Tints

[DrNeyecare]

I'm thinking about doing some in-house tinting.
We actually have a 6-pot tinter that we haven't used. It came with the office when I bought it.

Is there any real difference in the tints that different vendors carry?
I know BPI is very popular... but I noticed Vigor is alot less expensive.

And in terms of color...

I noticed that these vendors offer a "black" tint and a "grey" tint....

Which would you advise? When we order tinted lenses from the lab, we always order "grey." Would the "black" tint be preferred?

Also, is there a preferred UV coat?

Thanks beforehand for your responses guys. I'm still a newbie in terms of the optical world.

[obxeyeguy]

I use packet tints from Phantom research in California. Don't have the info at home, but can post it tomorrow. I use black, instead of grey. I tint very little, as I sell about 95% polorized. I do some cosmetic tinting, but not much. I do the solids and the easy ones, custom tints, match demos go out. One man office, takes too much time.

[Chris Ryser]

I'm thinking about doing some in-house tinting.
We actually have a 6-pot tinter that we haven't used. It came with the office when I bought it.

Is there any real difference in the tints that different vendors carry?
I know BPI is vey popular... but I noticed Vigor is alot less expensive.

In house tinting is very profitable and if you have the equipment you should used it.

However you will Harv e to make sure that your tinting unit is well ventilated with a hood above it that draw as all the toxic fumes to the outside and into fresh air. If your office is located in a central air conditioned building make sure the fumes are directed outside and not recirculated in the building.

Read on

Hundreds of thousands of Optical Stores and Optical Labs endanger employees health by emitting toxic fumes inside their locations world wide.
http://optochemicals.com/mainpress_release.htm

Then you can also read up on non toxic water based Micro-Tints at http://optochemicals.com

[cocoisland58]

We use BPI and I really don't know if it's better, it's just what I have always seen in any lab I've been in. Black not gray. Yellow, green, blue, pink, UV-400 and neutralizer. That is all you ever need. I fire up the dye pots less than once a month. Hardly anyone wants a tint anymore. Polorized lenses don't fade and offer better protection. People are aware of that. If you are not used to tinting I would recommend getting some plano uncoated cr39 lenses to practice on. Also, the chart that tells you what to do to correct colors. I do gradients by hand. Takes time but gives you a much better result. If your have an odd patient that wants a tint under AR, tint the lenses first(slightly darker)and then send them to the lab to be coated. It helps if you let the patient see them before you send them, to ok the tint. Trust me on this one.

[For-Life]

We use BPI and I really don't know if it's better, it's just what I have always seen in any lab I've been in. Black not gray. Yellow, green, blue, pink, UV-400 and neutralizer. That is all you ever need. I fire up the dye pots less than once a month. Hardly anyone wants a tint anymore. Polorized lenses don't fade and offer better protection. People are aware of that. If you are not used to tinting I would recommend getting some plano uncoated cr39 lenses to practice on. Also, the chart that tells you what to do to correct colors. I do gradients by hand. Takes time but gives you a much better result. If your have an odd patient that wants a tint under AR, tint the lenses first(slightly darker)and then send them to the lab to be coated. It helps if you let the patient see them before you send them, to ok the tint. Trust me on this one.

No brown?

Brown is the best colour out there

[cocoisland58]

No brown?

Brown is the best colour out there

Oh yes, and brown:hammer:

[LENNY]

NO CPF?!:cheers:

[Chris Ryser]

Brown is the best colour out there

I am with you, braun gives an enhanced vision, absorbs some bluie light and has better contrast.

Zeiss had the first successful brown lens the Zeiss Umbral in glass, which was big success.

One of the large corporation is consideringto go big time into Blue-Blocking lenses.

Polaroid are good, but exoensive and will be used less and less over the next while during the money squeeze.

[chip anderson]

By the time you add UV, SRC and Tint most SV lenses are near the cost of polarized.

Chip

[For-Life]

By the time you add UV, SRC and Tint most SV lenses are near the cost of polarized.

Chip

Where are you getting your lenses from?

My UV, SRC, and tint treatments are not nearly as close as a polarized lens.

[Chris Ryser]

By the time you add UV, SRC and Tint most SV lenses are near the cost of polarized.
Chip

That is when you use a lab to do the tinting.........................

Tinting has for ever beeen the biggest moneymaker for the least manual effort. So if you would do it in house you would be way ahead or could give good discount without loosing anything.

[Wes]

Old thread, but I have a question. Why do you suggest black tints vs grey? My lab does bulk tints for the military, and we've been havin color issues lately, and I just discovered that we've been using black tint. (I do not do the tinting but I have been getting questions)
We used to use grey, with no color issues (tint being reddish, bluish, greenish, etc...)
Thoughts? Ryser?

[For-Life]

I just always preferred the colour of black. I find a black tint is more grey. Comes out more like a normal pair of grey sunglasses. I found grey to be more reddish.

[DragonLensmanWV]

No brown?

Brown is the best colour out there

Most of my customers like Sahara better than Brown - a bit more of a golden brown than a reddish brown.

[DragonLensmanWV]

Old thread, but I have a question. Why do you suggest black tints vs grey? My lab does bulk tints for the military, and we've been havin color issues lately, and I just discovered that we've been using black tint. (I do not do the tinting but I have been getting questions)
We used to use grey, with no color issues (tint being reddish, bluish, greenish, etc...)
Thoughts? Ryser?

It's been my experience that the Grey dyes work best for less than 40% tint, over 40 %, the Black works best. That said, I do little tints these days, so I just use Jet Black by BPI.

[Wes]

Ok more time to post.
I used to do all the tinting (grey, 15 percent transmission) in my small finish lab in hawaii. It was nearly a third of our production, about 500 pr a month. I tried black, but found it to have far more color variance. This was in the nineties.
We have contractors doing our tinting here in SC for the last 7 years, and I really don't have much to do with it, aside from final inspection. We've been having a lot of color issues over the last year or so, and I attributed it to inexperience. Turns out, they've been using black dye for about that same time. Not sure who made the call to buy black as opposed to grey, but I suspect that's where the problem is coming from, from my past experience.
We use bpi turbotinters and change the dye out weekly. They're hot mon-fri, 9 hrs a day.
I suppose it could be inexperience still, but that wasn't the case for me a decade ago since the problem only developed with the black dye.
Hmmmmmmmm...

[HarryChiling]

Pot Configuration
Full Pot = BPI# 46300 - Black (grey)
Full Pot = BPI# 34300 - Swiss Chocolate (brown)
Full Pot = BPI# 20300 - AO Calo-Lite (green)
Full Pot = BPI# 31400 - Pink (pink)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 31500 - Yellow (yellow)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 46400 - BPI Fashion Lite Blue (blue)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 70101 - BPI H2O Neutralizer II (neutralizer)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 37112 - BPI Diamond Dye 400nm Ultra-Hard (SRC and UV)
BPI# 71502 - BPI Color Developer (a few drops in each tint pot)

Those were my go to colors, then of course a Neutralizer and a SRC/UV combo. The color developer kept my tints fresher longer. The directions say one to two drops per tank each day but I did it twice a week with great results. The 1/2 pots are a great way to get more color selections from your tint tank and they allow you to change out your tint more often with less waste, I kept my least used colors in those pots and neutralizer as well as UV since I like to keep those fresh.

Color Correction Chart
If Grey lens is:
Blue - dip in brown or pink
Green - dip in blue, then pink
Red - dip in yellow
Purple - dip in yellow
Brown - dip in blue

If Brown lens is:
Blue - dip in pink
Purple - dip in yellow
Red - dip in blue
Grey - dip in pink, then yellow

If Green lens is:
Yellow - dip in brown
Blue - dip in yellow
Grey - dip in blue, then yellow
Brown - dip in blue

If Pinks, Blues, or Yellows are:
* - change tint

Avoid too much color corrections as you will contaminate your other colors. When a tint is old and depleted, replace it.

Water
I used filtered water with a brita tap on the faucet, the recommendation is deionized water, but I found the brita did the trick well enough.

Settings
I set my temp of the tint machine to 150 and would crank it up to 200 when I needed to tint a job this prolonged the life of the tint and prevented boil overs, although it also meant no quick tint jobs. Make sure to check your thermostat reading by taking a temp with a thermometer for accuracy, many tint machines are notorious for the guages being way off.

Tinting Times
I tint with a kitchen timer;
#1 tint = 1 to 2 minutes
#2 tint = 3 to 5 minutes
#3 tint = 8 to 10 minutes

The times vary based on temperature, age of tint, lens manufacture, and material. I usually start with a 1 minute tint and see how much the tint absorbs before settign the timer for the full duration. Lighter tints like blues, pinks, and yellows don't get real dark so I will usually set them in the tank for an even extended period of time (like while I got out to lunch) if someone wants a dark tint in those colors (rarely happens). You may want to consider a photometer to measure the transmission as an alternative to just eyeballing it.

I also kept one of OMS Chemicals turbo tints the grey around for those real quick tint jobs that needed to be done a few minutes in the microwave and whalla. Remember that Poly and other mard coated materials will not tint as well so make sure to check with the manufacturer to get tintable coatings when they are needed.

Random Tips

• Keep pots covered (prevents evaporation, dust, splash overs, and keeps tint fresher longer)
• Clean lenses thoroughly (avoid any contaminations in your pots that means clean all markings before tinting)
• Clean lens holders thoroughly (again this avoids contamination)
• Clean tint pots when changing tints
• Use one tint pot for one specific color, avoid using it for another color.
• Rinse lenses thoroughly between pots
• Don't mix hot and cold tints

Therapeutic tints
I had requests every now and again for therapeutic tints and the cost of these tints are not as easy to price as the regular fashion tints, they range too widely to have a set price. My recommendation is to either:

1. Call the tint manufacturer and get a quote for the bottle and price the job as it were to use the whole bottle.
2. Call your lab and see if they could do this job for you (if they charge you for the whole bottle have them send you any unused portion). Then bill the patient accordingly.

[One science]

I'm thinking about doing some in-house tinting.
We actually have a 6-pot tinter that we haven't used. It came with the office when I bought it.

Is there any real difference in the tints that different vendors carry?
I know BPI is very popular... but I noticed Vigor is alot less expensive.

And in terms of color...

I noticed that these vendors offer a "black" tint and a "grey" tint....

Which would you advise? When we order tinted lenses from the lab, we always order "grey." Would the "black" tint be preferred?

Also, is there a preferred UV coat?

Thanks beforehand for your responses guys. I'm still a newbie in terms of the optical world.

From my point of view Vigor is better.

[One science]

Pot Configuration
Full Pot = BPI# 46300 - Black (grey)
Full Pot = BPI# 34300 - Swiss Chocolate (brown)
Full Pot = BPI# 20300 - AO Calo-Lite (green)
Full Pot = BPI# 31400 - Pink (pink)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 31500 - Yellow (yellow)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 46400 - BPI Fashion Lite Blue (blue)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 70101 - BPI H2O Neutralizer II (neutralizer)
1/2 Pot = BPI# 37112 - BPI Diamond Dye 400nm Ultra-Hard (SRC and UV)
BPI# 71502 - BPI Color Developer (a few drops in each tint pot)

Those were my go to colors, then of course a Neutralizer and a SRC/UV combo. The color developer kept my tints fresher longer. The directions say one to two drops per tank each day but I did it twice a week with great results. The 1/2 pots are a great way to get more color selections from your tint tank and they allow you to change out your tint more often with less waste, I kept my least used colors in those pots and neutralizer as well as UV since I like to keep those fresh.

Color Correction Chart
If Grey lens is:
Blue - dip in brown or pink
Green - dip in blue, then pink
Red - dip in yellow
Purple - dip in yellow
Brown - dip in blue

If Brown lens is:
Blue - dip in pink
Purple - dip in yellow
Red - dip in blue
Grey - dip in pink, then yellow

If Green lens is:
Yellow - dip in brown
Blue - dip in yellow
Grey - dip in blue, then yellow
Brown - dip in blue

If Pinks, Blues, or Yellows are:
* - change tint

Avoid too much color corrections as you will contaminate your other colors. When a tint is old and depleted, replace it.

Water
I used filtered water with a brita tap on the faucet, the recommendation is deionized water, but I found the brita did the trick well enough.

Settings
I set my temp of the tint machine to 150 and would crank it up to 200 when I needed to tint a job this prolonged the life of the tint and prevented boil overs, although it also meant no quick tint jobs. Make sure to check your thermostat reading by taking a temp with a thermometer for accuracy, many tint machines are notorious for the guages being way off.

Tinting Times
I tint with a kitchen timer;
#1 tint = 1 to 2 minutes
#2 tint = 3 to 5 minutes
#3 tint = 8 to 10 minutes

The times vary based on temperature, age of tint, lens manufacture, and material. I usually start with a 1 minute tint and see how much the tint absorbs before settign the timer for the full duration. Lighter tints like blues, pinks, and yellows don't get real dark so I will usually set them in the tank for an even extended period of time (like while I got out to lunch) if someone wants a dark tint in those colors (rarely happens). You may want to consider a photometer to measure the transmission as an alternative to just eyeballing it.

I also kept one of OMS Chemicals turbo tints the grey around for those real quick tint jobs that needed to be done a few minutes in the microwave and whalla. Remember that Poly and other mard coated materials will not tint as well so make sure to check with the manufacturer to get tintable coatings when they are needed.

Random Tips

• Keep pots covered (prevents evaporation, dust, splash overs, and keeps tint fresher longer)
• Clean lenses thoroughly (avoid any contaminations in your pots that means clean all markings before tinting)
• Clean lens holders thoroughly (again this avoids contamination)
• Clean tint pots when changing tints
• Use one tint pot for one specific color, avoid using it for another color.
• Rinse lenses thoroughly between pots
• Don't mix hot and cold tints

Therapeutic tints
I had requests every now and again for therapeutic tints and the cost of these tints are not as easy to price as the regular fashion tints, they range too widely to have a set price. My recommendation is to either:

1. Call the tint manufacturer and get a quote for the bottle and price the job as it were to use the whole bottle.
2. Call your lab and see if they could do this job for you (if they charge you for the whole bottle have them send you any unused portion). Then bill the patient accordingly.

Wow, really complex information. Thanks for making this effort for us.

[One science]

We use BPI and I really don't know if it's better, it's just what I have always seen in any lab I've been in. Black not gray. Yellow, green, blue, pink, UV-400 and neutralizer. That is all you ever need. I fire up the dye pots less than once a month. Hardly anyone wants a tint anymore. Polorized lenses don't fade and offer better protection. People are aware of that. If you are not used to tinting I would recommend getting some plano uncoated cr39 lenses to practice on. Also, the chart that tells you what to do to correct colors. I do gradients by hand. Takes time but gives you a much better result. If your have an odd patient that wants a tint under AR, tint the lenses first(slightly darker)and then send them to the lab to be coated. It helps if you let the patient see them before you send them, to ok the tint. Trust me on this one.

Black is for a better protection for the eyes. It's better for the sensitive eyes, so, i can see the difference.