Ben,
To assist your eyes for close work consider something like this:

[www.amazon.com]

Ever since starting rod building some many years ago, I have always used a head mounted magnifier with very bright light to illuminate the working area.

Plenty of research in the field, that magnification and very bright task lighting is really essential to do an excellent job when working with small detail work.

I prefer a light similar to this one to be able to get the light exactly where I need it.
I normally place the light on top of a 3 lb coffee can to elevate the base to the same height as the rod being worked on, to give me maximum adjustability where to locate the light source for the best work illumination.

[www.amazon.com]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I have tried using an illuminated magnifying light, but it never worked out for me. Rather, I use the head band with a selection of different magnifying lenses. Normally I use a 1.5 or 2.0 or 2.5 magnification along with the very bright light source about 10 inches from my work.

The following chart is the recommended lighting levels for different rooms and different tasks. Notice that it is recommended for detail work that the lighting level be about 1200 Lux - or the brightest of all recommended lighting levels. Work tiny - need very bright light.

[www.archtoolbox.com]

Thanks for the tips Roger..my main reason for poor vision is the lack of depth perception because of one blind eye..and now my sense of touch is getting poorer which makes it difficult to control small objects..i have my work arounds but my rods are less than perfect, however they still work just fine..i enjoy the challenge and fun of this hobby but now it,s just a little more challenging..lol.

Update. I felt like I did everything right in the last rod and still had some small gaps. Just finished another rod and stepped up the size B. What a game changer for me. Thanks for all the advice. I'll still use A in my fly rods though.

Most of my rod building problems are related to wrapping guides and espcially small ones..so i had to develope some work arounds and they are not pretty..lol. to attach a guide i started with a four or five wrap jamb knot then slid the guide under the last wrap and wrapped the thread from the ring down to the toe..i do not go over or off the guide toe but simply whip finish and leave a bit of the toe stickingg out..because of my poor vision and poor sense of feel this procedure has worked very well..i also discovered that by having the guide toe pointed to the tip of the rod, i can get better and tighter packing of the wraps because i,m packing uphill or into a larger diameter and are making the wraps even tighter, while normally we pack down to a smaller diameter and are loosening the wraps a bit..i use sie B-thread..i have not seen any loss of performance with the guide holes pointing to the butt or tip of the rod..a hole is a hole..lol.also these wraps are much shorter, meaning less weight after finishing..if your getting up in age maybe these tips will help someone..

I'm more than a little late to the party, and I'm glad that the size B thread is working out for you, but ....... you're only 8 rods in. And while I certainly understand that producing gap free wraps can be excruciatingly slow work, you'll get better at it. Even if you only build a few rods a year, you'll get better at it.

I've been working on rods for about 6 years. In that time I've only built 14 rods, and put guides on 3 others, so I am not that far ahead of you in actual experience. I am still quite slow when it comes to wrapping guides, but I'm a lot faster than I was even 8 builds ago. I'm almost 64, so the eyes aren't what they used to be. While I'm sure that having wrapped a few more guides has helped to increase my speed, the biggest factor in my increased speed is entirely related to visual acuity. It took me a while, but about 2 years ago I followed Roger Wilson's advice of having excellent lighting, and magnified vision. I got a pair of 3x reading glasses and a LED drafting table light that is bright, and easily adjusted when it comes to positioning the light where I need it.

It amazing how much of a difference it makes, when you're actually able to see what you're doing. lol

You don't have to give up on the size A thread for all of your builds if you don't want to. All you have to do is make sure you can see what you're doing, and be a little more forgiving to yourself about how long it takes you to wrap a rod. After all .... wrapping is finish work, and rushing finish work rarely comes out as nice as you hoped it would.

To borrow the mantra of the company I presently work for ....... Quality ..... not compromise.

BTW, I absolutely love the place I work. The management actually practices what they preach.

David, I agree on the lighting. I wear 2.5x glasses and an LED headlamp. I need to find a good desk lamp as well.

I'm another B thread guy. Sometimes A but mostly B. I wouldn't double wrap either. That seems like covering up a mistake. Keep at it, go slow and it will come. My first 8 rods are a lot different than my last 8 rods. good luck.