MEI EZFit NBL coming soon....excited!

Any of my peers familiar with this edger? I have seen it in action and know that it will be a good fit for us. If any of you have experiences with it, please share with me. You can PM me, or just follow up on this post.

I know that the NBL feature will come with a learning curve, and the the consumables cost will be high, however, should be offset by the lack of pads/blocks, and antislip spray. I am planning on using this on our Super Hydro products and specialty edging (wrap/Chemistrie/drills/step bevels, etc)

TIA

I'm jealous.

Hello, any updates regarding the EZFit NBL, @lensmanmd?
How many jobs/day are you doing on it? Any replacements on the machine? Any problem with blocking or something else?
Cheers, Marin

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Originally Posted by mmarin

Hello, any updates regarding the EZFit NBL, @lensmanmd?
How many jobs/day are you doing on it? Any replacements on the machine? Any problem with blocking or something else?
Cheers, Marin

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We have a throughput of approximately 400 jobs per week on it. Caveat, we use the EZFit for all drills and step bevels. We also use it for SuperHydro ARs, and any lenses requiring specialty bevels. This does slow it down, but the results are worth it.
To date, we have only had to replace the bits, feelers and the water pump. Other than that, it has been pretty much worry free.

All other 'bread and butter' jobs are edged on five of our other edgers.

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Originally Posted by lensmanmd

We have a throughput of approximately 400 jobs per week on it. Caveat, we use the EZFit for all drills and step bevels. We also use it for SuperHydro ARs, and any lenses requiring specialty bevels. This does slow it down, but the results are worth it.
To date, we have only had to replace the bits, feelers and the water pump. Other than that, it has been pretty much worry free.

All other 'bread and butter' jobs are edged on five of our other edgers.

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So its 50 specialty jobs a day! Not bad!
You mentioned higher cost of consumables... What are they?

About $450/month for consumables. Most of that is for the bits. Some of that cost is offset by not using LSE Leaps, anti-slip spray/pads, and labor for blocking lenses. Plus, less spoilage due to accuracy...I would say with labor alone, its a wash, and perhaps a savings overall.
I figure that over the 5 year amortization for the purchase, we should come out ahead. Now, I need to figure out how to fit 2 more of these into my small lab, AND have the accountants approve the additional spend!
:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by lensmanmd

About $450/month for consumables. Most of that is for the bits. Some of that cost is offset by not using LSE Leaps, anti-slip spray/pads, and labor for blocking lenses. Plus, less spoilage due to accuracy...I would say with labor alone, its a wash, and perhaps a savings overall.
I figure that over the 5 year amortization for the purchase, we should come out ahead. Now, I need to figure out how to fit 2 more of these into my small lab, AND have the accountants approve the additional spend!
:rolleyes:

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Maybe one more larger one?
I think if you automate you can tell accountant that just the labor would pay for it in a year :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lensmanmd

About $450/month for consumables. Most of that is for the bits. Some of that cost is offset by not using LSE Leaps, anti-slip spray/pads, and labor for blocking lenses. Plus, less spoilage due to accuracy...I would say with labor alone, its a wash, and perhaps a savings overall.
I figure that over the 5 year amortization for the purchase, we should come out ahead. Now, I need to figure out how to fit 2 more of these into my small lab, AND have the accountants approve the additional spend!
:rolleyes:

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Sorry for bothering you so much, but I'm almost sure we will purchase it and I would like to get as much info as possible.
What bits are you talking about? Can you change the bits above yourself or do you need a rep to come to your lab?

Could you estimate how many basic jobs (full frame acetate) would the machine be able to do in a normal work day?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mmarin

Sorry for bothering you so much, but I'm almost sure we will purchase it and I would like to get as much info as possible.
What bits are you talking about? Can you change the bits above yourself or do you need a rep to come to your lab?

Could you estimate how many basic jobs (full frame acetate) would the machine be able to do in a normal work day?

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There are 4 main bits. Drill, Combi-tool, rough/milling, PCD shelf, plus grooving (@ end of combi tool). All bits are user replaceable, and there are counters to tell you when to change them. Once bits are changed, there is an auto-calibration feature that takes the guess work out of calibrating the unit.

Acetate/metal with no additional coatings can yield up to 16 pr/hr. Recuts are minimal, as long as you have a solid tracer that is regularly calibrated. Yes, you can recut jobs without the block!
I would not recommend this for bread and butter SV jobs, as the 7EX or other edgers would be more cost effective (and faster). This unit would be great for multifocals, as the NBL will yield better results. No parallax in multifocals, SH and centering are automatic, so PDs and SHs are very accurate. You can also set the angled bevel and curve for better fit in acetates.

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Originally Posted by lensmanmd

There are 4 main bits. Drill, Combi-tool, rough/milling, PCD shelf, plus grooving (@ end of combi tool). All bits are user replaceable, and there are counters to tell you when to change them. Once bits are changed, there is an auto-calibration feature that takes the guess work out of calibrating the unit.

Acetate/metal with no additional coatings can yield up to 16 pr/hr. Recuts are minimal, as long as you have a solid tracer that is regularly calibrated. Yes, you can recut jobs without the block!
I would not recommend this for bread and butter SV jobs, as the 7EX or other edgers would be more cost effective (and faster). This unit would be great for multifocals, as the NBL will yield better results. No parallax in multifocals, SH and centering are automatic, so PDs and SHs are very accurate. You can also set the angled bevel and curve for better fit in acetates.

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Thank you.
We are in Europe and we don't have National Optronics.

We only sell our own designs, so all frames are already traced. All full frame acetate. We do 75% 1.5/1.56 and 25% 1.6/1.67, all HMC.
Do you think 7EX would really be faster than EZFit NBL?

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Originally Posted by mmarin

Thank you.
We are in Europe and we don't have National Optronics.

We only sell our own designs, so all frames are already traced. All full frame acetate. We do 75% 1.5/1.56 and 25% 1.6/1.67, all HMC.
Do you think 7EX would really be faster than EZFit NBL?

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For non coated and Basic AR coated resins, absolutely. However, the EZFit will give you much better control over bevel placement and styles than the 7EX. We use the 7EX with the 5 deg taper for our basic lenses in acetates, and the EZFit for AR coated in higher RXs for better frame/lens match and specialty work. The 7EX yields 8pr/hr more than the EZFit. And since you are using HMC, not HMC+/HMCX, slippage would be minimal on the 7EX using Safe Spiral mode.

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Originally Posted by lensmanmd

For non coated and Basic AR coated resins, absolutely. However, the EZFit will give you much better control over bevel placement and styles than the 7EX. We use the 7EX with the 5 deg taper for our basic lenses in acetates, and the EZFit for AR coated in higher RXs for better frame/lens match and specialty work. The 7EX yields 8pr/hr more than the EZFit. And since you are using HMC, not HMC+/HMCX, slippage would be minimal on the 7EX using Safe Spiral mode.

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Thank you for the feedback. Are you counting with blocking included or strictly edging?

strictly edging, but blocking takes all of 30 seconds.....you can block 2 pairs while edging 1 pr.

Are you using an automatic blocker or a manual one?

3BX Auto

But in this setup (with 7EX) you also have to manually center and mark the lens on a lensmeter, no? Is one person doing all this three steps (marking, blocking, edging)?
What I love (in theory) with EZFit NBL is that all this three steps are only one and done by a single person. My thinking was that this would save a lot of time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mmarin

But in this setup (with 7EX) you also have to manually center and mark the lens on a lensmeter, no? Is one person doing all this three steps (marking, blocking, edging)?
What I love (in theory) with EZFit NBL is that all this three steps are only one and done by a single person. My thinking was that this would save a lot of time.

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The NBL will save time, but you will still need to first inspect. What I like, besides its capabilities, is that I can mount a pair of drills while a second is being edged. I can also mount and inspect while the edger does its thing, since it does edge R and L. A multi-tasker's dream.
ROI will depend on the number of orders that you produce daily, and how efficient one is at bench. This machine comes with a fairly pricey tag, more than the ME1200.