Plastic pellets? Are they worth it?

[pseudonym]

Seeing a lot of hinges popping out of plastic frames just now.

There's a repair in the _Systems_ book that uses virgin plastic pellets in the hole before reseating the hinge with hot fingers. Hilco sells 1 oz. for around 6 bucks. What is special about these? Anyone have experience with using them? Putting in a plug of miscellaneous plastic material hasn't worked out very well.

[chip anderson]

Dear False Name: You could buy sheet plastic (PMMA) and cut your own. But an ounce of these will last many years as hidden hinges aren't too popular. If you are worried about 6 bucks over many years you better get your un-employment application in right away, as you ain't gonna make it.

Chip

[Judy Canty]

I used to keep old zyl temples to cut up into pieces for hidden hinge repairs. They're free.

[TLG]

I used to keep old zyl temples to cut up into pieces for hidden hinge repairs. They're free.

+1
But....
I'm suspect of your "Seeing a lot of hinges popping out... just now" comment. There's no way that summer heat is warm enough to soften zyl enuf to loosen a hinge. I would suggest reviewing your labs/opticians insertion and adjusting techniques with plastic frames. Suddenly having 'a lot' of something may indicate that someone or something is causing this. If during insertion or adjustment, too much heat is being applied to the hinge area it may be loosening up but doesn't completely fail until sometime later. Any newbies on the force the past few months? Change lab? Salt pan/heater? Any particular mfg?

[pseudonym]

If during insertion or adjustment, too much heat is being applied to the hinge area it may be loosening up but doesn't completely fail until sometime later. Any newbies on the force the past few months?

Oh dear. You may have located the trouble. I've only recently stepped up to hinge reseating. And I've been getting them good and hot, too.

[pseudonym]

Nom de Plume seemed pretentious and I think anonymous coward was taken. Whatever happened to watch the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves?

Back to the $6. problem which can add up annually, are they magical pellets? I've tried cutting little pieces from deadstock frames to fill in the hole, and tried a two part epoxy with fill material.

[Audiyoda]

I used to take dead stock and file down parts to get what I needed. Worked for me.

Caveat: This was when I owned a set of hot fingers.

Post Script: Most epoxies will not hold to today's plastic frames and could ruin them.

[Chris Ryser]

Post Script: Most epoxies will not hold to today's plastic frames and could ruin them.

The professional way is not gluing plastic of frames with epoxies. You need the propre solvent for the material, dissolve the areas to be stuck together and, when soft join them, appliy some pressure until a bulge develops and keep it clamped overnight. Next morning you can sand file and buff it to an non visible joint and glued together with its own material.

[pseudonym]

Chris, Your product is even more expensive than the magical pellets.

[chip anderson]

The "virgin plastic pellets" are PMMA acrylic plastic (higher melting temp and harder plastic) that the Zyl most frames are made from. Therefor they work better as henge seats.

But go ahead on cutting old zyl which the monomer fled from years ago and you will do a lot more and re-do a lot more hinge work.

Chip

[pseudonym]

The "virgin plastic pellets" are PMMA acrylic plastic (higher melting temp and harder plastic) that the Zyl most frames are made from. Therefor they work better as henge seats.

Why didn't you say so, Chip? I almost called Hilco. If "virgin plastic pellets" have better characteristics than ordinary plastic, then I will fork over the six bucks.

[Audiyoda]

The professional way is not gluing plastic of frames with epoxies. You need the propre solvent for the material, dissolve the areas to be stuck together and, when soft join them, appliy some pressure until a bulge develops and keep it clamped overnight. Next morning you can sand file and buff it to an non visible joint and glued together with its own material.

Thanks Chris, knew that already - and it works well when it works. On some of today's plastic frames it doesn't work so well. Seeing that the OP did not include the type of plastic involved and knowing that the solvents generally used to make such a repair can damage and even destroy some plastics, I chose to not include this as an option.

[jefe]

The professional way is not gluing plastic of frames with epoxies. You need the propre solvent for the material, dissolve the areas to be stuck together and, when soft join them, appliy some pressure until a bulge develops and keep it clamped overnight. Next morning you can sand file and buff it to an non visible joint and glued together with its own material.

I opened up one of Chris' old posts about using Acetic Acid for fusing together zyl frames recently when a guy came in with a Prada frame broken at the bridge. The acid is noxious stuff, but with a little work on the clamping, it resulted in a solid repair. Thanks.

[Chris Ryser]

You could buy sheet plastic (PMMA) and cut your own. But an ounce of these will last many years as hidden hinges aren't too popular.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a transparent thermoplastic, often used as a light or shatter-resistant alternative to glass. It is sometimes called acrylic glass. Chemically, it is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. The material was developed in 1928 in various laboratories, and was first brought to market in 1933 by Rohm and Haas Company, under the trademark Plexiglas.^[4] It has since been sold under many different names including Lucite and Perspex.

So be sure NOT to use this material as it is not compatible with the old cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, or propionate, or optyl the frames are made of. If you add plastic material add only the same material as the frames part is made of.

Thanks Chris, knew that already - and it works well when it works. On some of today's plastic frames it doesn't work so well.

If you do use the right solvent on the compatible plastic it works all the time.

I opened up one of Chris' old posts about using Acetic Acid for fusing together zyl frames recently when a guy came in with a Prada frame broken at the bridge. The acid is noxious stuff, but with a little work on the clamping, it resulted in a solid repair. Thanks.

There was a time when being able to do all these repair jobs perfectly you were a better optician than others, and this stage might just make a come back into todays time when every county gets broke.

[Chris Ryser]

Product Description

Virgin ZYL pellets for plastic and zyl frames.Ideal when replacing hinges where screw holes are chipped out. Comes in handy dispenser tube. Mix with acetone til liquid. Insert in cavity and quickly plastic will harden.




Item# 54888
$4.00

http://www.vigoroptical.com/54888.html

[Chris Ryser]

I do have a small objection to make...............todays zyl frames are acetate or as mentioned above and are not soluble with acetone. So check if these materials are compatible ??????

You can also cut small pieces from old frames and dissolve in the right solvent.