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Thread: why eye wire screws are screwed from bottom to top ???

  1. #1
    OptiBoardaholic a1vo's Avatar
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    Question why eye wire screws are screwed from bottom to top ???

    why eye wire screws are designed that they are screwed from bottom to top ??? I don't remember how many times I has been asked this question. But I never have an answer.



    Is there a conspiracy behind the design?

    with this design, when the screw(s) is/are loose, they follow the gravity and disappear and give us some business.
    Paul @ Silicon Valley California

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    Compulsive Truthteller OptiBoard Gold Supporter Uncle Fester's Avatar
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    It seems to me it's easier to brace the frame top with the lens partially seated than to force up the eyewire to meet the underside barrel. Especially with very short screws.

    Or were they first designed in Australia?

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    Fester's thought is good. I think it's so the screw will be lost entirely when it loosens.]


    Chip

    I really love the cheapie eapies where one side of eyewire and temple screw is up and the other down.
    Last edited by chip anderson; 10-14-2011 at 09:52 PM.

  4. #4
    OptiWizard
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    I thought it was so that the screw head is less visible, especially replacement screws

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    I have run across a few that have been "engineered" the opposite way...............the difficulty lies in the torque pressure created when tightening the screw. The tendency is that as the threads bind slightly, the eyerim flexes. Good point about the screw falling out....but is that any different from it popping upwards when the screw "lets go" of the final thread?

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter DragonLensmanWV's Avatar
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    Um, because screwing them in from the top is wrong?
    I have two frames in stock that are top screwed. To engage the screw I have to use the ol' Optician's Anvil.
    DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
    "There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."

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    Master OptiBoarder CCGREEN's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=DragonLensmanWV;401019]Um, because screwing them in from the top is wrong?]

    Ummm he Dragon............who decides which is right or wrong? No real point here, just wondering?

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter DragonLensmanWV's Avatar
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    I'm just going by averages. How many frames do you have that are different?
    DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
    "There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter rdcoach5's Avatar
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    I think it just became the standard when we had all the combination frames like Ronsir and all the rest.

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    Master OptiBoarder Striderswife's Avatar
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    Everybody has valid points to their argument (although some may be tounge-in-cheek, perhaps). It all comes down to "why were they made like that in the first place?" Why did screws from the bottom catch on more readily than screws from the top??
    It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter
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    Quote Originally Posted by Striderswife View Post
    Everybody has valid points to their argument (although some may be tounge-in-cheek, perhaps). It all comes down to "why were they made like that in the first place?" Why did screws from the bottom catch on more readily than screws from the top??
    As rdcoach said....Old Ronsirs and Clubmans etc had a top rim so had to put the screw in from the bottom.

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    Master OptiBoarder AngeHamm's Avatar
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    I'm certain Fester is right. Frames that screw top-down are very difficult to brace while tightening.
    I'm Andrew Hamm and I approve this message.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Don Gilman View Post
    As rdcoach said....Old Ronsirs and Clubmans etc had a top rim so had to put the screw in from the bottom.
    My favorites were the combos with horizontal eyewire screws under the tops. You had to disassemble the frame (without losing the top screws) to reach the eyewire screws. They never loosened; they were penned in by the cavity in the tops.

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    lens-o-matic bhess25's Avatar
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    when i think about this i picture myself trying to brace the frame, insert a screw, begin to tighten it all while keeping the two halves lined up...also the only screw that would work would have to have threads that stop halfway up (like a shoulder bolt for those of you that are handy) so the screw doesnt tighten in the top before it tightens the eyewire....i was trying to convince myself that this was all wrong but somehow that whole process still seems easier.
    equal opportunity offender!!

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    I just had a revelation. It's so the optician can learn to screw up!

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    Master OptiBoarder Striderswife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chip anderson View Post
    I just had a revelation. It's so the optician can learn to screw up!
    That's a knee-slapper! Or, the kind of joke my dad would make.
    It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bhess25 View Post
    when i think about this i picture myself trying to brace the frame, insert a screw, begin to tighten it all while keeping the two halves lined up...also the only screw that would work would have to have threads that stop halfway up (like a shoulder bolt for those of you that are handy) so the screw doesnt tighten in the top before it tightens the eyewire....i was trying to convince myself that this was all wrong but somehow that whole process still seems easier.
    The part about the screw isn't quite right. You could still use regular screws because there would only be threads on the bottom half of the eyewire, the top part would just be a hole which the screw slides into, threads and all (exactly how the bottom of 'normal' frames work now).

    This is a question I wondered for years about. Why would they put the screws on the bottom? Won't gravity pull them down naturally causing them to fall out? I couldn't puzzle it out... until I got a frame that was top mounted. Holy hard to work with, Batman. I can't really put into words why it doesnt work as well (I tried twice :D), but effectively the bottom mounted system is much less combersome to work with, and as stated before you can actually do it free standing most of the time. Top mounted systems require you securing the frame more to mount properly, and for me that ususally involves breaking out the puck.

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    Omg....

    Quote Originally Posted by chip anderson View Post
    I just had a revelation. It's so the optician can learn to screw up!
    Yer killin' me.......! They mostly go in from the bottom......mostly....
    Chris Beard
    The State of Jefferson !

    I'm a Medford man – Medford, Oregon. Up in Medford, we take our time making up our minds."

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    Screwing up

    Sell a Nike 4191. Two screw each side. One up. One down. Makes everybody happy.

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    opti-tipster harry a saake's Avatar
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    screwing

    One of the main reasons for bottom mounting screws is, if you look at where the screw hole is, its almost always next to the eyewire. thus when you tighten down, the barrel tends to evenly close, no gap.

    If you look at most all top mountings, the hole is much further away from the eyewire, tending to make the barrel meet at the outside ends only, and quite often you will see a little gap, i used to take a pair of needle nose pliers and bend the top barrel ever so slightly up, and then start to tighten the screw, always looking for the closure to be uniform. If it did not close all the way, you simply took a little more off the lens.

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    So why do temples go over the top of the ear instead of around the bottom?

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    Master OptiBoarder Striderswife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fjpod View Post
    So why do temples go over the top of the ear instead of around the bottom?
    What would chairs look like if our knees were on backwards??
    It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

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    This sounds like an argument Gulliver had to moderate for the lilliputians.

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