I’ve taken a sort of “pseudo vow” about my tying efforts. I’ve decided not to tie any more flies unless I at least try to tie the perfect fly. Yesterday was my first attempt at perfection and it turned out so bad that I filed it straight away. While I think that technique is part of the problem, I’m convinced that visibility is my biggest obstacle. Can anyone give me some ideas about the best bang for the buck setup for lighting and magnification? I have a swing arm light with a magnifier now, but with my trifocals I have to position it so it always gets in the way of my tying. Sounds like an excuse, huh?
Thanks ahead,
Well I can’t say my setup is a “best bang for the buck” setup but I do have to say that improving my lighting/magnification has greatly helped me even with 20/20 vision in my late 40’s.
I purchased a 70 watt Bluemax desk lamp from full spectrum solutions http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/bluemax_desk_18_ctg.htm which has definitely helped me. As you can see, not cheap but it’s full spectrum light so you get a natural color look to your flies. I think the Ott lights are also in this category but I liked the added brightness of this light plus it has a dial to adjust brightness.
I also picked up a set of mag-eyes http://www.mageyes.com/Hobby.htm to magnify my flies. I found these on Ebay fairly inexpensive.
I guess I didn’t trust “cheaper” alternatives as I didn’t want to strain my eyesight to see especially on small flies.
As for the perfect fly - no such thing.
Good luck.
I have a magnifying lamp like most do.
I put a natural spectrum lamp in it like most pet stores sell for reptilian enclosures. It’s supposed to emulate the sun’s light and make the colors of plants and reptiles natural. Here’s an example.
I think they cost around $6.95 or so for the lamp. My magnifier I spent all of $19.95 on.
But my Mag Eyes are the best thing I’ve gotten for my tiring eyes. They work very natural with your eyes, head and neck. (Especially when you put them on right side up!) :lol:
My vision correction so far is simply 1.75 ready readers. But I wear them so that I look over the top for normal vision.
So I have a sort of make shift tri-focal when tying. 
I’m a little easier on myself in that I am trying to improve my technique but some flies end up meeting Mr. razor blade and starting over. I personally use a smaller folding Ott lite so that I can take it with me when I tie at another location. I have a pair of clip on flip up magnifying lenses but they don’t fit my glasses very well.
If your background is busy, put a piece of light green or light blue foam board up to act as a profile plate. Having a clean background to my fly really helps with thread and material control.
Rick
I wear ‘cheater’ reading glasses right over my bi focals.
Got the idea from Jack Gartside… that’s what he does
When it comes to what is the perfect fly …
Joe, if your going to use these Ideas and they all sound good, Measure the distance between your glasses and the hook on your vise. then when you go to the store to try reading glasses etc take a fly hold it that distance from your face and see how clear it is.
Eric
When I was preparing for my trip I was tying 2 and sometimes 3 dozen of the same fly pattern. That really improved my tying. Perfection, I don’t know…
Bruce
I keep toying with the idea of using a small industrial light table that I have as my tying desk, which would provide light from below and my magnifying light above. It may turn out to be too much light, but it’s worth a try I think.
When using a magnifier look thru the top part of your glasses.
That way you get the magnification.
Rick
I have a desk lamp that hangs over the vise and I wear 3x magnifyers over my glasses. I see good but an mo threat to the gods when it comes to perfection. 
Coughlin
Why does it have to be “perfect”? Is it going on display or in a museum? The fish could care less and that is obvious. Do most tied flies look anything like what they are representing??? Not even close!
A real stonefly: http://www.troutnut.com/im_regspec/picture_1072_small.jpg
Someone’s rendition of a stonefly: http://www.virtualflybox.com/patterns/getimage.php?id=225
A real sow bug: http://audilab.bmed.mcgill.ca/~funnell/photos/DSC03519_sowbug_crop.jpg
Someone’s rendition of a sow bug: http://www.riverbum.com/images/products/big/Sow-Bug-Biot-Rainbow-side.jpg
Not even close.
Don’t get too worried about being 'perfect".
It’s obvious fish have pretty bad eyesight
BBW…not fair to compare a stonefly nymph with a dry fly.
Your point of course is true.
Thanks for the ideas folks. But I think some of you may have misunderstood what I meant by what I said. (my fault) I stated that I would “at least try” to tie a perfect fly. I don’t expect perfection, but I’m hoping for a more sincere effort on my part. i.e. proportions, quality & quantity of components.
Hope I didn’t mislead anyone.
Try the Mag-eyes. They come with three different lens for up close work. I thought I was tying decent flies until I started tying with the mag-eyes. They really made a difference for me. They make the detail work easier. Don’t have any ties to them, just a satisfied customer. Actually saw that a few FAOLers were using them so thought it was worth a try.
Beaver
Hey, there’s nothing wrong at all with aiming for perfection…If you aim lower than that, you rarely if ever hit it.
An almost standard professional visor type magnifier is the Optivisor from Donegan Optical. It is the model frequently used by medical people and electronic technicians. They have quality ground optical glass lenses. It’s not a cheapitem however listing for over $35. They have an assortment of lens plates for different magnification and working distance.
I have no interest in the product beyond having used them for years in engineering research work.
One comment on the Mag-eyes (even though I use them) …
I HATE the darn foam strip across the front of the headband. I sweat fairly easily especially when I have added light near my head shining on my fly vise and that foam band soaks up the sweat and it gets, well, sorta NASTY.
I haven’t really experimented (maybe a cloth between it and my forehead) but it’s annoying to me.
But they work GREAT for magnifying my work.