Looking for a better magnifier for crafts.

October 25, 2008 1:16 PM

Are there stronger versions of clip-on craft magnifiers, such as this one?

I'm thinking of giving new magnifiers to my mother and aunt, both avid cross-stitchers. They already have around-the-neck magnifiers (similar to this) but have mentioned that they're not quite strong enough; resulting in a lot of squinting when working on finer weave fabrics.

Those large lamp-and-magnifier combo units wouldn't fit well in their usual work spaces. So, I'm looking for magnification-only ones in clip-on or, less ideally, tabletop-base (i.e. this) styles.

If stronger versions simply don't exist, would using one of those clip-ons in addition to their around-the-neck magnifiers provide the squint-reducing supervision that I'm trying to provide?

posted by CKmtl to shopping (4 comments total)

This site has a lot of options, but as far as strength goes, I can't be sure without knowing more...
posted by Kimothy at 8:42 PM on October 25, 2008

Crazy, I was just looking at magnifiers today and now here you are. Would mom and aunt use this head-mounted kind? The one you link to is 2.25x. This one is 2.2x all the time and can go up to 8x with a flip-down monocle. Can be used in any workspace and is hands free and lighted, if a bit cyborgy.
posted by Askr at 10:04 PM on October 25, 2008

I second the head-mounted-magnifier suggestion. Try a Donegan Optical OptiVisor; they're quite comfortable, not very expensive, and have interchangeable lenses with different magnification.
posted by dansdata at 1:09 AM on October 26, 2008

Kimothy: I was aiming for at least 3x, since all the around-the-neck ones seem to be 2x.

Hmm... No, I don't think they'd use those visor/goggle kinds.

So, worst case scenario: would using one of those 2.25x bendy clip-on things along with their ~2x around-the-neck things work?
posted by CKmtl at 8:03 AM on October 26, 2008