Hello, AAC. I know there are those among you who have the challenge of limited vision and/or shaky hands. Our fellow member @LewisH has been discouraged from a project because of these things interfering with soldering and assembly.
Does anyone have tools, tips, tricks, workarounds, or any advice that might help make the hobby possible anyway? It's a shame that Lewis has to give up on his plans because of it.
The only advice I have is about magnifiers. I use both head-mounted and table mounted magnifiers to deal with my normal but limiting presbyopia. I have a couple of these, mounted on my bench and desk, and kept loos enough to swing in and out of the way as needed. The extra light makes a huge difference too. The lights come with weighted bases which might work for some cases but just aren't flexible enough for me, so I bought one of these for each lamp, which I can highly recommend as a replacement for any cheap table edge clamp you might get with a lamp. Very solid.
As far as head-mounted magnifiers go, I have a couple that I use. The first is the classic Donegan OptiVisor. This is the original that you will see on jewelers, machinists, watchmakers—pretty much any old school professional working with small, precision things. Its not cheap, and getting a copy might be necessary for your budget but there are good ones to be had. The other is the more modern Donegean OptiSight, which is a skeletonized version of the OptiVisor. Again, similar things are available cheaper, one I can recommend as a good value is the Mag Eyes.
So I hope there are folks with more experience than me who can offer some hope and help to Lewis so he can pursue his project and this hobby.
Does anyone have tools, tips, tricks, workarounds, or any advice that might help make the hobby possible anyway? It's a shame that Lewis has to give up on his plans because of it.
The only advice I have is about magnifiers. I use both head-mounted and table mounted magnifiers to deal with my normal but limiting presbyopia. I have a couple of these, mounted on my bench and desk, and kept loos enough to swing in and out of the way as needed. The extra light makes a huge difference too. The lights come with weighted bases which might work for some cases but just aren't flexible enough for me, so I bought one of these for each lamp, which I can highly recommend as a replacement for any cheap table edge clamp you might get with a lamp. Very solid.
As far as head-mounted magnifiers go, I have a couple that I use. The first is the classic Donegan OptiVisor. This is the original that you will see on jewelers, machinists, watchmakers—pretty much any old school professional working with small, precision things. Its not cheap, and getting a copy might be necessary for your budget but there are good ones to be had. The other is the more modern Donegean OptiSight, which is a skeletonized version of the OptiVisor. Again, similar things are available cheaper, one I can recommend as a good value is the Mag Eyes.
So I hope there are folks with more experience than me who can offer some hope and help to Lewis so he can pursue his project and this hobby.