Automatic lens drilling machines

[HenryB]

Does anyone have any "hands on" experience with the new machines being sold that drill lenses automatically for drill mount type frames? I do alot of these and am interested in one if they work. Any particular brands better than others? (I believe there are several companies making these now)

[Linda Little]

Dear Henry:

I work for WECO International. We have introduced the new Drill & Edge which is a three-axis edger with Drilling and Grooving options. The system is complete with a CAD III blocker which determines the coordinates of the pattern and sends the information to the edger for precise drilling of holes and slots. The product is just coming to the market this month and will be available for demonstrations at the AOA and Vision Expo West. We also can send you a CD Rom which shows what is going on. The difference between this edger and other drilling systems is that it also works as an edger for regular frames.

[Pete Hanlin]

Hi Henry,
You could also contact Balester Optical in Pennsylvania (wholesale optical lab). When I was @ Expo in April, their rep mentioned something about having a unit that did what you describe (was quite excited about it, as I recall). Their number is 1-800-233-8373

Pete

[mvulich]

Hi Henry,

I am Vice-President of Marketing at AIT Industries and we have an Automatic CNC Drilling machine that was released last year that might be the perfect solution for you. Our CNC-Opera Drill can be utilized as a stand alone unit as an ad on to your existing machine or it can be fully integrated with any of our patternless edging systems. The CNC Opera Drill has a touch probe feature that detects the base curve and the edge of the lens for proper drilling of both holes and slots. The Opera Drill can angle up from 0 to 40 degrees and will soon be able to load and store the Frames Data Drill Points disk. For more information, please check out our website and download a brochure. Opera Drill (http://www.aitindustries.com/product.php?prd_id=25&cat_display=Drilling+Machines%3A)

Any questions, feel free to e-mail me at mvulich@comcast.net

Sincerely,

Matthew Vulich
Vice-President Marketing

[Wecoman]

If you want an all in edger get some information for a WECO Edge 450.
Very good edging machine which also has a drilling facility (or grooving).
Nice and reliable device. We have some customers that drill up to 50 frames per day at 3-5 minutes (edging)work per frame.

[rsandr]

If you want an all in edger get some information for a WECO Edge 450.
Very good edging machine which also has a drilling facility (or grooving).
Nice and reliable device. We have some customers that drill up to 50 frames per day at 3-5 minutes (edging)work per frame.

I love our Weco but I reckon 20-30 per day is a more realistic figure if you are working with a mix of frames.

I dont use the grooving feature on ours, IMO the groove looks very untidy and I found chipping a problem.

[gola]

In this treat you may find additional information

SILLUETTE 3 PIECE MOUNTINGS

[Wecoman]

@rsandr: We have sold this edgers to a factory that edges lenses for a number of opticians (they let others do the difficult jobs) so that explains this high numbers.

The chipping problem you have: Do you change the tool from drill to a cutter (I know it's basic)?
Also you might adjust the groove depth in the menu. if it's too deep chipping occurs.
WECO has relased a new cutter maybe you want to try this one.

[rsandr]

@rsandr: We have sold this edgers to a factory that edges lenses for a number of opticians (they let others do the difficult jobs) so that explains this high numbers.

The chipping problem you have: Do you change the tool from drill to a cutter (I know it's basic)?

Yes

Also you might adjust the groove depth in the menu. if it's too deep chipping occurs.
WECO has relased a new cutter maybe you want to try this one.

I will certainly look into that, to my mind it just needed a smoother tip.

Cheers