Drilling Units

[Bill M]

We need to replace our lens drilling unit. Can anyone recommend one that is easy to use (to keep the lab guys happy) and one that is inexpensive (to keep the boss happy)?

Thanks

[mvulich]

Hello Bill,

My name is Matthew Vulich and I am Vice-President of Marketing at AIT Industries. We released a CNC-Automatic drilling system last year designed to act as a stand alone drilling system as an add on to your existing edging system or it can be integrated with one of our patternless systems. The Opera Drill offers the same advantages of automatic CNC Drill Systems which cost twice as much. We can adapt to whichever blocking system you are currently using. If you would like to know more about our CNC-Opera Drill please visit our website. CNC-Opera Drill (http://www.aitindustries.com/product.php?prd_id=25&cat_display=Drilling+Machines%3A)

Sincerely,

Matthew Vulich:cheers:

[DocInChina]

We need to replace our lens drilling unit. Can anyone recommend one that is easy to use (to keep the lab guys happy) and one that is inexpensive (to keep the boss happy)?
Thanks

You can check http://www.usedlabs.com/ to see what equipment is available. If Barry does not have what you want, email him and he might be able to locate it for you.

Doc

[Johns]

Bill M:

I've seen the drill unit that Matt described, and it's nothing short of remarkable. We saw it and compared it with the Santinelli, and it beat it hands down. The AIT CNC is truly impressive.

[Chris Ryser]

Find out what you really want. If your guy;s know what they are doing get the a Dremel with all the attachment and let them drill by hand. If you an automatic system go the more expensive way.

[rsandr]

Find out what you really want. If your guy;s know what they are doing get the a Dremel with all the attachment and let them drill by hand. If you an automatic system go the more expensive way.

To be fair Chris I did it the way you describe for years and only bought a machine to do it when we took someone else to do the rimless.
He has since left and nowI do them again on the new machine.

I wish I had paid out the money years ago. My output is better, the quality and consistency is better, its the best money I ever spent.

[gola]

I am interested in this too.
We are doing it manualy. We have a lens drill bought to Santinelli in Vision Expo many years ago. The advantage is that it has a digital display of the movement of the table where you put the lens (in steps of .5mm). It is very accurate. If you know the coordinates, you can go back exactly to the same place again.
I do not ask a employ to do anything i can not do or has not done for a while.

I am the boss but i has been drilling holes to undertand the job. What i have seem is that the greatest problem is not how to make the hole but where to make the hole. It take a lot of time to do this kind of jobs manualy and we are all looking for a faster way of doing it.

There are a few automatic and semi-automatic equipments and all of them claim to be the solution and i really do not understand how can you expect to do a decent job with this automatic equipment when:

1. It is very frecuent to find that the bridge is not symmetrical even in the most expensive frames but more common in the cheapest one.
2.- The pattern is made from a demolens. Hole location and size are not properly done on a demolens and shape and size of the demolens is very inconsistent.
3.- The prescription (edge thickness and base curve) and material of which the lens is made is also very relevant.
4.-There are different ways of holding the lens (fixed or removable screws, clips, etc).

These facts can be understand only by those that has done the job.

When we talk to a salesman, the good think of the equipment are enhanced but weakness are not told or if so, we (the buyer) do not pay attention. We only think in the money we will save. But once we have to use it is when we see the reality.

This is my opinoin and if you feel that i am wrong, please let me know because i also want a automatic equipment to do my drill mount jobs without the need of a experienced employee.

If you has to mount a lot of frames of the same model and those frames are of very good quality to be considered almost identical one from the other, then i would think in one of this automatic equipments to be used by an employee with experince.

Most of this automatic equipments use a database of shapes and information of where to drill the hole. There are thousands of different models of frames and hundred of manufactures and different quality of frames.
Who is going to trace the shape and provide this information?
The end user.

Some of them has a camera to transfer the hole from the demolens to the pattern. Great!! You are going to get the information to drill a expensive progressive lens from a few cents inacurate piece of plastic.

But if you have to deal (which is my case) with many different frames, this automatic equipments would be for you an expensive way to drill a hole because almost each job is unique and you need to make the pattern and fill the information of where to drill the hole on each job and then drill a inexpensive lens to validate this data, make corrections and then drill your expensive lens. If the same frame comes in another job, make shure it is exactly as the one you just did because i has seen so many differences in the bridge that i will not drill a expensive lens if i do not run a trial one first.

I has being wondering how many of the designers of this automatic equipments has been drilling holes manualy for a while.

[rsandr]

When we talk to a salesman, the good think of the equipment are enhanced but weakness are not told or if so, we (the buyer) do not pay attention. We only think in the money we will save. But once we have to use it is when we see the reality.
Shysters the lot of them

This is my opinoin and if you feel that i am wrong, please let me know because i also want a automatic equipment to do my drill mount jobs without the need of a experienced employee.

These machines make experienced techs better. Less experienced techs may be able to do a job but not necessary well.