Comments on: Use Lights and Magnifiers for Making Jewelry

By: vintageyard

vintageyard — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:04:11 +0000

Useful discovery for the all jewelery makers. Thanks for sharing this information with us. However i vote for lighted magnifiers.

By: Joyce

Joyce — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:29:37 +0000

Thank you so much for the information about these great tools and reminding us to keep our well being in mind. When you are so involved and passionate about your work, you are willing to suffer a little to get the work done, I always think, one more bead, one more loop and then I will take a break, and then another hour goes by. Now I set a timer so I remember to get up stretch, rest my eyes and my fingers.

By: Andrea Cross

Andrea Cross — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:49:28 +0000

I find that the lighted magnifiers work best for general work because they leave both hands free. Sometimes though in order to inspect the quality of a component it is better to use a good quality jeweller’s magnifyer

By: Laura Kay

Laura Kay — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:11:03 +0000

If I had to guess I’d say I use the lighted magnifiers more often. Mine’s on an arm and it can be extended down and just positioned. I can then use two hands to work on something. I’ll use my little set of jeweler’s loops for initially checking things out or inspecting the quality of something small. But I always have to use one hand to hold the jeweler’s loop, which can make it difficult to do any real work with it. I don’t have one of those single eye magnifiers that you can squint with and keep it from falling off your face

By: Custom Quilts (Adrienne)

Custom Quilts (Adrienne) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:57:55 +0000

Hi Laura.

I know you said that you use the magnifying glass often. But which of the others do you use most? Jewelers loop or the lighted magnifiers?

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:24:57 +0000

Thanks for the info. My wish list is growing.

By: kitty

kitty — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:07:02 +0000

Great tips! More harm can be done to yourself with stress in joints and eyes without realizing it. More breaks, don’t push it just enjoy the project your on at the moment.

By: Cali

Cali — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:01:45 +0000

I haven’t considered using a magnifying glass or Fresnel lens before, I don’t make jewellery but packing beads and rhinestones that are tiny can make your eyes very tired after a few hours, so its a good idea. I do use a table lamp with a 5000k Bulb (for photography) in though and find the light quality makes a big difference to improving eye strain.

By: Laura Kay

Laura Kay — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:04:34 +0000

Anna,

Ooo, that sounds great! I’ve gotten to the point where I take plenty of breaks when I’m making jewelry for any more than an hour or so (but it’s easy to lose track of time!). I purposely try to remember to get up and walk around, get a drink of water and just kind of let my eyes rest and give my body a chance to stretch and move!

Thanks for the tip!

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:36:00 +0000

I’ve worn glasses all my life – and yes, I’ve had problems at times when my glasses need a bit of help. One thing I learned long ago to do when I knew I might have long hours at a task and be dealing with eyestrain (think craming for finals), was to keep a damp washcloth in a zipper bag near my work station. It’s amazing what the cool cloth can do when a headache or eyestrain might be threatening but you know you’re under a deadline and can’t stop. (Or when I’m in the middle of a piece of jewlery and WON’T stop.)