Magnifier and Light, Thoughts?

[Steve Simon]

I think a Magnifier and Light are the next purchase. Even in the daytime I could use extra light in my BackYard Shed Wood Shop and the Magnification has to be a boost for my old eyes. Anything I should know about what to look for, If you have a preferred manufacturer is it OK for you to share that on this forum?

Thanks in advance for your responses...

[OCtoolguy]

I bought mine from Harbor Freight. I have 2. They work great. I did have to convert them to LED but I think they come that way now. About $40 or so.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Absolutely they are worth the investment. There are different strengths so need to be careful of what you pick. If you have a place where they sell draftsman equipment like a Staples store you can test them out. Have no idea about what HF carries and am sure it is cheaper than anything out there but check Amazon if you find something you like first. Having the tubes weather led or conventional I highly suggest it have a plastic cover to protect the tubes from breakage. One of the pattern designers sells them. Forgot which one. I am sure someone will comment.  If you can find one with controllable light output for Led is the way to go if going with LED. Led light can be too bright and not good for your eyes at those close ranges. May need a warm white. I have the old flourescents cicle tubes and bought them from a draftsman store. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. 

[Wichman]

Be wary of magnifier strength that is more than 1.75 x ( 3 diopter ).

Make sure you get one with a lens cover, and if the lens can be in direct sunlight, at any time (other than in use), including indoors, keep the lens covered to prevent scorching and/or fires. No, I am not kidding.

[Steve Simon]

Thanks to all for their input... I have a harbor freight store 10 minutes from the house and the reviews for the light/magnifier were really surprisingly favorable. I think I will start there. That's where I bought the saw

Having fun Scrolling already. My first couple of tries on large Letters and numbers were not bad at all.

Edited January 15 by Steve Simon

[Dan]

If you think it will help then definitely get one. There are many out there. Home Depot sells an LED lamp for $25.19. It doesn't have a cover but you can just toss a cloth or make some type of cover if needed. 

[TAIrving]

I used to have/use a magnifier/light combination but have recently changed.  I now use 2 sewing machine type lights and strong reading glasses.  The lights attach to the side of the SS arm via magnets and light up the workpiece quite nicely.  For scrolling, I use reading glasses about 1 diopter stronger than those I use for reading.  

Amazon.com: EVISWIY Sewing Machine Light LED Lighting (30LEDs) 6 Watt Multifunctional Flexible Gooseneck Arm Work Lamp with Magnetic Mounting Base for Workbench Lathe Drill Press 2 Pack : Arts, Crafts & Sewing

[Wichman]

Sorry for the additional post, but I did a dive into the differences between the HF light and the HD light. I was surprised.

The HD light specs are 5X magnification with a 10 watt light ( I had to do a conversion because the two lights have different specs for their power and neither one listed the lumes or the lux ).

The HF light specs are 1.75 X with a 22 watt light.

The HD light is three times the magnification with half the illumination.

A note about the magnification. The magnifier lights sold by Hegner are 1.75X ( I have one ), but at $400 I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner. 

I had a spot of luck when I retired, the boss gave me a hefty retirement bonus and I was able to buy a new Hegner with all the bells and whistles, saw, light, foot switch. Normally I wouldn't be able to afford such luxuries, but I had the chance and took it.

[Scrappile]

One comment: I have three. A HF one and a HAWK one, meaning the guy I purchased my Hawk from, bought it with the saw, and an expensive one.  The expensive one is 5x, LED, and I rarely use it other than when I need more light over my workbench.  For me, it is too bright and has two powerful magnifications.  The HF on is good; I like it, and the Hawk is my favorite, It is old, so old that when I switch it on, it takes a second to light up.  I love it's brightness, kind of the old yellowish glow that old fluorescent lights gave off.  I use it most.  I will be sad when it finally dies.

[Denny Knappen]

I use mine all the time.  I have two (Fluorescent and LED) on the website.  The link is below my signature.

[Scrappile]

Denny's fluorescent one looks just like the one I referred to as a "Hawk" light in my previous post.

[edward]

I also bought one from Harbor Freight and love it, helps me cut things easier!

[rash_powder]

I have a magnifier with light, two sewing lights, and a auto accessory light shining on my table.  I've found more light helps greatly.  There are no shadows, and the light is always even across the work space regardless of season or time of day.  

[Steve Simon]

The Population here is more helpful than I could have hoped for

Thanks again to all that responded...

[kmmcrafts]

On 1/15/2025 at 10:51 AM, Scrappile said:

One comment: I have three. A HF one and a HAWK one, meaning the guy I purchased my Hawk from, bought it with the saw, and an expensive one.  The expensive one is 5x, LED, and I rarely use it other than when I need more light over my workbench.  For me, it is too bright and has two powerful magnifications.  The HF on is good; I like it, and the Hawk is my favorite, It is old, so old that when I switch it on, it takes a second to light up.  I love it's brightness, kind of the old yellowish glow that old fluorescent lights gave off.  I use it most.  I will be sad when it finally dies.

My favorite one is from my old 1998 Hawk that came with the saw as well.. I have 3 of them from Menards ( very similar to the HF ones). I often wonder what the brand is for those Hawk ones but likely not made like that anymore as that was 30 years ago, LOL... 

The Menards ones I ended up changing to a LED bulb after the original bulbs got too tired to come on.. This is the bulb I used and am happy with it but it is on the bright side so some may not like it.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/222261066257 

[kmmcrafts]

On 1/14/2025 at 9:14 PM, Steve Simon said:

I think a Magnifier and Light are the next purchase. Even in the daytime I could use extra light in my BackYard Shed Wood Shop and the Magnification has to be a boost for my old eyes. Anything I should know about what to look for, If you have a preferred manufacturer is it OK for you to share that on this forum?

Thanks in advance for your responses...

I don't know if those HF saws come with a foot power on / off switch but that's another very nice upgrade to make the scrolling experience better as well.. Harbor Freight sell those too.. two styles of them one is push it to turn on and push again to stop.. other is press in and hold it to run the saw and let up to stop.. I've used both and like both.. Some don't like the press and hold to turn on as the foot / leg can get tired of holding it on long cuts.. 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

48 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said:

I don't know if those HF saws come with a foot power on / off switch but that's another very nice upgrade to make the scrolling experience better as well.. Harbor Freight sell those too.. two styles of them one is push it to turn on and push again to stop.. other is press in and hold it to run the saw and let up to stop.. I've used both and like both.. Some don't like the press and hold to turn on as the foot / leg can get tired of holding it on long cuts.. 

Really that is the reason? It takes so little pressure to push down. The weight of one's foot will hold it down. To me they are far safer than push on and push off. 

[kmmcrafts]

19 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Really that is the reason? It takes so little pressure to push down. The weight of one's foot will hold it down. To me they are far safer than push on and push off. 

Well I have read post in the past and that's all I'm going by for mentioning it.. All my saws run on the style you have to hold and as I said.. doesn't bother me.. I used to have one of the click on / click off styles and it made no difference to me which one to use.. Some folks that run these saws are older retired and handicap etc.. so maybe they have bad or weak legs.. I'm not judging them just stating that some have posted they have trouble with the press and hold style so take that into consideration when buying one. 

As for safety, when talking scroll saws and these foot switches.. If a scroll saw was that dangerous to use they'd have a switch more accessible or other safety device.. some saws the power switch is clear underneath the table somewhere.. Look at the Hawks.. the power switch clear off to the side.. so in that case either style footswitch is safer than having to reach clear off the the side or other inconvenient spot to power it off.. 

I like the foot switch because it allows me to have both hands on the fragile project while still being able to turn on the saw.. some saws have a slight delay when powering them on.. most of the newer ones that I've used do not anymore.. so the foot switch is just a nice feature to have but not really necessary I suppose.. is for me after having used a foot switch for 20+ years, LOL

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

2 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Well I have read post in the past and that's all I'm going by for mentioning it.. All my saws run on the style you have to hold and as I said.. doesn't bother me.. I used to have one of the click on / click off styles and it made no difference to me which one to use.. Some folks that run these saws are older retired and handicap etc.. so maybe they have bad or weak legs.. I'm not judging them just stating that some have posted they have trouble with the press and hold style so take that into consideration when buying one. 

As for safety, when talking scroll saws and these foot switches.. If a scroll saw was that dangerous to use they'd have a switch more accessible or other safety device.. some saws the power switch is clear underneath the table somewhere.. Look at the Hawks.. the power switch clear off to the side.. so in that case either style footswitch is safer than having to reach clear off the the side or other inconvenient spot to power it off.. 

I like the foot switch because it allows me to have both hands on the fragile project while still being able to turn on the saw.. some saws have a slight delay when powering them on.. most of the newer ones that I've used do not anymore.. so the foot switch is just a nice feature to have but not really necessary I suppose.. is for me after having used a foot switch for 20+ years, LOL

I am not disputing your reasoning, I just never heard that. Scrollsaws are relatively a safe tool to operate. My point there is if you get sudden blade breakage that saw keeps running as you search for that foot pedal. With a momentary switch your instincts are to jump and just slide your foot off the switch. I have seen people use footswitches on lathes as well and again if something goes wrong your mind goes into panic mode and keeping the lathe running can be dangerous. I agree that a foot switch is a device that all should use. It saves wear and tear on that delicate on off switch that comes with these saws. A footswitch has larger contacts and more durable ones to take that constant on off sparking. All my saws had foot switches momentary ones. I even gave away the ones with my Dewalt and Hegner when I sold them. 

With this said I have to say I read the best excuse to have the constant run switch that I ever heard and made me laugh but sorry forgot who said it. It was in a recent discussion and again forgot which one. But he said he uses the push on and push off switch because if he should have a heart attack and pass away while sawing at the saw, maybe his wife will notice after 3 or 4 days the saw is still running and she would look in on him.  

Edited January 17 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[Ber Gueda]

22 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

It saves wear and tear on that delicate on off switch that comes with these saws

This is for me one of the main reasons to use a footswitch (and I don't still have one). I am afraid that continuously switching on and off my Pégas will end with a non-usable switch. So for me, it's one of my netxt buys.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

2 hours ago, Ber Gueda said:

This is for me one of the main reasons to use a footswitch (and I don't still have one). I am afraid that continuously switching on and off my Pégas will end with a non-usable switch. So for me, it's one of my netxt buys.

Hate to say it but yes. Things are not made to last any more. Plus with the ability of dust getting into where they mount these switches today, many people cover them and just leave them on and use the foot switch. Of course when done scrolling it is always best to shut off.