One of the most handy tools in my workshop

New to machining and have a mill or die grinder - you need to get one of these!!

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Nope - not the Tyre inflator ;)

Here’s a semi naked photo…

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And the tweezers that go with it for extracting the inevitable steel splinters that find their way into your hands

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The cover is a bit of rag I tied around it about 5 years ago to keep the dust off, and it’s worked so well I just kept it there. Just pushes back when you need to use it.
The black button is the switch for the inbuilt light.

It sits in the corner out of the way, at a nice height for surgery, plugged into the power point ready to go.
Not a metalwork tool as such - but still a very valuable tool in the workshop.

Steve

I've got something similar on my electronics bench but I found my main problem was just not having enough light.

As soon as I upped the illumination over my electronics work bench I found I didn't need to use the magnifier anywhere near as often. In fact its been months since I needed to use it.

Same in the shed. I was using head magnifiers but if the sun was shining I found it better to go outside and check out any items in sunlight. Have since upped the illumination so don't need to go outside as often

Hi Guys,

Yes I've had one of those illuminated magnifying lens lamps for probably getting on for 40 years ! I bought it from Farnel Electronics before they became Element 14. Originally they resided above the Vicar Lane bus station before moving to Kirkstall road. They have since moved again.

They still sell the lens for the lamps along with the circular florescent tubes. They were extremely expensive in those days, I've since bought an LED desk one from Aldi, a mere £20. Oddly enough the same size lens !

One thing they are really good for is finding and helping remove splinters.

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Originally Posted by BobL

One thing they are really good for is finding and helping remove splinters.

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That’s 99% of what mine gets used for !!

Steve

Hi Guys,

Until I had my cataracts removed, mine was in regular use on the lathe ! Since then its been pushed aside not needed. You don't realise just how bad your eyesight has become until the cataracts have been removed.

I also have one over the workbench in the radio shack/lab. Gets in the way all the time so I might try and up the lighting instead.

Unfortunately my most used "tool" in the shed is the scrap bin. For all those Doh! moments.

My wife presented me with one of those illuminated magnifiers a couple of years ago as a birthday present; at the time I was a little underwhelmed, but it gets used all the time and not least of all for removing splinters. It has a little area in the lens that is very high magnification and that is also often used. Has a flip-up cover over the lens so no rag required.
As an aside, I find the best tool for splinter removal is an injection needle in about 18 or 20 gauge, they are beveled at the tip so the sides of the tip form a tiny, sharp cutting edge that is great for gentle probing, digging and picking out splinters be they the metal or wood variety.

Splinter probes.
Very handy...

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Originally Posted by russ57

Splinter probes.

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Well there you go. Had a million splinters and never heard of them.

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/first-aiders-choice-disposable-splinter-probes-10-pack-tr51650