Keith:
You may want to look at the "Mag-Eyes" magnifier as a fairly inexpensive solution. I know that Bonnie Klein uses them a lot for her small scale close-up work (she almost never took them off during the hands-on class I took with her several years ago!), and on her recommendation, I bought a pair to try. At our local Hobby Lobby store, I used a 40%-off discount coupon and paid about $ 19 - it comes with one standard lens (1.6X I think??) and two higher mag lenses; other lenses with higher diopters are available separately. For my uses, the mag Eyes worked well, so well in fact that I bought another just to have in the house for general use. There are now two different kinds - the original which holds onto your head by spring tension of the head strap, and another kind which uses a flexible strap with velcro to adjust and hold the headband to fit. See this link:
MAG EYES
I also bought a bench mounted circular magnifier (6" diameter) with twin fluorescent lamps (via eBay) which has a much larger field of view and reasonable magnification, focal length, and depth of field. I nearly always use this magnifier for signing my work, as well as precision carving, etc.
For doing small work at the lathe (e.g. all detail work), I wanted something better than the Mag Eyes (...and Optivisor, which I also borrowed to try), I "bit the bullet" and bought a pair of eyeglass-style frame-mounted optical loupes (each lens independently adjustable for differences in each eye, interpupillary distance, etc.) which gives me excellent magnification, reasonable working distance, and acceptable depth of field. These loupes are often used by dentists and dental hygenists; pricier versions are used by surgeons, etc. Mine set me back about $140 (via eBay from a US supplier) - you can find them for more or less money than this, but at the recommendation of my dentist, I went with the model that has worked well for them, and found these loupes to be an excellent investment.
Given my background in science, particularly when using microscopy, I value the ability to see small things clearly, and as my eyes age (...along with the rest of me!), it is important to add whatever aids to vision are necessary to make sure one can see the necessary details. This results in better quality work with much less eye strain.
I am now toying with the idea of adapting a dissecting microscope on a boom to work on very, very small turnings, not unlike what John Lucas has done with the turnings of his micro-goblets (still waiting for the captured-ring on these!); this is not just a technical challenge with seeing well while cutting, but also having to develop fine motor-skills to control the turning tools while working on very small objects!
Good luck with your purchase!
Rob Wallace
