Magnifiers

All:

I have the usual assortment of desktop magnifiers, loupes, magnifying glass, and they all work ok but wondering if anybody has used one of these for SMD soldering etc.

Looks like would work but might be a bit uncomfortable.

However, there's nothing better in my view than magnifying visors, as opposed to stand-mounted magnifiers. I use the good old Opti-Visor from Donegan Optical. Comes in many strengths, can easily be flipped up or down, gives excellent wide view.

Thanks, wondering if the 1 magnifying piece would make one go wonky after a while <g>. What magnification do you recommend for the visor for SMD work.

That totally depends on your eyes!

Mine are, let's say, less good than they were [x] years ago. You really need to try some on to see if you're comfortable with them.

At this point, I need 3 different vision aids when working on stuff: 1) my regular reading glasses, 2) a stronger (3.5-4.0) pair of reading glasses for closer-up work, and the visor for really getting in close. It's very annoying having to switch all the time.

The problem with strong magnifiers is that you end up moving your head like a damned robot if you try to find a nearby tool on your workbench. But they're indispensable for working on teensy-tiny stuff.