Are any of you using, making or selling the Chemistrie magnetic clip-ons? They look cool, but drilling into perfectly good lenses always makes me nervous.
Do you have any feed back? Especially if you make them in your lab or office.
Are any of you using, making or selling the Chemistrie magnetic clip-ons? They look cool, but drilling into perfectly good lenses always makes me nervous.
Do you have any feed back? Especially if you make them in your lab or office.
We've been selling them successfully for a few months now. The patients seem to appreciate them. We havn't had any return with any problems. Its nice to have a unique option that the chains don't provide.
There have been a few threads on these in the last year. Those of us who were hesitant at first but then tried them grew to appreciate them. You have to stop thinking as an optician and start thinking as a consumer. Chem Clips are pretty cool and rare enough so that you can set yourself up for being the only guy in town that offers them.
We have them...we don't sell a whole lot since I prefer rx sun.
But everyone who has purchased them has loved them.
The only downside to them is that we don't run them in house...so if anything additional needs to be done: patient wants an extra clip, magnets need repair, you have to send back the entire pair of glasses. My lab at least will not cut from archive for them.
We've had them for about 2 years, and have run them in-house for the last 18 months or so. I don't know if this could be considered a problem or not, but the only issue I have is that my staff sells a lot of them, and they often get backed up in the lab, as not everyone is trained to assemble them.
I really like selling Rx suns, but the clips have really put us on the map.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
I have learned a long time ago there is a big difference between good problems and bad problems. That is a great problem to have.Originally Posted by Johns
I know what you're saying, but it's not as simple an issue as it looks. Usually, the folks that go for that type of product are putting on a higher end pair of glasses (believe it or not), and those are the jobs you especially don't want to be delayed.
It's a catch-22 to be sure.
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
Two questions from the guru's. Can you produce these with a SmartDrill? And, do you drill all the way through the lens for the magnet, or does it need to be only a specific depth?
Pretty sure they only go deep enough to be flush with the front surface of the lens.
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
The Santinelli/Nidek edgers have softwRe available that makes doing them in house a no brainer.
Now that Dennis has bridge sizes available in 1mm increments, assembly is a breeze.
Dennis and the gang at chesmestrie are always tweaking the product, and I just put in some of the new parameter tweaks to make them better than ever.
I agree with Johns: they often go on high-end eyewear.
Barry
The latest tweak is NOT to makek the lens magnet flush. Rather, you want about 0.14mm of magnet above the lens surface. This prevents AR/lens scratching when people shift the clip around taking it on or off.
Good stuff.
B
Practical issues aside (cost, difficulty of manufacture, aftercare nuance) these things are really, really, cool.
In an average office like ours (using wholesale lab, no handy opticians on site) the product really becomes a high-end item, vs. a commodity that can be sold en masse.
If the pricepoint can be reduced to significantly under $100, I think they'd fly, as "everyman" would be the market, but we can't go that low. They're about $139 here.
Still competes nicely with photochromic technology and second-pair suns, especially for the more expensive Rx crowd.
pssst, drk, this isn't the pro forum (no prices).....
On the other hand, what are you paying for them, that seems rather high to me....
There are rules. Knowing those are easy. There are exceptions to the rules. Knowing those are easy. Knowing when to use them is slightly less easy. There are exceptions to the exceptions. Knowing those is a little more tricky, and know when to use those is even more so. Our industry is FULL of all of the above.
What if a lens is thin? How thick are the magnets? Does it "never" require a hole all the way through the lens?
The magnets come in two thicknesses, the thinner ones are about 1mm thick. If you're careful and do it right, you can put a magnet in a hole that's all the way through the lens and have it work, but I've never encountered a pair where it was necessary.
You should be able to do it on a SmartDrill, though it would be a lot more time consuming and have a higher chance of error.
There are rules. Knowing those are easy. There are exceptions to the rules. Knowing those are easy. Knowing when to use them is slightly less easy. There are exceptions to the exceptions. Knowing those is a little more tricky, and know when to use those is even more so. Our industry is FULL of all of the above.
Do it with a smartdrill? Getting the depth right would be a bear.
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
It would take some experimenting and possibly rigging up a stop to make sure you didn't go too deep, but it could be done. I wouldn't want to do it, but it's possible.
And on that note, I'd like to thank Santinelli for the Click software update for the ME-1000.
There are rules. Knowing those are easy. There are exceptions to the rules. Knowing those are easy. Knowing when to use them is slightly less easy. There are exceptions to the exceptions. Knowing those is a little more tricky, and know when to use those is even more so. Our industry is FULL of all of the above.
This is exactly why I was wondering if you could go all the way through the lens and still retain the magnet.
The answer is yes, if you're very careful with the compression fit. Getting the hole just the right size of slightly small is the easy part. Getting the magnet in without leaving stress distortion in the lens is the tricky part. I would recommend practicing a lot first.
There are rules. Knowing those are easy. There are exceptions to the rules. Knowing those are easy. Knowing when to use them is slightly less easy. There are exceptions to the exceptions. Knowing those is a little more tricky, and know when to use those is even more so. Our industry is FULL of all of the above.
Me talkey retail, white man.
That's what I need! So, when are you guys going to part with a used ME-1000?
- Optician
- Frame Maker/Designer
- Teacher of the art of crafting handmade eyewear.
Kcount:
I have an LEX 1000. I trialed the new ME1200.
Don't bother with the ME1000. You'll luv the ME1200 (but its $$$$$$)\
Barry
We´re shopping for a new edger (in sweden) right now. The Huvitz is cheaper then a big mac on sale, and we´re also looking at the mr. blue from essilor... What´s the differene with the Niedek ME1200 and ME1000? Is it worth waiting for?
Step Bevel for one. Self calibrating algorhtym (no more tech spending hours checking/setting every lens/bevel/groove/safety parameter). Smaller footprint (similar to my Lex, smaller than the ME1000). Very robust construction. IMHO, a more *precise* and accurate edger than my LEX 1000 by a good enough margin for me to want it after my LEX lease ends.
Barry
Chemistrie clips are an outstanding product. They DO take some time and experience on a good edger (preferably a milling edger like the ME1000+ or the MEI). Once you pay your dues, they are fairly easy to fabricate and a great option for practically any patient who spends any time at all in the outdoors. We have been using primarily the Santinelli ME1000+ with "Click Mode" to process, and once you get all the settings finely tuned and calibrated ( you really do need to do this), it is super smooth process and I recommend the company, its products and support highly. I have also posted about problems we are having with the Santinelli ME1000+ breaking lens outline feeler tips, but that has nothing at all to do with the Chemistrie clip fabrication process.
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