magnifying light

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when you are working , you have to keep moving it out of the way when changing holes and changing blades, then replace it , imagine doing that between 150 and 1000 times on each piece you work on ,it is bad enough resetting the blower each time and a light as well, would drive you crazy, hope this helps.

take care
John
 
I have to say that in this instance I disagree with John (aramco). BUT .... this is, IMO, simply NOT a case of "right" or "wrong", it's more a case of what suits each individual - PLUS whatever you, personally, have got used to.

Personally I do have a magnifying light, and I do use it on the scroll saw quite a lot. NOT all the time, but especially when making intricate cuts on small pieces. Mine is mounted on a "swivel" which for the scroll saw is simple a block of wood fixed to the table that the scroll saw is fixed to. The block has a big hole drilled in the top, and the pivot of the lamp just drops into it, thus it swivels quite freely. The original fitting (a clamp with a hole in it) is fitted on another table where my little metal working lathe is fixed, thus allowing me to easily move the magnifying lamp between the 2 machines.

When using the magnifying lamp on the scroll saw it's easy to just swivel it out of the way when changing blades and/or threading blades through entry holes. It's also easy to just swing it back into position when getting back to the actual cutting.

But I stress that's just me and it may well be that this set up wouldn't suit everyone - John for example. And as said above, I guess it's also a question of what you get used to - John is quite right, you do need to adjust the lamp carefully to get it into the right position initially.

So in the end I GUESS it depends on A) what ever suits you, and B) what you get used to. As said, I don't use it all the time by any means, but wouldn't be without it for small size jobs. But that's just me, and I guess the only way to find out it to try it and see.

HTH
 
hi Andy nice to hear from you I went the other way and bought clip on magnifying glasses and a head set as well both came to about £12 and do the job, and I already have a light that sticks on the arm - magnetic - the one Brian suggested and works really well.

not totally on topic if anyone has an Axminster saw hand has problems with arm dropping, it is possible to get a replacement part, as the ball bearing gets a flat on it I have just got one but for some unknown reason I have to keep adjusting it,.

take care
John
 
Hi John, Happy New Year mate.

Yup I remember Brian's (Claymore's) post a while back, when he was more active on the Forum, before his wife died.

Actually, that little LED light is listed as a sewing machine light and I bought 2, one for the scroll saw and one for my wife (for her sewing machine). Although her machine is a substantial bit of kit, there's little metal to be "seen" anywhere near the working section (the whole case, etc, is some sort of plastic) so I now have a spare (I offered to set her up with a metal plate to "clamp the base of the light onto, but she wasn't happy with that solution, it got in the way and caught on the fabric, etc).

But the one on the scroll saw is a perfect addition to the magnifying lamp, and as you know, clamps very well indeed anywhere on the Exc 21 arm - at my age you just can't have too much light!

I also have a head band (non-illuminated) but only use that for really fine bits of metal work & marking out off my (glass) surface plate. Horses for courses indeed.

Re arm dropping, someone else on here had a problem with that, (was it you?) and I think it was kstano 83 who had a problem with noise on lower arm bearing. Apparently that's gone away now though.

I must say I haven't had either of those problems, but stress my machine is an original Excalibur, not the Axi version. Though they appear to be identical there MAY be some differences, I dunno. But my Manual shows both a list of spares AND an adjustment for keeping the arm up when you lift it. I did that adjustment once only and have had nothing to do there since, BUT please note, with mine, after lifting the arm all the way up it does drop an inch or so before coming to rest in the "almost fully up position" ( I guess I should call it)!

But if you want a scan of the spares listing for my machine, and/or of the adjustment for the top arm, just drop me a PM. Without checking I'm pretty sure my spares listing does include that ball bearing.

Must stop now as am off to the hospital in a mo (to see if I can get rid of this +"*ç%& back corset)! "That'll be the day"*!

HTH
 
Thanks for the link flying haggis. Unfortunately they do not deliver to Slovakia. Even if they did, delivery would probably make it equal to axminster´s price. Plus if I get some useful extras with the light from axminster and make an orders over 149€ I´ll get free shipping.

Regards the magnifying light being in the way and constant swinging in and out.
My problem is, that I lean over the scroll saw so close to the top arm that my forehead is almost getting hit and my neck hurts. It´s not about having a bad sight. For me, it´s the way I can cut precisely. As a toy/puzzle maker I don´t do many internal cuts and I don´t see a problem in repositioning the light. I´m more curious whether I´d get too much "tunel" vision looking through the magnifyer (only a small part in the middle is sharp and the rest is unpleasantly blurry)
 
have you thought about getting a head set magnifier , mine works really well and the clip on magnifier specs work magic, might help your neck a lot.

take care
John
 
As I've already suggested in a previous post above, my own opinion is that all this is highly personal matter. E.G: How old are you? Do you wear glasses? Bifocal/Varifocal? What sort of work are you doing (tiny pieces or "normal" sizes)? And there are obviously other variables to add into each person's own list of variables, like how many hours per day are you cutting, and is that done only in poor or reasonable background lighting?

In other words, what works for me won't necessarily work for you or anyone else.

It follows from that the only way to find what's best for you it to "suck it and see". Now if that trial and error involves just a few dollars/francs/quid to try something out, OK, not a lot lost if it doesn't work for you. BUT, as in the above example, it we're talking about investing a hundred quid odd for something that maybe doesn't work for you then that's something that needs thinking twice (or more!) about.

So I think that asking others for their own personal solutions, and their reasons for making a certain choice is all well and good, but in the end each individual can only make his own decisions. If that works well, great, but if not you're left with something that's not ideal. And the only way out of that that I can see (if it was an expensive item) is to try and sell it on - e.g. via the net, this Forum, etc, etc.

Not a lot of help really, and the above is all "obvious" really, but I can't see any other way/s, sorry.

P.S. @Aramco: (Got rid of "the thing" yesterday. All healed/joined up. Thanks)
 
aramco":296z4zky said:
have you thought about getting a head set magnifier , mine works really well and the clip on magnifier specs work magic, might help your neck a lot.

take care
John
Not really, but I found one locally for 20€, that looks EXACTLY like the head set from axminster. Except it doesn´t say it´s "craft" :D
 

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