Going Blind!

[ETW Grumpy]

Tool and die makers where I work use something similar to these:

http://www.rehabmart.com/product/2032.htm

[hiloboy]

when i first started engraving. i use only my eyes.. if you don't need magnification don't start until you really need it. don't do what i did..i first worked with reading glass then wanted more power went to a optvisor. then reading glasses with optvisor.. and now most of my work is done under a microscope.. just to see what i use to see with only my eyes before(old age part of it not takeing care of my eye big part of it) the thing to look at before magnification is your lighting get the best you can..

Edited July 29, 2008 by hiloboy

[Jordan]

First sign I know my glucose is off is blurry vision. I have worn hi index progressive bifocals for years. Best things I have found is natural light from a large window and task lighting from above and slightly behind. Ahh the wonders of age progression, wiser but blinder, a youngster at heart but physically a geezer The hot tub helps!

[Shelly]

First sign I know my glucose is off is blurry vision. I have worn hi index progressive bifocals for years. Best things I have found is natural light from a large window and task lighting from above and slightly behind. Ahh the wonders of age progression, wiser but blinder, a youngster at heart but physically a geezer The hot tub helps!

Well, I don't have any glucose problems (yet), and I do wear Progressive bifocals - I am considering just having the 'reading distance' shortened to be more 'user friendly' for my work...funny thing is, now that I need a new prescription, I see the computer screen best by just taking the glasses off entirely - I find myself looking over the top of them to see the screen clearly! But, when I'm up close to a cantle binder, and sewing, to look under the binder is a royal pain in the -ss!! Can't see at all at that distance! I first noticed this at 39 - would be sitting in my chair, braiding, which I have always done at about chest level - with elbows bent, that's about where it has always just been comfortable, not because I couldn't see, and would look up at the television, and would have to squint a little until my eyes readjusted to the distance...and it was like that for awhile, having to wait for the eyes to readjust when looking farther away, especially noticeable when working on braiding in my lap, which was clear - have had 20/20 vision all my life, until about then - didn't notice my distance really going South until we would be in an area (I do about all of the driving), that I wasn't familiar with, and found myself not being able to make out street signs until they got about a trucklength away! (If I take the glasses off now, I can't read anything really clearly past the end of the quarterpanel, but could still drive)... Around home was different, since I just didn't have to read the street signs, already know where I'm going! So, I ended up with a prescription for distance - a few years ago, add in the 'near' part, and we are now in no line bifocals - I don't mind them too much, but do miss being able to see clearly to the outside edges of my vision - pain to have to always turn and look directly at something in order to see it...and my vision isn't that bad! I like wearing contacts when I ride, etc - I don't have to turn my head for things to be focused! But, absolutely no good to be able to read anything that is closer than the windshield of my Dodge - everything closer than that, find the readers!! Ever notice how many of those things we end up with, and still can't lay your hands on a pair when you need them??

when i first started engraving. i use only my eyes.. if you don't need magnification don't start until you really need it. don't do what i did..i first worked with reading glass then wanted more power went to a optvisor. then reading glasses with optvisor.. and now most of my work is done under a microscope.. just to see what i use to see with only my eyes before(old age part of it not takeing care of my eye big part of it) the thing to look at before magnification is your lighting get the best you can..

I don't think 'not taking care of your eyes' has anything to do with this deal - totally age-related! I am only 49, but feeling more and more that youth is really wasted on the young!!

Tool and die makers where I work use something similar to these:http://www.rehabmart.com/product/2032.htm

Thanks for the link - checked this out, not quite what I had in my mind...but appreciate the help and the recommendation!

One of the people in my Wednesday night class has one of these. http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CAT...p;source=search it hangs around you neck and rest against your chest. tried it out and it was comfortable and seem to hang where I wanted it to and it is lighted also

This I saw today in my errand rounds - I did give it alot of consideration, but finally decided that it won't work for me when I need to sew binders on the saddles, etc...thanks!

[Shelly]

You guys are really encouraging.

Can't wait to welcome you into 'our world'! No one said getting old was for the faint of heart, and it sure isn't for sissies!! (At least I have a good excuse when I show my reining horses - if I miss a marker when running to a sliding stop, I can just tell my trainer (husband), 'I just didn't see it!!')

[Shelly]

It sounds like you all could benefit from a trip to the eye doc. I have a pair of glasses with a prescription for computer work.... the same could be done for leather work. All you need to know is how far the workpiece is from your eyes.

In the meantime, check out some of the lighted headband magnifiers at MicroMark

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp

That should get you there....

If I messed up the link, go to www.MicroMark.com and type in magnifier in the search box.

Dave Theobald

I agree - I'd already planned to take a measurement of how far my eyes are from my rock when carving/stamping, as well as another when sewing binders and horns, so I can give that info to my opthamologist when I go in next...and I do go every year, seems I think my vision is changing a bunch, and it's only a tiny bit - amazing to me how sensitive I am to these changes!! Thanks for the input and the link, I've checked these out as well...giving them consideration, as well as the Opti-visors...

[Shelly]

One other thought Shelly is that most western bright cut engravers simply use the optivisors.

Gun engravers have gone to using a microscope system where you are literally looking through eye pieces like a microscope with great magnification looking down at an engraving block. Not at all practical for tooling, and they are pretty expensive, starting around $1250.00 and up from GRS.

I get along well with the optvisor for tooling because you can flip it up and down easily but I do hate to wear it.

Last night I got a good dose of 'sticker shock' when I went on my web search for lighted magnifiers - doctors, dentists, etc, have some really fancy stuff, and I thought they were pretty pricey at $750 - $950, but figured the optics are/have to be 'over the top'...then I finally found a few gun engraver sites that sold good equipment, and it was a good thing I was already sitting down! I'd like to watch some of these guys do this kind of engraving under these microscopes...it would be interesting!

I did find an opti-visor with a dual led light setup that will add direct light to what you are looking at, so that may be what I'd be most interested in pursuing...and I agree that this is probably not going to be something I look forward to wearing! Thanks for the feedback, Troy - I'm enjoying all the replies this topic has generated!! Makes for some fun reading!! (Thankfully, I still see well enough for that!)

[Shelly]

Hi Shelly,

I have the same issue with close-up vision. I've always had better than 20/20 vision in both eyes, until I hit about 40 and started noticing I couldn't focus on the date display on my wristwatch. But I can still read a road sign more than a hundred yards away. My eye doctor explained it this way:

The tissue that makes up the lenses in our eyes is rather flexible, and when we look at objects at different distances, the lens changes shape to focus on what we are looking at. As we age, the tissue continues to grow new cells, and becomes more dense. That, in turn, makes the lenses less flexible, and less able to focus at as wide a range of distances. This happens to just about everyone eventually.

I also asked my optometrist the question asked earlier of, "Can we train our eyes to focus better?" She said maybe making your eye work harder might help strengthen the muscles that move the lenses, but because the problem is that the lenses are getting stiffer, it won't make much difference, and you'll still be straining all the time. The good news is, there is new medical technology coming that will, in effect, make it possible for us to trade in our old stiff lenses, for new flexible ones.

But that's not here yet, so in the mean time, I got a pair of no-line multi-focal lenses (or "progressive" lenses) which change gradually from one focal length to another as I move my head. I really like them, because they give me a very wide focus range without having to change head gear.

I use flood lights mounted at different angles to light my work space, to minimize shadows as much as possible. For really close-up work (like most of my swivel knife work), I use a Magnivisor similar to the one Clay mentioned. That has made a huge difference in being able to see exactly where my knife blade is.

Kate

Yep, I also noticed I couldn't see the blade well enough as well - especially for finish cuts...when I used the magnifier, I found I felt I was able to make some of the best I've done in awhile, and with a much steadier hand! Amazing what can happen when you can actually see it while you're doing it!! Looks like a Magnivisor is getting the most votes, so will probably end up with one of these...Thanks!!

[Shelly]

Shelly,

I am with you on the bifocal deal for sewing bindings and horns. They aren't designed to tip your head in that direction.

I use the magnifiers for some surgeries. I have used from the low end Optivisors up to good quality clip on lenses. The problem I have with them mostly is that they have a fixed focal distance. Some may be as fixed as 16-18". If you are outside of that, you are blind. I can see the area, and not be able to tell one tool in the using rack or one instrument from another. I look around or under the lens to find them, and then continue to look around the lens to use them. We gave a ride back fromKings reception at Sheridan to a guy from Kentucky. He was there selling kind of a decent little light and lens setup. His business is QED, Inc. They advertise in the LCSJ, and I just found a web address - www.qedisit.com.

For lights, if I need a focused area light, I have an exam room floor lamp like the doctors blind you with in the little rooms. They are a floor lamp with a stiff gooseneck up higher. They can be had at medical surplus and used medical equipment suppliers. Kind of handy around a sewing machine at times, and will really light up under a Cheyenne roll. If they are not shining directly at you, they are good.

Thanks, Bruce! You feel my pain...,or, I feel yours?? I checked out the link, and will probably print out the front-runners in this deal, and compare apples to apples, that sort of thing...I lean toward a visor with a light, that will illuminate whatever I am looking at. And thanks for the tip on using when sewing - I was more focused on tooling/hand sewing, but you are right! I have lights on both my Landis 3 and my Campbell, and find these are ok for now, but this magnivisor or Optivisor may be great there as well!

[CitizenKate]

Yeah, sorry... facts of life.

Kate

You guys are really encouraging.