Hello all. I found this forum while searching about using a lensometer. Let me start by saying that I have no expertise with any of the equipment I am using but I am learning. What I'm trying to do is simple, cut sunglass lenses to fit smaller frames. It should be simple but it is proving to be not so easy.

I collect Oakley sunglasses and have for about 26 years. The older ones are almost impossible to find lenses for and I don't want to use aftermarket lenses. So, I buy lenses for newer frames that have the same base curve but a larger lens and have an optician cut them down to size. It works perfectly but is getting expensive. If I can do it myself I can save a ton of money and also save money for a few friends. That and I like to learn how to do stuff. This is the same thing I went through when learning how to take apart the old Oakley X Metals to tune them up. Now I can do them in no time and it's more satisfying to do it myself. Most of the frames that I have that I want to cut lenses for are 8.75 base curve. I have a stack of lenses to cut and I've made some progress but I'm stuck now and could use a little help. You'll see I went about this entirely backwards.

I first bought a machine to cut the lenses. Then I realized that I needed a pattern first. So I bought a machine to make patterns and a bunch of blank templates. I next discovered that I need a lens blocker so I bought one of those. The little sticky pads that came with one of the machines were total garbage so I found some and ordered a box. The reviews were good and they were one of the only ones that I could actually buy so I did it. They stick good and come off clean. I don't know what else I could want. This is where I'm having limited success. When I block the lens to make the pattern or the donor lens, I can pretty much eyeball the center. Eyeballing it works ok when I want to cut a 40mm lens down to 30mm but when I want to cut a 40mm lens down to 35mm, I need a little better than eyeballing it. So I went back to researching and found I needed a lensometer. Or lensmeter. Or focimiter. Whatever it is, it should do the trick. I ordered that but I cant get it to work. All of the videos I've watched show 3 lines or maybe two sets of 3 lines that cross and help locate the center of the lens. This one I have has a ring of dots that don't really do much. I can focus them and that's about it. I realize that they may not do anything when I have a plain no RX lens in it, but when I put my wife's eyeglasses in it, the dots still didn't do anything. So now I'm stuck. I need to find the center of sunglass lenses with no power and I'm not sure I even have the right tool. Is the lensometer wjhat I need? Is there any other way to find and mark the center of the lenses for blocking?

Any and all help is appreciated. There is a series of videos on youtube that I first watched before I started any of this. He made it look very easy, and yes, I watched them all and still bought everything backwards. The first one is here



These are the machines I bought with the exception of the lensometer, the one I got was much smaller. I have not bought anything yet to bevel the lenses, I want to make sure I can cut the larger lenses before I buy anything else.

I apologize if I got any terminology wrong, I'm new