Today I spent a couple of hours snooping around a number of stores in the next (larger) town trying to find a desktop magnifier/lamp unit. The ones I could find were either too small (magnifier 4" dia. or less), too flimsy (weak looking 'arms' prone to vibration issues), lamp too dim (a single LED) or too expensive for my pocket. Unfortunately places like 'Harbor Freight' do not exist in Canada.
However, while pondering various things I did come up with an idea! I managed to find an 8" x 10" magnifier with a 2x Fresnel lens in Walmart's craft section. This thing is ideal as it has a large viewing area, is very clear and is very lightweight as it is made of plastic. The cost?.............a whopping $4.65 CDN!!!!
I also picked up a small aluminum 9 LED flashlight with a blindingly bright beam from another store for $3.00 CDN.
While I was standing in the store trying to figure out a way of mounting the flashlight my wife handed me a small package and said "Would this work?" What she had given me was a package of two 'Broom Clips' of the type used for hanging brooms on the wall. They turned out to be a perfect fit on the flashlight body and it means I can easily unclip the light if I need it to see somewhere else on the machine (like in the bottom tray after I have dropped the blade adapter for the N-th time!
) The cost for these was $2.00 CDN for a pair.
So for less than $10.00 CDN I have the makings of a very nice magnifier/lamp setup.
I already have a suitable stand that I originally made as a grooming stand for our dog when he was a pup. As he has now outgrown it I can put it to a good alternative use and a little ingenuity on the bracket/clamp front should solve the remaining issues. I plan on taking photos of the 'build' and could post them on the 'Tips' forum if it is a successful project.
