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Thread: Edger choices: Essilor versus Santinelli

  1. #1
    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    Edger choices: Essilor versus Santinelli

    The Santinelli LE-7070 at the shop where I work (very part-time) has finally developed incurable symptoms of edger dementia. The owner is looking at replacements and I'd like to solicit your opinions and input.

    The shop is a small independent retail dispensary with a part-time optometry office attached to it. We turn out about 15-20 jobs a week from the lab. We do only edging, drilling and finishing work (no surfacing). Average frame price on the board is about $200-$250.

    Here are the edgers the owner is considering:

    Essilor Neksia

    Santinelli: Here there are some choices-within-choices, especially since she can purchase the blocker separately from the edger.
    Edgers: Lex 1200 or Le 1200
    Blockers: Ice mini, Ice 950, Ice 1200

    We would really appreciate any advice you have. Thanks in advance; I look forward to seeing what you post!

    Andrew.
    Andrew

    "One must remember that at the end of the road, there is a path" --- Fortune Cookie

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    I have only ever used essilor machines, and haven't had any issues. They are pretty straight forward to use. I have used kappa, kappa ctd, triplet, mr orange, mr blue. It all depends what you want. If you don't sell any drill jobs, or very rarely then there is no use in getting something with drilling capabilities.

    For basic lens grooving, and custom beveling I would recommend the triplet series from essilor.

  3. #3
    Master OptiBoarder RIMLESS's Avatar
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    Edger Choices

    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Weiss View Post
    The Santinelli LE-7070 at the shop where I work (very part-time) has finally developed incurable symptoms of edger dementia. The owner is looking at replacements and I'd like to solicit your opinions and input.

    The shop is a small independent retail dispensary with a part-time optometry office attached to it. We turn out about 15-20 jobs a week from the lab. We do only edging, drilling and finishing work (no surfacing). Average frame price on the board is about $200-$250.

    Here are the edgers the owner is considering:

    Essilor Neksia

    Santinelli: Here there are some choices-within-choices, especially since she can purchase the blocker separately from the edger.
    Edgers: Lex 1200 or Le 1200
    Blockers: Ice mini, Ice 950, Ice 1200

    We would really appreciate any advice you have. Thanks in advance; I look forward to seeing what you post!

    Andrew.


    I had the same thing with my 7070 towards the end and I got a used 9000sx
    Nice upgrade and a very solid machine. Grooves and SB. Very similar to operate as ate 7070 and there are plenty of them on Ebay or VSI
    90% of everything is crap...except for crap, because crap is 100% crap

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    Don't dismiss National Optronics (An Essilor company). The 7Ex (edger)/4Tx (tracer) would suit you very well. Its a clean dry-cut system, no messy wet cut edger.
    Clinton Tower

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    Quote Originally Posted by RIMLESS View Post
    I had the same thing with my 7070 towards the end and I got a used 9000sx
    Nice upgrade and a very solid machine. Grooves and SB. Very similar to operate as ate 7070 and there are plenty of them on Ebay or VSI
    Your SB still works??? That's usually the first thing to go on the 9000 series.
    I've had mine for almost a decade and it's the only real issue I've had with it.

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    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    Jennifer (the owner) is in the market for a new edger only (no wiggle room).
    Andrew

    "One must remember that at the end of the road, there is a path" --- Fortune Cookie

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    Optical Clairvoyant OptiBoard Bronze Supporter Andrew Weiss's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scriptfiller View Post
    Don't dismiss National Optronics (An Essilor company). The 7Ex (edger)/4Tx (tracer) would suit you very well. Its a clean dry-cut system, no messy wet cut edger.
    The office where I used to work up north had an Optronics edger and every time we turned it on the vacuum system sounded like a jet taking off. Have they improved the sound level? For a small dispensary where the lab is off of the reception and fitting area, the sound level could be a problem. Otherwise, I agree it's a nice, clean edging system and a true workhorse.
    Andrew

    "One must remember that at the end of the road, there is a path" --- Fortune Cookie

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter lensmanmd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Weiss View Post
    The office where I used to work up north had an Optronics edger and every time we turned it on the vacuum system sounded like a jet taking off. Have they improved the sound level? For a small dispensary where the lab is off of the reception and fitting area, the sound level could be a problem. Otherwise, I agree it's a nice, clean edging system and a true workhorse.
    They do have a new vacuum that is quieter than the old red canister they use to bundle. There are also several DYI projects that are easily made to muffle the noise.

    The 7Ex is a versatile workhorse. We have 3 of them and we are hoping to add the MEI EZFit to our line soon. I am so done with wet edging systems.
    Last edited by lensmanmd; 03-15-2017 at 08:35 PM.

  9. #9
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    The entry level Santinelli is an amazing bargain or get the LEX1200 with an Ice 900 blocker. The ICe 1200 is much more money and not that much more useful unless you want a receptionist to block the work.
    I have had the ME1000 and now the ME1200 for 15 years and love the systems. We use the Ice 900 blocker as well.

  10. #10
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    The acoustic level of the vacuum is not offensive. I've never had anyone complain about it. The sound of a lense being cut is much more noticeable than the sound of the vacuum.

    If maintained, the 7Ex has a nice polishing feature. Also available are different blade geometries.

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    Our in-house edger swears by Essilor's machines whenever he's not swearing by Nidek. Given his 30+ years of experience, I suppose that's a +1 for Essilor. He did tell me that the Neksia was fudging fitting heights at the beginning and needed recalibration out of the box, though.

    Don't think he's tried a Santinelli.

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    Quote Originally Posted by AndyOptom View Post
    Our in-house edger swears by Essilor's machines whenever he's not swearing by Nidek. Given his 30+ years of experience, I suppose that's a +1 for Essilor. He did tell me that the Neksia was fudging fitting heights at the beginning and needed recalibration out of the box, though.

    Don't think he's tried a Santinelli.
    FYI: Santinelli is the USA distributor for Nidek edgers

  13. #13
    Manuf. Lens Surface Treatments
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    Redhot Jumper Just for the record.................................

    Just for the record .....................

    In my R&D office I still have and use a Essilor MBA edger which I purchased new in 1972 when I still had my production lab to do the nice jobs. The mechanical job counter is just short of 100,000 lenses, and it is still working fine, with a few bugs once in a while. It still has electronics working on radio lamps.

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    I would consider the warranty being offered and how close your repair technician is going to be too. Older edgers like the 7070 were very reliable, but newer edgers with more features will need more maintenance and have more parts that can fail. The Coburn Huvitz edgers would be worth looking into too.

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