My frame warmer saga

[drk]

I used to have, for many years, a big old square Hilco frame warmer that worked great. Then it broke but I fixed it. Then it really died for good. So I used my backup little hairdryer unit until it died, but it was pretty durable.

Then, I decided to order a look-alike for $89 on Amazon. It was worth a shot. It was more like a prop for a movie starring slap-stick opticianry. My breath is warmer and more forceful. I returned it.

So, I decided to try Vigor's mid-$200 hairdryer unit. Vigor has a solid reputation; no messing around this time. Well this thing smells like the Chinese petrochemical plastic factory that it came out of, it tips over, has stupid controls that take too long to turn on...(and of course I see that Vigor has merely sold another cheap Chinese product with their name tattooed on it. I could have had it for half-price.) Back this one is going, too.

So, am I going to be satisfied if I spend $650 on a Hilco "Frame Master"? Or should I just go to Walmart and get three or four hair dryers?

[rbaker]

Go here. Get this:

Search Results for portable heat gun at The Home Depot

[dwlk]

i love the hilco temp master at my office, pricey but cant go wrong

[optical24/7]

Get a friggin’ glass bead frame warmer. If you know how to use them properly, they are faster and more efficient than any blower.

[Uncle Fester]

Get a friggin’ glass bead frame warmer. If you know how to use them properly, they are faster and more efficient than any blower.

Seconded. I hate standing over a blower but never worked with a new model.

[CCGREEN]

Go here. Get this:

Search Results for portable heat gun at The Home Depot

Second this. If you do not want to get a real heat unit be it glass beads or a blower then go for a Heat Gun......mount it in a vice on your work bench and the lowest setting will heat anything you want.
Highest setting you will be able to heat up that nylon frame quickly and blister your finger tips even faster.....but you will get the job done.

[drk]

We have the glass-bead-all-over-the-place-and-stuck-in-the-eyewires-and-hinges already. How do you "spot heat" though? Build a sandcastle?

I will buy a heat gun if I have to. And I'll use it. I"m sure it's attractive and quiet and my optician will love it.

Looks like Hilco will get all my money, now.

[CME4SPECS]

seconded. I hate standing over a blower but never worked with a new model.

third that!

[CME4SPECS]

We have the glass-bead-all-over-the-place-and-stuck-in-the-eyewires-and-hinges already. How do you "spot heat" though? Build a sandcastle?

I will buy a heat gun if I have to. And I'll use it. I"m sure it's attractive and quiet and my optician will love it.

Looks like Hilco will get all my money, now.

Use salt and you don't have that problem. Yes you get to build a sandcastle.

[AngeHamm]

We have the glass-bead-all-over-the-place-and-stuck-in-the-eyewires-and-hinges already. How do you "spot heat" though? Build a sandcastle?

I hate the glass beads everywhere, but yes, you do build a little pile of beads to spot heat.

The thing I hate about a bead pan is when you forget to turn it on in the morning. I'm all for air warmers.

[Elvis Is Alive]

Use the large glass beads not the small ones. They dont get stuck in hinges like the small ones.

[finefocus]

We have the glass-bead-all-over-the-place-and-stuck-in-the-eyewires-and-hinges already. How do you "spot heat" though? Build a sandcastle?

I will buy a heat gun if I have to. And I'll use it. I"m sure it's attractive and quiet and my optician will love it.

Looks like Hilco will get all my money, now.

get a salt pan and a spoon - it worked great for the 50 years that I dispensed - you have to dissolve the salt out of the nooks and crannies, but you're going to wash the lenses anyway, right?

[Kwill212]

IMO, the only people who don't like salt pans are people who haven't been trained to use them properly. When out of town relatives ask me where to get glasses, I tell them to ask the optical if they have a salt pan or not. Pretty much a guarantee there will be at least one real optician there.

[finefocus]

on the subject of "spot heating" - when I do clinics for CaliforniaCareForce.org (sorry, I had to sneak in a promo) I have only a hot air blower but I rigged a very small funnel upside down over the heat outlet - not pretty, but I can heat a bridge without frying the lenses - I stlll prefer the salt however

[KrystleClear]

Unpopular opinion but I hated the glass bead warmer. I like the hot air warmer because their is no risk of pitting plastic (when the beads leave little indents on the plastic). And you had to have it on and running most of the day. Our glass bead warmer still works but we retired it to the cabinet. If you forget to turn it off, it could potentially be a fire hazard. And they can stink too. All that skin oil and nose cheese just slow cooking in there, day after day.

[optical24/7]

Just fwiw, over almost 50 years, I worked for a lot of labs and retail. All had bead pans….We never turned them off and I only saw one in my career “die” or stop working. Some had to be 25+ years old. As far as bead pits on plastic, one of the 1st rules of using beads is the frame never, ever sits in the pan without being moved around, and if you are working even 1/2 close to lenses you take them out 1st. Oh, I’ve seen frames and/or lenses screwed up in one several times, and every time it was user error.

[waynegilpin]

IMO, the only people who don't like salt pans are people who haven't been trained to use them properly. When out of town relatives ask me where to get glasses, I tell them to ask the optical if they have a salt pan or not. Pretty much a guarantee there will be at least one real optician there.

Never thought of it that way, but very true. Think that salt pan is hot enough to perform the cremation when I go? It already got started on a couple of fingers once or twice.

[waynegilpin]

We have the glass-bead-all-over-the-place-and-stuck-in-the-eyewires-and-hinges already.

Use salt with a shake of baby powder in it.

[CME4SPECS]

I've never turned my salt pan off. I've never used baby powder, I've ever had any issues. I do have a spoon that I keep next to the salt pan, to build the sandcastle and to flare nosepads on zylo frames. Yes I am one of the old guys here!

[Uncle Fester]

Use the large glass beads not the small ones. They dont get stuck in hinges like the small ones.

Best source for large glass beads???

[Lensman11]

It is called a salt pan because it was designed to use with salt. It works great and any residue is easily washed off.

[drk]

I find salt and powder and bacteria and human tissue remains cooking for weeks at 150 degrees F a bit smelly.

[Robert Martellaro]

I find salt and powder and bacteria and human tissue remains cooking for weeks at 150 degrees F a bit smelly.

I had to walk around my chair for that one.

Whatever method is used please tape the part of the lens that might get splashed with high heat, protecting the AR coat from injury.

[jefe]

I've done very well with used Hilco warmers from ebay.