DRILL MOUNTS: Lab puts together or Opticians?

[CME4SPECS]

I am the optician and the lab, so it's no big deal to me to me to do the mounting. If I had someone working for me to do lab work, that particular task would be included under lab. For me, the dispensing optician should be free to work with the consumers.

[icmor]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +1

I find it sometimes counter productive to focus on old skills and completely forget or denigrate sales and personal skills. I won't paint with a broad stroke but most the time I hear "real old school opticians", it's coming from a crotchety optician that I would cringe putting in front of a client.

The true masters I know are the ones that work all ends effortlessly, I know making it look effortless took a lot of work. Still learning myself everyday, I am fortunate enough that I currently literally work for the best opticians in the nation.

You need to get out and meet some of us "Old Schoolers", we're not crotchety at all! If you have the right tools, you can do anything. That being said, practice is what made us good. The easy way to train is to disassemble and remount drill mounts with the coquilles. That way you're not causing expensive damage. When I managed a wholesale lab, I started employees out on single vision jobs only; again, trying to minimize damage and expenses. I find that drill mounts do intimidate a lot of opticians, but with some practice, it is easily mastered. Don't be afraid, jump in and learn. You, and/ or your opticians, will be a more valuable asset to the practice.

[Barry Santini]

I learned drill mounts when we did:

1. Glass Lenses
2. Hi-index
3. Stiff, non malleable frames
4. Untempered lenses

When you could make, assemble and adjust these...without chipping or cracking a lens, your teacher would say you had "taken the pebble from his hand", and that it was time for you to go out into the world.

That's why I have such a deep appreciation for all the technical finesse that an edger like the Santinelli ME1200 can do...in both experienced and non experienced hands.

B

[Craig]

I make all of my employees build and repair some drill-mounts so they are not afraid of them and can be comfortable adjusting in front of a client. Drill mounts are actually the easiest to adjust if they are built correctly to fit the client; the problem is when they are not built to fit the person wearing them or they are not built as well as possible.

If build properly anything should be easy for anyone to adjust or they are not an optician, but a salesperson and that is OK but they scare me personally.

[MakeOptics]

You need to get out and meet some of us "Old Schoolers", we're not crotchety at all! If you have the right tools, you can do anything. That being said, practice is what made us good. The easy way to train is to disassemble and remount drill mounts with the coquilles. That way you're not causing expensive damage. When I managed a wholesale lab, I started employees out on single vision jobs only; again, trying to minimize damage and expenses. I find that drill mounts do intimidate a lot of opticians, but with some practice, it is easily mastered. Don't be afraid, jump in and learn. You, and/ or your opticians, will be a more valuable asset to the practice.

Good advice, maybe one day I will be good with drill mounts. ; )

[EyeManDan]

have the right tools and it is easy

[mervinek]

I had an optician I worked with once... refused training on drill mount assembly (swore she knew how to do it). Turned out she didn't. So when an elderly patient came to pick up her lenses while I was off, she told the lady she would have to send her glasses to the lab or come back in a few days when I was in to do it. Wrong. Just wrong.

[mdeimler]

Lindberg Slot is the best possible and easiest of all, next is anything with a nut and bolt but the plastic pressure mounts are the hardest to do and the least dependable while also looking the least expensive.

This is the exact OPPOSITE of my exposure. I've worked with the Silhouettes for well over 10 years and the damn Lindbergs for almost 4. Who uses glue ? What is that concept ? If you need glue, you need a new idea. The Silhouette are easy and worry free is made correctly. The metal in the Lindberg is great but the concept is weak. They loosen up almost as easily as a nut and bolt drill mount...no matter what lab makes them.

[Craig]

This is the exact OPPOSITE of my exposure. I've worked with the Silhouettes for well over 10 years and the damn Lindbergs for almost 4. Who uses glue ? What is that concept ? If you need glue, you need a new idea. The Silhouette are easy and worry free is made correctly. The metal in the Lindberg is great but the concept is weak. They loosen up almost as easily as a nut and bolt drill mount...no matter what lab makes them.

We have sold thousands of Lindberg Spirit and have no problems at all with them falling apart; been number one seller for 17 years. Only problem is they last too long. Send me your Lindbergs to do; we do a few per day.

[smallworld]

I learned drill mounts when we did:

1. Glass Lenses
2. Hi-index
3. Stiff, non malleable frames
4. Untempered lenses

When you could make, assemble and adjust these...without chipping or cracking a lens, your teacher would say you had "taken the pebble from his hand", and that it was time for you to go out into the world.

That's why I have such a deep appreciation for all the technical finesse that an edger like the Santinelli ME1200 can do...in both experienced and non experienced hands.

B

I used to be an optician float/lab fill in for Soderberg. If anyone needed an optician, I went there, if someone in the lab took vacation , I went there. I would rather run 5 edgers at a time than do the drill mount station at the lab, yet there they put me when that person took vacation. At the lab you see every kind of pattern and assembly. For me it was the toughest position in the lab. As expensive as lenses are, I would recommend the person who assembles the drill mounts be the person who 1) Has the time to do it right 2) Has talents with fine motor skills 3) Does it often enough to retain the skill level.

Barry I haven't been in a lab since those machines were invented that do the drilling for you, but when I heard about it all I could think was "why couldn't that have been around when I worked at the lab?"

[AngeHamm]

I used to be an optician float/lab fill in for Soderberg. If anyone needed an optician, I went there, if someone in the lab took vacation , I went there. I would rather run 5 edgers at a time than do the drill mount station at the lab, yet there they put me when that person took vacation. At the lab you see every kind of pattern and assembly. For me it was the toughest position in the lab. As expensive as lenses are, I would recommend the person who assembles the drill mounts be the person who 1) Has the time to do it right 2) Has talents with fine motor skills 3) Does it often enough to retain the skill level.

Barry I haven't been in a lab since those machines were invented that do the drilling for you, but when I heard about it all I could think was "why couldn't that have been around when I worked at the lab?"

All of this.

[smallworld]

An real Optician is equally at home at the dispensing table or the lab.

It's hard to find a "real" optician these days as the corporate suits prefer the sales clerk / lab rat business model.

I disagree. When I was a float the difference between a sales person and a lab rat were very obvious. When I was lab rat I would wear grungy clothes because I didn't want to wreck my nice clothes. My nice professional nails got busted scraping off poly and other fun manufacturing processes. My hair would be up in a pony so it was out of my way. I didn't have to talk to anyone for most of the day. For me lab takes deeper concentration because each machine has it's own personality, as does each material and Rx. It is hard to be interrupted when you are concentrating on details, and opens up room for errors. Optician/sales is opposite. I wear dress clothes, file my fingernails, and try to look put together. I have to get interrupted, I have to think on my feet. I have to be friendly, funny, energetic, outgoing and be able to make my communication with patients understandable. For me it's two different parts of my brain with some overlap. I can't say many people are good at both, whether they are old school or new kids.

And yes, there were times in my career where I ran all the jobs in the lab while making sales. It's possible to do both, but how many people would excel at both ? That's the optical unicorn.

[MakeOptics]

And yes, there were times in my career where I ran all the jobs in the lab while making sales. It's possible to do both, but how many people would excel at both ? That's the optical unicorn.

I can excel at both, yet not on the same shift. I found that at best I had my mind in two different places and never fully with the patient or a job.

[Ryan.P.]

A lot of the problem these days, is a good Lab tech can make for a lazy staff of opticians. I for years always did what was asked if me. When I realized one day I couldn't take vacation time because who would help all these people. I quit doing everything and if someone wants a drill mount put together. I'll do it as long as they stay and watch me. I have my girls in training everyday. If you are worried about scratched on drill mounts. What I do is I trained my girls to use scotch tape on the job anywhere it could get scratched or even the slip disk films. DONT ENABLE LAZY OPTICANS!!

[mervinek]

DONT ENABLE LAZY OPTICANS!!

+1 I am pretty much on my own here, so I have no choice but to mount when I have to. It would be nice to have someone in a lab mount them when I have a line of patients out the door and am the solo optician, other than that it's not a big deal to do it myself. Everyone should know how to do it and be good at doing it.

[mdeimler]

A lot of the problem these days, is a good Lab tech can make for a lazy staff of opticians.

And we have a winner.

[CCGREEN]

A Optician is not a optician if they cannot, will not do their job. Handling drill mounts is a Optician/sales clerk job. Not just speaking of a new job from the lab, if a pt comes in with drill mount they got from you and its pulled out of the grommet, what are you going to do? "Oh i'm sorry, we have to send that back to the lab." Now you look really incompetent to the pt. Not a good business building thing to do.
You should confidently take that and repair it right in front of the pt if need be and give them the WOW affect. They will think you are awesome.
Now how do you learn that you ask without incurring a lot of expense? Reach up there and take that new Silhouette off the board with its demo lenses in it and take it apart. Now put it back together. Do that several times with their different rimless jobs you have in the office. You will also learn how to adjust them. And by god if you wear them and sell them then you damn sure need to know how to adjust them. And none of this pansy crap of....."oh i'm afraid i might break them" STHU and take care of the pt. If you cant do your job then go flip burgers.

Ok off my stump now. Sorry. I just really passionate about if your going to be in the business you need to be able to do all aspects of the job of a Optician. Ya some things you will be better at then others, that's to be expected. But not not even attempt to, I lose all respect for you.

Happy Friday Eve fellow Opticians.

[mervinek]

A Optician is not a optician if they cannot, will not do their job. Handling drill mounts is a Optician/sales clerk job. Not just speaking of a new job from the lab, if a pt comes in with drill mount they got from you and its pulled out of the grommet, what are you going to do? "Oh i'm sorry, we have to send that back to the lab." Now you look really incompetent to the pt. Not a good business building thing to do.
You should confidently take that and repair it right in front of the pt if need be and give them the WOW affect. They will think you are awesome.
Now how do you learn that you ask without incurring a lot of expense? Reach up there and take that new Silhouette off the board with its demo lenses in it and take it apart. Now put it back together. Do that several times with their different rimless jobs you have in the office. You will also learn how to adjust them. And by god if you wear them and sell them then you damn sure need to know how to adjust them. And none of this pansy crap of....."oh i'm afraid i might break them" STHU and take care of the pt. If you cant do your job then go flip burgers.

Ok off my stump now. Sorry. I just really passionate about if your going to be in the business you need to be able to do all aspects of the job of a Optician. Ya some things you will be better at then others, that's to be expected. But not not even attempt to, I lose all respect for you.

Happy Friday Eve fellow Opticians.

Yes! Yes! Yes! I totally agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Craig]

A Optician is not a optician if they cannot, will not do their job. Handling drill mounts is a Optician/sales clerk job. Not just speaking of a new job from the lab, if a pt comes in with drill mount they got from you and its pulled out of the grommet, what are you going to do? "Oh i'm sorry, we have to send that back to the lab." Now you look really incompetent to the pt. Not a good business building thing to do.
You should confidently take that and repair it right in front of the pt if need be and give them the WOW affect. They will think you are awesome.
Now how do you learn that you ask without incurring a lot of expense? Reach up there and take that new Silhouette off the board with its demo lenses in it and take it apart. Now put it back together. Do that several times with their different rimless jobs you have in the office. You will also learn how to adjust them. And by god if you wear them and sell them then you damn sure need to know how to adjust them. And none of this pansy crap of....."oh i'm afraid i might break them" STHU and take care of the pt. If you cant do your job then go flip burgers.

Ok off my stump now. Sorry. I just really passionate about if your going to be in the business you need to be able to do all aspects of the job of a Optician. Ya some things you will be better at then others, that's to be expected. But not not even attempt to, I lose all respect for you.

Happy Friday Eve fellow Opticians.

Lady was just sent to us by Lenscrafters because her Silhouette needed adjustment; she donated $20 to our charity box and will come see us next month after her exam for a Fred. The Fred is $1,200+ lenses and a pair of lenses in her own frame that no one else will touch. If she wants for an extra $35 we will cut her silhouette while she waits!
We love the race to the bottom with regards to the technical skills of so-called opticians.

[Plausible]

Lady was just sent to us by Lenscrafters because her Silhouette needed adjustment; she donated $20 to our charity box and will come see us next month after her exam for a Fred. The Fred is $1,200+ lenses and a pair of lenses in her own frame that no one else will touch. If she wants for an extra $35 we will cut her silhouette while she waits!
We love the race to the bottom with regards to the technical skills of so-called opticians.

I must admit an extra $35 bucks for an edge while you wait surprises me. I figured that an exclusive boutique that sells glasses for thousands of dollars per pair an edge while you wait (when possible) would be included. That said my old Doc would have been all over that charge of 35 bucks edge while you wait had he thought of it.

[Craig]

I must admit an extra $35 bucks for an edge while you wait surprises me. I figured that an exclusive boutique that sells glasses for thousands of dollars per pair an edge while you wait (when possible) would be included. That said my old Doc would have been all over that charge of 35 bucks edge while you wait had he thought of it.

The only folks who need a job to be edged while they wait only have one pair! That is not my issue to schedule extra staff to ensure we can do the job anytime; we set an appointment and not one client has ever complained or mentioned it.
You cannot justify not charging extra to do an own frame while they wait; that is a super premium service and deserves a lousy $35. They are free to buy a new complete pair and leave the second one when they pick up the new pair with no fee.

Service is not what you pay but what you get! It is only $50 for 2 or more pairs, so we give them a big discount.

[Dr. Bill Stacy]

Yes, that 35 even surprises me, as the edging price would normally be included in the fee for the lenses regardless if they were edged that day or a week from sunday. But I'm ok with it. I sure don't understand why "no one else will touch" her own frame. I sure would and do it all the time with Silhouettes, but I don't think I'm the only one in my area that would, except maybe lenscrafters.

[obxeyeguy]

Lady was just sent to us by Lenscrafters because her Silhouette needed adjustment; she donated $20 to our charity box and will come see us next month after her exam for a Fred. The Fred is $1,200+ lenses and a pair of lenses in her own frame that no one else will touch. If she wants for an extra $35 we will cut her silhouette while she waits!
We love the race to the bottom with regards to the technical skills of so-called opticians.

+ 1

I charge $45 for a drilled rimless while they wait.

[Dr. Bill Stacy]

So if they elect not to wait, how long after the lenses arrive before they will get edged for the regular price?

[Barry Santini]

Now I think I am as skilled as anyone when it comes to doing rimless (well...maybe not everyone. Certainly not Charles Blankmanship!)

But if an optician/employee could do pretty much everything else BUT rimless, I'd be more than OK with that.

B