Tip for reading scales with old eyes

[Matt Dillon]

Folks, perhaps many of you have already stumbled upon this, but if not I thought I'd share with you something that has recently helped me read my Ohaus 10/10 scale. My 50+ year old eyes need all the help they can get, and I had been using a magnifying glass to help me ensure my loads were precisely accurate.
That got old, so I took a flourescent light magnifying lamp (you know the kind with the circular flourescent lamp underneath a magnifying glass which extends on an arm),turned the magnifying glass so that instead of the normal horizontal position, the glass was turned side ways, so that I could position it in front of my scale. I have my scale on top of a Craftsman tool box, so that I don't have to lean down to read it, and it sits at my eye level, to reduce parallax issues.
I hope this helps you, thanks!

 

[The Bushmaster]

Had same problem with 60+ old eyes...Got a scale with bigger numbers on it...My cure.

 

[bakert]

Matt Dillon, I like your idea. Been using the magnifyimg glass myself to double check loads for a couple of years. Being a somewhat timid reloader and also at an age where I'm a bit forgetful at times, I double check everything I do when it comes to powder charges. Surprises are not a good thing when it comes to reloading.

 

[loadedround]

Matt Dillon: I went thru the same problem several years ago and resolved it rather simply. The cure is to switch to an electronic digital balance with large numbers(mine was an OM Dillon). You can buy these balances for under 100.00 these days and another benefit is they are so much quicker to use. T top things off you could probably sell you old balance on ebay and recoup most of your money spent on your electronic balance, I did this myself on the two RCBS balances I had. BTW, stay away from used balances on the internet unless you can return it. Many electronic balances have been abused or over-stressed weight wise.

 

[Mal H]

My solution has been pretty much the same as I use for reloading in general - a good pair of large lens reading glasses that remain in my reloading area. They double as my safety glasses and I can see what I'm doing to boot!

 

[Gewehr98]

I still have my Ohaus 10-10.

Don't use it much anymore. It's easier to read my new scale: