Laser cutting lens patterns

[yed]

Hi folks

I make frames, but I'm not a trained optician. I'm very happy with the lab I've been using, but it would be very helpful for me to be able to edge my own lenses, just for Plano stuff - demo lenses and tints.

I CNC mill the frames so I have very accurate digital files of the lens aperture shapes. My questions are:

Could I laser cut lens patterns in acrylic directly using these digital files? Or how might I need to modify them?

What's the most bare bones edging system that I could get away with?

It'll only be seeing very light use and I'm fairly broke after buying CNCs and a laser cutter. Obviously a tracer and edger system is well out of my reach. I'm afraid I'm also fairly ignorant of possibilities for pattern based edging, and what I might need so all advice is welcome.

Cheers!

Andrew

[LENNY]

Are you referring to your horn frames? If you are it might be a problem to do remote edging.
If its zyl or metal of a good quality you can try. You need a tracer and an edger. For plano lenses it realy could be anything....
Look on EBAY localy
The shipping will kill the deal

[LENNY]

If you just get the tracer and transmit the shape to the lab it will be more expensive to edge them there...

[Don Gilman]

Hi folks

I make frames, but I'm not a trained optician. I'm very happy with the lab I've been using, but it would be very helpful for me to be able to edge my own lenses, just for Plano stuff - demo lenses and tints.

I CNC mill the frames so I have very accurate digital files of the lens aperture shapes. My questions are:

Could I laser cut lens patterns in acrylic directly using these digital files? Or how might I need to modify them?

What's the most bare bones edging system that I could get away with?

It'll only be seeing very light use and I'm fairly broke after buying CNCs and a laser cutter. Obviously a tracer and edger system is well out of my reach. I'm afraid I'm also fairly ignorant of possibilities for pattern based edging, and what I might need so all advice is welcome.

Cheers!

Andrew

I would look to China for a cheap?? pattern edger or I saw a Horizon II advertised here recently very inexpensive but the freight would kill you. Surely some used patterned edgers in your country. For planos you could cut the patterns by hand.

[yed]

Thank you Lenny and Don

Lenny - I use horn and zyl, but mostly horn. I'm really interested to know why remote edging might be a problem with it. Is it the difficulty in getting the lenses into the frames? I know it can be tricky...

In either case, I'd love to try out remote edging, but it sticks in my throat to shell out for a tracer when I've got perfectly accurate lens shape files that I just can't get into OMA format.

Don - that's what I thought. I've been keeping an eye on eBay etc. for a while now, but pickings are slim here in Scotland. I think I'll end up going for something cheap from china just to get my chops then maybe upgrade. The lab that I use is really open to showing me how to do things, which is very handy.

Andrew

[Don Gilman]

Thank you Lenny and Don

Lenny - I use horn and zyl, but mostly horn. I'm really interested to know why remote edging might be a problem with it. Is it the difficulty in getting the lenses into the frames? I know it can be tricky...

In either case, I'd love to try out remote edging, but it sticks in my throat to shell out for a tracer when I've got perfectly accurate lens shape files that I just can't get into OMA format.

Don - that's what I thought. I've been keeping an eye on eBay etc. for a while now, but pickings are slim here in Scotland. I think I'll end up going for something cheap from china just to get my chops then maybe upgrade. The lab that I use is really open to showing me how to do things, which is very handy.

Andrew

I would seriously look at the Horizon II listed here on Optical marketplace for $250.00. I would think you could have it shipped to you for +/- $300.00. We ship a large 300 pound machine in a wooden crate for about$ 500.00 and this is a lot smaller and weighs only about 100 lbs. Beware this will be a 110 V electric and you will need a shop vac and a small compressor which would add another $200.00 to $300.00 and assuming it works you would have a real workhorse. We use several of these for cribbing SF lenses about 8 mm thick and have very few problems. You could cut planos all day long and if they don't have a bevel could stack them.

[LENNY]

You can try to send the OMA file to the lab, but.....you need someone at the lab to know what they doing with it! And that could be a problem.....
Are you doing the grove in the frame manually?
I edged about 30 horn frames for my friend on Mr Blue, which I would consider to be one of the top tier non commercial edger and the sizing was all over the place...... Maybe because he was doing the V grove in them by hand....
There is a very slim chance you can do a decent job on Horizon 2 with pasterns on horn.....

[LENNY]

The other thing to consider is that any treatment that is done to the lens can change the size of it.....

[yed]

Ah, thanks Lenny, I understand. I had similar problems with my first few horn frames. I am cutting the v groove manually, but I've now got a great tool that seems to create a very reliable depth and position. I also found that the 1mm v groove depth that's standard for zyl can be a little too deep for glazing horn, so I now use a 0.7mm tool.

I've just found an old Briot 4000 locally for £100, which I think is worth a shot. If my skills aren't up to the job then I've not wasted much.

Thanks for the advice folks.

Andrew

[LENNY]

He makes them so you insert the lenses from the back. Also the older the edger the worse V groove you get and you cant adjust its depth... It also looked like a few of the V grooves were to shallow for RX lenses did nos stay well. I had to as him to make it deeper.....