garetjax 0 Report post Posted February 19, 2007 I had a couple questions concerning these items. Magnifiers What should I be looking for in a typical, fly tying magnifier? Am I looking for a glass or plastic (polycarbonate) solution, and what power is considered too much, and what is considered not enough? I have seen magnifiers range from 1.5x all the way to 4x. Are there any brands or manufacturers that are make good quality magnifiers? Lighting For lighting, I should be looking for what kind of lighting solution? I have heard that florescent lighting is not that great, and halogen can be hot. Any reccomendations or advice in this regard? Also, I have seen some products out there that incorporate both a magnifier and a lighting solution. Are these any good? The ones I am referring to are the McKenzie, Giraffe and Daylight. All of them use plastic (polycarbonate) lenses for their magnifiers, the Giraffe uses a Tru-Color incandescent bulb, the McKenzie uses a Halogen in their Bright Light, and the Daylight uses a large florescent bult in their model. Any help or insight to solve my lighting and magnification needs would be appreciated. Thanks! =) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Hard 0 Report post Posted February 19, 2007 Cabela's has a magnifier light on sale right now. It is very simmilar to the one I use. Except mine is mounted on a stand up base on wheels. I was lucky as it was given to me http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/template...&hasJS=true I bought a daylight desk lamp from Staples, for over top of the vise. It is bright and took a bit to get used to. Here is a link to the one I got and I am sure I only paid $35.00 for it. You might even find a magnifier there for about $15.00, a little cheaper built than the one from Cabela's. http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku....;affixedcode=WW I found when tying with a magnifier that a back drop behind the fly is a must. If you dont have one everything behind the fly is blurry and out of focus. It will give you head aches. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted February 19, 2007 Ott Light has a couple of solutions with light & magnifier combos. I personally prefer the Ott true color type light, it is cooler. You can pick one up at Jo-Anne Fabric when they have their 40% off sale, which is like once a month. The fixture I use came with my Nor-Vise when I bought it but I do use a McKenzie light for travel. You're going to have to try out several magnifiers to see which is best for you. I use a 1.75 but everybody's eyes are different so you're going to figure that out yourself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Husker234 0 Report post Posted February 19, 2007 I 2nd the Ott light. Hobby Lobby has great sales too...30-40% off. Watch your Sunday paper. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyfishingtaz 0 Report post Posted February 19, 2007 I myself use a standard desk lamp, with a soft light. You can find em in walmart in the lightbulb section. Although I bought mine awhile ago, so I dont remember what they are called. They give great lighting, but not as bright as other bulbs, so it's easy on the eyes. As far as magnification is concerned, I bought a pair of reading glasses . I keep em on the tip of my nose, and when I need em I just tilt my head back a bit. They arent bad to use, but I would suggest a simple low cost magnifying lamp from office depot or such to use. They're low cost, and work great. It's my next purchase for my bench this upcoming fall. Hope this helped some. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
streamcaddis 0 Report post Posted February 19, 2007 :yahoo: The light and magnifier is the one you saw at J. Stockard the brand name is "Daylight".Ibought one of those last year Believe me it's the best light on the market today bar none. I bought one of those last year. Believe me it's the best light on the market today bar none... :yahoo: :yahoo: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryan 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2007 Here's the best deal I have found. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=31679 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyrod98 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2007 :yahoo: The light and magnifier is the one you saw at J. Stockard the brand name is "Daylight".Ibought one of those last year Believe me it's the best light on the market today bar none. I bought one of those last year. Believe me it's the best light on the market today bar none... :yahoo: :yahoo: I bought a "Daylight" from J. Stockard as well. I only have 20/400+ vision in my right eye and this light and magnifier have helped my tying a lot. The output is cool and it is in the daylight color temp range so you see colors accurately. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chase Creek 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2007 I found that a regular magnifier really screwed up my depth of field. I use drugstore reading glasses, about +2.25 I think. Much better for me than a magnifier. I also went to an Ott Light I got at Lowes. Great difference from a regular desk lamp. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garetjax 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2007 Ott Light has a couple of solutions with light & magnifier combos. I personally prefer the Ott true color type light, it is cooler. You can pick one up at Jo-Anne Fabric when they have their 40% off sale, which is like once a month. The fixture I use came with my Nor-Vise when I bought it but I do use a McKenzie light for travel. You're going to have to try out several magnifiers to see which is best for you. I use a 1.75 but everybody's eyes are different so you're going to figure that out yourself. TroutBum, can you give me a quick review of your McKenzie light? Which one do you have? There are two kinds, either the 10 watt version or the round version, I think it's the 12 watt one. Does your McKenize have the optional magnifier with it? I don't plan to travel with my vise, so is this a good choice for me? Should I opt for a bigger/brighter light and magnifier? I generally would like to get your opinion on it. To everyone else, thank you very much for linking and reccomending different types of lights and magnifiers. A lot of the stuff you guys linked I hadn't even seen before, and I am glad that you did! A lot of it is very affordable and seem to be quality products! =) If anyone else wants to add their choices for what I am looking for, please do so! =D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
5wt 0 Report post Posted February 20, 2007 I have and use the MacKenzie light and magnifyer. Very nice equipment. The only problem I had was a few weeks ago. We had some zero weather and I kept the door closed on my Den. Well, after about 3 days of withdrawal I had to tie. Setup a couple tv trays, grabbed my vice and "attached light and mag" went to the living room, plugged in light and.......POP went the bulb. I've used the light about 3 years, so not sure if it was the cold or the age. But you will have no complaints about the functionality. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites