optivisors!
I'd never be able to deal with watches without one. They're indispensable when you need to deal with tiny parts and keep both hands free. Mine came from estate sales over the past 20 years.

I've got two Donegan's (a 2X and a 3X with a Optiloupe's) and an old US made General 7X. I sometimes use my bench mounted magnifier with an Optivisor!

I also have a B&L 10X loupe in my desk and a Whitman 10X pocket loupe in my gun show bag. My eyes aren't what they used to be...

When I just need to read some small print, I've been using the camera on my iPad. The resolution and clarity is pretty amazing!
The image on my tablet is about 4X larger than the compressed forum photo display, but even these are easy to see.

It's funny that you should mention watches! I recently ordered an inexpensive watch for two reasons......

1) I used to wear a very expensive watch when we went on vacation out of the country - I will not do that anymore due to the new times we live in. I wanted a cheap watch that if it gets stolen, lost, leaks, banged up or whatever, I'll toss it and buy another.

2) I have recently "gotten into" watches. Over the last few months I have watched hundreds of video's on Youtube, spoken to many of my friends who collect them and a yearning to take them apart. Not so much to maintain them, but I have the desire to know exactly how they work. I know of no better way than to start taking them apart, lubricating and working on them! It's my newest interest - another hobby! I am just starting this now and would never experiment on my good stuff!!

The $74 Bucks this new Invicta Pro Diver cost me scratches both itches above (#1 & #2). If I ruin it (I'll try not to) I will not lose any sleep. Without an OptiVisor, taking it apart would be impossible. In fact I just replaced two watch straps on my wife's watches and they are small. Without the OptiVisor - FORGETABOUTIT!

 

[chief38]

Good looking-out, Chief!
(And here I thought this was going to be a post about a Dremel tool. )

Ha! Yea, more harm has probably been done to guns with a Dremel in inexperienced hands than by any other tool.

I gave away 3 of my Dremel's (still have one variable speed left) but I no longer really use it. Years ago I upgraded to a Foredom Electric Tool (SR Motor). It is so much ahead of a Dremel and has many many more times the power - even worse for inexperienced hands - lol. It is capable to do so much more than a Dremel and depending on the hand pieces and attachments will accept up to 1/4" drills, burs, and other shanks. A Dremel maxes out at 1/8". With the metal foot pedal it is so controllable, so precise and is a pleasure to use.

While I do use it on guns for special purposes, I have bee using moto-tools of one brand or another for 50 years professionally in my business (when working of course) and now in my personal life. I could give a course on them - LOL!! I STILL will never recommend their use on firearms unless the person is a Professional. I'd never want to hear someone ruined a fine gun because of that.

 

[cmansguns]

Absolutely NONE of the suggestions work for me!

You guys are howling at the moon. There exists only ONE brand and only ONE style that really work as promised and do exactly as I want them too.

The glasses are the Smith & Wesson brand (ever hear of that company) and the style is their "Forever Rose Colored".

These glasses when worn properly at a gun show will have you looking at a beat-up, worn out, finish gone Model 10 and yet when the glasses are on, they show an early Registered Magnum in ANIB condition.

I cannot find mine at the moment, but I did come across the opposite style that if you remember was given free to all newbies starting out in firearms collecting. Lots of manufacturers but the style was the same, marketed as
"Monochrome - Silk Purse to Sows Ear style". Mine were made by Colt and if you bought a very nice WWII 1911A1 at high price while wearing the glasses...when it arrived it was an old make Taurus!

Anyone else ever see the Pig-in-a-Poke.

BTW: I am ordering the optics recommended by the OP, as soon as I can find my readers.

 

[oldbrownhat]

.When I just need to read some small print, I've been using the camera on my iPad. The resolution and clarity is pretty amazing!...

I am embarrassed to think how often I use the magnifier on my iPhone And I have one of those magnifier lamps, too.
"A man's gotta know his limitations", as someone famous once said in a movie

 

[chief38]

I am embarrassed to think how often I use the magnifier on my iPhone And I have one of those magnifier lamps, too.
"A man's gotta know his limitations", as someone famous once said in a movie

At 70 I STILL can't get it through my thick skull I need to take Cheater's everywhere I go! I have 20/20 at distance and do not wear prescription glasses - I just need the Cheater's for close up stuff and reading. When I shoot I do so with opened sights - don't own any red dots or lasers.

The problem is now I live in T shirt weather (no pockets on most T shirts) and don't have pockets for Cheater's. I own about 20 pair and keep them in every room, all the cars, Range bag, night table, etc. That said, I am always going around looking for them. Tried an around the neck thing - always in the way. Even bought a collapsible pair that slipped into a pouch - didn't last long.

 

[oldbrownhat]

...I own about 20 pair and keep them in every room, all the cars, Range bag, night table, etc. That said, I am always going around looking for them. Tried an around the neck thing - always in the way. Even bought a collapsible pair that slipped into a pouch - didn't last long.

Let's face it: sometimes life's just 6 - 4 against. Still, I have to remind myself that "it could be worse."