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My optivisor is not working anymore. The led is fine. the little extra lope fell out almost immediately; but now the headband won't stay tight at all. I see that there are other options out there now, for about the same price; like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007C ... s_li_ss_tl

Has anyone tried anything that worked any better than these:



I've only gone through a couple sets, but they aren't great. My wife says they are heavy. The plastic band isn't comfortable. How about the ones that clip on your glasses? Some of them don't seem that much either.

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Why be normal?

I have a pair of these I got four years ago that I like. I mainly use them for doing inlays. They are similar to the ones in the link you posted.

(Sorry, I don't know how to post a shortened version of the URL.)

https://www.amazon.com/YOCTOSUN-Magnifying-Magnifier-Detachable-Eyeglasses/dp/B0DF7MB814/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2IVF94WKGRUFJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._LK4gH_GYi069-H2sPioG3o4ZhwBTc_FDlqaCLQYOMMiav1maoOONc4qtwZ6sqkBjpiUo1hSY6rwzSznZQLOFgakcZf-2BdJxCJEk_af5eUUVp-PBvi1qa9aDaXhs7vjAFjmUiEANHrcLUG5wuv-wMj6hVmG8S7oUIC7ELSZik5hG9bAD5tZYhO42x3ODhvh61ByYoV6jYo6mbapG1m3OYq_lb_PEHiftCg_Eayn8FSxCAFTV_f6sqmf43S1XKlabDwG40A8M35dfhVYmWjYMf_HWY3ourfrnak1zwiafMMeNlFZE-eCtgNF3BGjnFAV__qlCJdvTnZtOWId5Iy4VhOJJhUj7l9uRg3JdddKdcoIoIDUA7Oy6lRRm31K54mGoK42dt5chHap3QMoefFDye8joLJHK3qsH_n3KuS-C-rnyp7C_PVtNITBSXaciBen.Ucedl7RUywuEaClLXXOGKtMRxuiHj3niCdIj_aYNlyE&dib_tag=se&keywords=yoctosun&qid=1736982597&sprefix=yoctosun%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-7&th=1

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Bought a nice one at Harbor Freight.

https://www.harborfreight.com/head-lamp ... 58788.html

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I got these. $18. They work fine. I've never tried an optivisor, so I can't compare.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T4KPYN2/

I gave my tricked out opti visor away and am so glad to not have that awful thing on my head anymore.

I work on guitars hours and hours a day so seeing.... is kind of important.

I've gone to readers as simple as that sounds and two pair permits me to see all I need to see. I have 1.75 when I want more focal length and 2.75 when I've looking for the sub 0.001" sliver of light that we use for nut slot cutting.

No batteries required.

Wanted to mention too our shop is set-up as a studio with studio lighting for video and teaching. So we have many sources of light with different color temperatures. It's our experience that our vision greatly improved combining differing temperature sources of light. This in combination with readers gets us where we need to go.

Don't tell Dan E. that we are off the opti visor reservation he will want to bring us new ones the next time he visits.

I'm glad you mentioned the readers Hesh. I do have a pair of 3X readers. I was wearing my 3X progressives upstairs, and forgot about them It is only 52 downstairs today. The readers do give a wider field of vision. It was fairly bright on the dining room table, but not anything like I want. I like bright.

I was even using the optivisors to read the dumb font in the Hebrew New Testament that I have. The letter are too similar, and the light is terrible in the computer room. I can read the computer screen, in there, but I have to get real close to that book to read it. My far vision is fine. I see critters all the time when driving, A bald eagle the other day on the way to Kroger in Grand Blanc.

When I reached 45, I could no longer read the writing on small taps, like 8/32; then 10-24. When it got down to not being able to tell a 1/4-20 from a 1/4 28 I got glasses. Details are not really easy anymore.

I see much better outside.

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Why be normal?

I recently switched to 3x readers and it is WAY better. I hate all the weight from the headband.

I use this light clipped to the glasses. I’m gonna try using a headband light next.

Yep Ken I had 20/15 vision all of my life and hit 45 and couldn't see squat without some correction after that. It's also when I got into guitar buildings so bad timing.

I love that our Michigan bald eagles are back and consider them a good luck sign when I see one. I discovered a nest several years ago and have been photographing them ever since. Beautiful creatures.

I read last year that the DNR at that time estimated that we have 800 mated pairs in Michigan now and growing.

Thomas I go back and forth between 2.5 and 3.0 readers. I see better with 3.0 but the short focal length has me having to move closer or further more than I want to. But you're right way easier to wear. I hate hats too and only wear one before I've washed my hair for the day so glasses feel restrictive on me too.

I have a similar set, find them just fine, if a little heavy and "clunky" like all of them.
I find good lighting allows me to use reader for most things - always got 2 or 3 sets in the workshop.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I wear eyeglasses all the time. But I also hate having an optivizor on my head. My favorite solution right now is to use a pair of these and just switch back and forth between them and my regular glasses:

https://www.amazon.com/Dilzekui-Magnify ... =8-18&th=1

Detail work is much, much easier with my Mr. Magoo glasses! I don’t mind having to switch back and forth. It is preferable to having that darn optivizor band squeezing my head.

My goto visor below.
Has two fold down lenses, LED and loupe.
I replaced the loupe with the 2.5x one from Optivisor.
Fits well, tightens well and is all around a great visor:
https://a.co/d/a57vAGZ

2.5 Loop: https://a.co/d/g2zz68b

Not part of the original question but I also have two of theses Laguna Chameleon LED Machine Lights mounted from the ceiling (floor joists in basement), one on drillpress/ beltsanding station and the other at the bandsaw. I can position it to illuminate an area 5-6 feet away as well.
https://www.rockler.com/laguna-chameleo ... hine-light?

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

Poor vision all my life and so optics have always been in the shop. Although I have one, I have always disliked the Optivisor. Its major flaw AFAIC is that it won't fit under a full face shield. If I'm going to do small scale routing with my face a few inches from the work I want two layers of material between that carbide bit and my none-too-good-to-begin-with eyeballs.

Here is my current optical arsenal in the shop:

1. My regular distance glasses. Shop is small so there really is no distance there, so I rarely use these;

2. Plain safety glasses. My cataract replacement lenses in my eyes focus at about 18", and so most of the time I don't need glasses at all. But I'm working in a woodshop and so am never without safety glasses over my eyes;

3. 3.5X safety reading glasses. You can get safety glasses in all the same magnifications as for regular reading glasses. I use these for all the literal nose-to-the-grindstone work;

4. Surgical loupes. As my eyesight continues to degenerate with age, I found that increasing magnification put my face just too close to the work. Surgical loupes come in the same assortment of "Xs" as reading glasses, but they focus at between 24" and 12" depending on the model. So when you buy these you have to deal with both of those specifications. I got a lot of help figuring out what I needed from one of my granddaughters (surgical resident) and my dentist. You can get really cheap versions if you stick to 3X 18". Loupes are like little telescopes on a glasses-like frame. The adjustment of the positions of the telescopes on the frame is absolutely critical if you have binocular vision. Adjusting the lens positions on the frame is tough with the cheap ones, and they don't stay adjusted very well either. But they are cheap enough that you can at least use them to get an idea of what they can do for you, even if you have to fiddle with them often. Good ones cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars. I'm currently using moderately cheap ones. I don't have binocular vision, so the cheap ones work out OK for me. But I'm sure I will graduate some day soon.

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R.M. Mottola
LiutaioMottola.com

Author of the books Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar and Mottola's Cyclopedic Dictionary of Lutherie Terms.

I don't check in here very often. If you need to contact me the best bet is via email through the contact page on my site.

There are TWO different types of magnification. Magnification by Power and magnification by Thickness. When I was a contact lens specialist (and before the time of IOLs) cataract patients most wore eyeglasses that gave them 'big eyes'. The average power in the glasses was +16.50. The amount of magnification in the glasses was 33%, but the magnification in a +16.50 contact lens is only 1.5%. While the focal distance remains the same, you can get more magnification in a lens just by getting a thicker lens.
You ought to see the mathematical gymnastics we had to go through when someone is +6.00 in one eye and +1.00 in the other.

Brent

I do need the prescription glasses, so the 3x readers are prescription. Not for power, but the left eye is blurry, astigmatism? cataract? and there is correction built in. They say the right eye has it too; but everything seems clear in it.

I do have a light with a 3X lens in it. It works great as a light, and for looking at things close up. The space under it to work isn't too bad. Put in the center of the back of the bench, it reaches the ends. I brought that up. The light is from Menards. 3 levels of light, 2 colors. I always use blue (white), not orange (yellow).

Believe it or not, it is actually bright outside this morning. Did a cloud come just as I took the picture?



I'm trying to get the rosette in this guitar. I almost had it a few times. I tried HHG. A mess. I tried CA; just on one end so the strips can move, to squeeze the last ones in. That will probably work; but I got greedy, and tried to put the last 10 in without gluing. They just want to flop out.

The veneer didn't cut well. Some were better than others. The .014" paper isn't bad, neither is the black and red. The green wants to split when bent, but it doesn't cut terrible. The purple heart? Don't use purple heart. It is very hard to cut, it pulls out from under the scale, and it is trickier to bend.

Clamp them down? They have paper cutters, but I don't see any with a clamp; they would probably be a lot of money. Custom Speed Shop on YouTube has huge ones for their metal work. But maybe a paper cutter with clamps to hold the guard/clamp that goes over the paper/veneer down tight.

Has anyone ever used a paper cutter for veneer? They seem handy to make straight strips of the same width easily. My eyeballing isn't terrible; but the knife wants to walk in the grain.

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Why be normal?

How long are the veneers, Ken? I have a paper cutter, but my veneers are longer than the cutting surface. I've used a table saw with a very thin blade and all sorts of capture guards to cut veneers. There are photos here on the OLF somewhere. It works great, but you have to gear up, so for one-off cuts, a straight edge and knife is an easier method. I find that taking shallow cuts first, and using a very stiff knife, works better for me. The opposite would be trying to dig deep with an Xacto knife or a scalpel, which wanders all over the place.

Don, the wood is pretty thin. .021 -.027(the purple heart). They are only 12" long. I don't mind piecing out the binding. It is not very wide; 3 mm; and only the .021 thick. Basically to cover the ingrain of the top and back.

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Why be normal?

About the cutting veneer purfling strips thing, Ken: For the oddball species and colors that I only ever need a few pieces of every now and again, I cut these with a veneer saw. The basic setup is a flat board with squared sides about 6 inches wide and longer than the veneer sheets. A rabbet is routed in one long edge, as wide as the purfling strip will be (0.1in) and a smidgen shallower than the veneer is thick. This is the fence for the veneer saw. The fence is placed on a spoilboard, rabbet down, the veneer sheet is pressed into the rabbet, the fence board is held down with one hand while the other is used to hold the veneer saw, which is simply held against the fence board and pulled, just like making a knife cut. The saw doesn't tend to get yanked around by the grain, especially if light cuts are made. Usually takes less than a minute to cut a strip, even with troublesome wood.

If you are right handed, the ubiquitous and inexpensive double edge German veneer saws work just fine. If you are a lefty like me they are unusable, despite tools suppliers' continued insistence to the contrary (the handle is in the wrong place for a left-handed cut). I have an absolutely gorgeous Gramercy veneer saw, with teeth that point in one direction on one half of the blade and point the other direction on the other half. Due to the tooth arrangement it can be used righty or lefty, pulled or pushed. It was frightfully expensive. I don't know what came over me when I bought it.

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R.M. Mottola
LiutaioMottola.com

Author of the books Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar and Mottola's Cyclopedic Dictionary of Lutherie Terms.

I don't check in here very often. If you need to contact me the best bet is via email through the contact page on my site.

I added some more things to the topic!

I've been going off topic; but that's the way I roll. I go from one thing to another. I always have questions, always learning something.

Well R.M., your idea on how to cut veneer is backwards from what I was doing. Is my sketch in the photo right? I have some 3/4" plywood that would work for that. I will use it to cut some purple and black for the binding. That HAS to be flat for sure.



I guess I could use my Woodpecker saw, it has a nice dorsal back on it. What's the deal with the veneer saws with the weird handles? And push stroke? I just can't do that. It seems backwards.

I got all 34 strips in the rosette. I had it figured that it would have .015 clearance on each side. I figured that was only .0005" between strips. That's pretty tight. I didn't measure the actual dimensions. I set the blade cutter with calipers, and cut it. It came out slightly loose. Maybe .015 loose. I squeezed in another .014 white strip in the outer of the 2 wide white strips. Now it has 5, and it is snug. So 35 strips.

CA to glue it? Does it expand anything? You can use HHG on purfling on violins, and it might close your gaps some. You can even pound it if you want to. This doesn't seem like it needs anything; but it DOES need something.

Thin CA with a pipette on the seams?

Thanks for all the help guys. Violins don't have anything that is hard. Just carve wood.

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Why be normal?

Yes, exactly. I find I don't ever need to clamp BTW.


I don't get the weird handles either. As is usually the case with me, when I first attempted to use one of the German veneer saws, I figured my lack of success was due to something I was doing wrong, not that the saw sucked. And while it is true that I have a unique talent for doing things wrong way beyond the point where all the comedy value has been extracted, that saw really does not work for me, even right handed.

BTW the Japanese veneer saws offer a good balance between utility and price. No weird handle. But they only come right handed. I find with those, the most comfortable position for me is to choke up on the handle so I can rest my fingers against the right side of the blade and gently press it to the fence.

The push stroke thing is for cutting cross grain. Basically, you pull stroke most of the cut. But you can't pull right through to end the cut or the veneer will splinter when the blade exits. So you push stroke that last inch or so. Not an issue with cutting purfling strips of course.

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R.M. Mottola
LiutaioMottola.com

Author of the books Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar and Mottola's Cyclopedic Dictionary of Lutherie Terms.

I don't check in here very often. If you need to contact me the best bet is via email through the contact page on my site.