I have a customer that has been collecting antique glasses for 40 years or so. Every so often, we'll swap a few pair in exchange for me putting his Rx in some of them. Today he stopped by with his whole collection, most of which is in this picture. There are a few VERY unique pieces here. I'll get some better close-up in the next few days, including a pair with the most unique glass lenses I've ever seen - Flattop 18s and scalloped edges!
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
That's quite a stash!! Can't wait to see them all. :)
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Ooooo, that's neat...looking forward to more pics!:)
Last edited by Now I See; 08-18-2010 at 03:00 PM. Reason: forgot my smiley :o)
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Most of them look very familiar from way back when. It will be interesting to see closeups..
Wow!!!!
I came, I saw, I left
OK, here's a few pictures.
The first two and the fourth are form the Ronwinne look-alike from Benson. The enclosed cleaning cloth reads
HardRx Lenses for safety - Cosmet edges for Style
N.P. Benson Optical Co., Inc.
Established 1913
Minneapoplis, MN
This is the neatest edge treatment I've seen. And the lenses are FT-18mm.
The third is what I call the Leading Lady rimless, but it's an AO frame.
And the other is a pince-nez very similar to the one Harry won at the first UnExpo.
Last edited by DragonLensmanWV; 08-19-2010 at 09:15 AM.
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
Those are awesome--I LOVE the edges!! The thumbnail of #4 looks like it's diamond-encrusted, until it's enlarged to show the detail. How do they do that (really, I wanna know!)?
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Like this:
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
I have that same pair with the black line thats been scribed into the lens and the faceted edges. Cant for the life of me figure out how to do that.
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
@DragonLensmanWV: I see the detail, and I've got an idea how it's done, but it's so fine! The edging on the first picture looks so uniform; is it done by hand? with a hand wheel? some other tool used to "shave" the lens?
I'm totally gonna try that this afternoon. . .
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Good thread..........good pictures..............good frames(better than today's).....................good photographer.....................and good for the optical kids to get to know some real good old quality...............the way it was
Ok I got it. Used a rat tail file along the edge of the lens. this makes the facets. Copy the string of facets to the opposite side of the lens. Pin bevel and polish.
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
A rat tail works fine (not so much on glass though) - I did mine using the rounded edge of my diamond hand stone. But doing it on a poly lens, well, they came out a little deep.
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
You're right Chris. Those glasses were produced by ...........(drum roll please)......... an OPTICIAN !! The Optician probably used "his" Rx too.Originally Posted by Chris Ryser
Chris Beard
The State of Jefferson !
I'm a Medford man – Medford, Oregon. Up in Medford, we take our time making up our minds."
Okay, I've been trying this. The best I could do actually was on a poly lens (out of my "junk" lenses I've been hoarding for a previously unknown reason), with a rat tail file. I couldn't get anything smooth off my hand wheel; all I got was jagged slits and gouges and frustrated. :( Somebody tell me I'm doing something right?
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
you got it! now offset the back cuts from the front so they are stepped.
Great job by the way!
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
Okay, forgive me for this, but, "what?" I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to labwork. :/ I think I get what you are saying. Instead of each cut mirroring the other side, do them alternatingly?
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
I'm gonna get a small round diamond cutlery sharpener and see if that will work. It's fine and would work on glass too.
It's a race to see who will sell a pair of them first!
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
Years ago (early 60's) we had a small electric driven stone for those. The wheel was about 50mm's in diameter, and about 4~5mm's wide, with a rounded edge. All glass then, and typically were mounted in Rimways, Numonts, and Shursets. Don't see much of that work anymore... which is a shame. Nice work you two.
Has anyone ever looked at the work Billy Brock produces? If not, go to his sample pages at billybrock.com
J. R. Smith
Yep, our old Tura rep used to push Billy Brock and I got a few pieces back about 10 years ago, great work.
Also, on your 5th pic, Dragon, how did the dude happen to steal FDR'S pinch-nez from his nose? just curious...
Here's some more:
The first shows a bunch of early ovals, some with gold wire temples, some with wound cable temples. The ones on the right are steel.
The second photo shows some of his Fulvue frames. The stopsign one at lower left is like the one I just put his new progressives in, except his hasn't been soldered at the bridge. The one on the lower right is also steel.
The third photo is of some varied Shursets, Ronwinnes and a BalGrip. The round one at upper left has Therminon lenses.
The fourth photo shows some more drill mounts and a cleaning cloth urging you to get your eyes scientifically examined twice a year.
The last one shows more drills with various round segs, curve tops and FT-18s. And believe it or not - glass breaks!
Last edited by DragonLensmanWV; 08-20-2010 at 08:48 AM.
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
Ok, I was playing with my Dremel Drill and found a diamond bit thats about 4 mm wide. Worked pretty well but I'll have to figure out how I'm going to keep the bit damp.
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
Correct. I'm finding the difficult part getting the alternating right and the notches the same depth/width. With some practice I could see how you could really make this look good.
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
Ok, I was playing with my Dremel Drill and found a diamond bit thats about 4 mm wide. Worked pretty well but I'll have to figure out how I'm going to keep the bit damp.
Tape a popsicle stick to your Dremel at such an angle that the wet sponge you rubber band to the end of it contacts the bit to keep it cool and wet.
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
in 1972 when i started in this biz i worked for an outfit that had been in the same local since 1918. we did work like that in glass on a large handstone, and polish with jewelers rouge. we have i think four dif handstones. seems so long ago. this brought back many memories, thanks.
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