Patternless edging systems

[Bev Heishman]

We are in the market for a new patternless edger.

Tell me your thoughts on what you use why, how long in use and would you buy the brand again and capability to tie into surfacing equipment and remote tracing compatibility?

Thanks in advance. I'll reserve my comments until later. confused:

[bwheeler]

Bev, I am a great fan of the Gerber Kappa edger. You may have seen references to thin lenses breaking on Briot edgers. Well the Gerber product allows you to run a simple program that gives thin lenses gentle care. No ar delaminations due to excess chuck pressures either. The edger will polish all plastic family materials and will also process glass if you want. With all patternless edgers, make sure you use a fresh water feed to cool the lenses. Recycling the coolant water back through the edger spells trouble. The Kappa will also store 100 edging traces so you that you can lay out your work and edge at the same time. I have the
Gamma model, it is a model earlier than the Kappa and I love its
dependablility. One cut lenses 99% of the time. Talk to a Gerber rep for a demo. It is one sweet machine.

[Texas Ranger]

HI Bev, Can't pass up giving a plug to National Optronics, had their Horizon III unit for 4 years, upgraded to their 6E and tracer last October, great system since we don't do much glass. no mess, no fuss, waterless. check it out. Al.

[Homer]

Bev, I have had my Gamma system (older sister of the Kappa) for about 4 year. Love it. Many good systems on the market. At this point I would probably buy the Kappa as a replacement. Have the companies bring one by for a demonstration. The next most important feature is customer service. Make sure there are people you can talk to when you need advice.

Later ............. Homer

[bryan]

Hello,

I bought the Gerber Kappa at Vision Expo East. The machine works great. Cuts CR39, Poly, Polishes, Grooves. My only complaint is it does not safety bevel frames with a small B= measurement. They say they are working to fix that.
Any questions you can e-mail me at pbdist@cris.com

Bryan

[PAkev]

Bev,

I can't intelligently comment on the machines endorsed by the other posters. However, I have had my AIT Maxima for a little over a year now with great satisfaction. About the only thing it doesn't do (and I expect some mfg. will soon offer it) is drill our lenses for 3pc mounts. Patternless edging affords us more time to spend on the service part of our business to result in a win-win situation.

If you find yourself in up in Northeast PA or wish to make a little road trip, I will be happy to show you our set up.

Kevin