Can someone recommend a good magnifying headband for working on firearms. Illuminated would be a plus.

Thanks

I use one of these: https://www.brownells.com/guns...ivisor-prod5769.aspx

Scoobaru is right, the Optivisor brand are the best made. If you can determine your desired magnification you won't need to buy the "extra" lens you wish you had the first time. I haven't sprung for one. Yet.

Thanks I will get one on the way.

Found some really good prices here.

https://www.magnifier.com/cata...&q=Donegan+optivisor

I use both a headband and a bench light. Sometimes you need a lot more light in those dark spaces.
Here's an example.
https://catalog.lightingspecia...LV2OFuWCBzZwziriHPrH

 
Optivisor. I have a couple, for bench work in the garage/guns, and another for really close up work. Check their web site to decide what combination of magnification/distance you want. At the higher magnifications the closer you have to be to the workpiece. I prefer 8"-10" for general work, and 4" (the highest magnification) for really close up detail. 10" (2x magnification) is about the right compromise for what you want.
 
You can buy their visor light for illumination. I prefer to use my own light source.

The Optivisor is excellent. They don't come with illumination, but if you want it, the Quasar LED system for the Optivisor is very good, I have had one mounted on my Optivisor for almost ten years.

https://www.amazon.com/Quasar-...558-00/dp/B0058ECQ46

I think it's totally unnecessary for hobby work, but there is one option which is a step up from the Optivisor, which is a good set of dental/surgical loupes (which usually look kind of like you took apart a tiny pair of binoculars and mounted the two tubes to a pair of glasses). A good set costs several hundred dollars, though.

Good info ~ so what is the ideal magnification (more or less)?

And how do they differ from more expensive jeweler models?
It appears from reviews that while the Optivisors are effective the complaint is they are cheaply (quality) made.

I have two. I have not found them to be cheap or poor quality, unless they have recently gone down the tubes.

I have an optivisor and have used them for years. One area where they are distinctly lacking is in lighting, and yeah I have knockoff with a puny little LED. BTW, have the real deal at work for a reason, the knockoffs are total crap that barely stay tight. For me lighting is every bit as important as magnification. At work that is provided by two 8 foot fluorescent fixtures mounted 3 feet apart over my bench. At home I came up with a different solution that in some ways is even better.

My choice has been 3.0 diopter reading glasses and a Black Diamond runners rechargeable head band. BTW, the battery is only good for about 1.5 hours on high but I have two on hand to insure one always has a full charge. They are light enough to run with at Dark AM and I only run for about an hour in the mornings. The great news is they provide 180 lumens in a fairly diffuse spread. Note would really prefer 5 or 6 diopter readers but you won't find those at the local CVS. When I need more magnification I just stack a second pair of readers on top of the first. At times I'll arrange the two pair into a bifocal arrangement. While it is a bit too clumsy to do any running it actually works quite well and I get good, hands free directed lighting.

Just throwing this out as a suggestion for an alternate that has much better lighting to work with.