Repair/Adjustment Question

[EyeFitWell]

Hello All!
I would like to pick your brains! If a customer/patient comes in with a temple bent at the hinge, how exactly do you straighten it out? Do you use your hands or pliers? What pliers do you use? Do you take the hinge screw out? Any other tips while we're at it? My primary concern here is to determine which method has the best success with the lowest chance of breaking the frame or further weakening the material. Thanks!

PS-> Please don't think of me as an idiot who's never done this before. I know, it's kind of a basic question...I'm just trying to see what the majority of you guys do with this situation. :bbg:

[DragonLensmanWV]

I use two of my lovely Numont pliers for this, grab the endpiece and the temple and slowly (keyword) straighten out.

[Judy Canty]

I'm with Dragon. I love my Numonts!

[Striderswife]

I think that's gonna depend on where the bend is. If the endpiece is bent, I'll use a wide jaw angling plier, grabbing a hold of the hinge, and sometimes using a padded plier to steady the endpiece. If it's the hinge itself, I'll use the same angling plier. I only remove the hinge screw if the barrels are splayed out away from each other. I use my trusty angling plier to crimp them back together, then reassemble the temple.

One tip I was taught is that you can heat up even a metal frame to make it easier to maniuplate. Of course, we do that for plastic frames, but it works for metal, too. It gives me a little more confidence when I have to do a delicate adjustment.

[Chris Ryser]

One tip I was taught is that you can heat up even a metal frame to make it easier to maniuplate. Of course, we do that for plastic frames, but it works for metal, too. It gives me a little more confidence when I have to do a delicate adjustment.

Dragon is right...................

For heating metal, you should be careful as some metals get softer when heated and stay that way.

You can also repair messed up screw drivers by heating them up red hot, let them cool off naturally, file them into the right shape then re-harden them again, by heating them red hot and cool them instantly by dipping into cold oil or even cold water will work. Then clean them with sandpaper and reheat slowly until tip of blade get slightly blue.

[Uncle Fester]

My hands mostly or a parallel jaw plier.

[Chris Ryser]

My hands mostly or a parallel jaw plier.

But the older you get the softer they get

[DragonLensmanWV]

(mightily resisting joke about age and softness)

[EyeFitWell]

So no one takes the hinge apart? I guess I feel better! :-)

[Happylady]

I usually use my hands but sometimes I use pliers.