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Thread: Bridge shrinking

  1. #1
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Bridge shrinking

    I have a patient who absolutely needs this plastic frame, for a variety of legit reasons.

    The frame is "close" to a nice bridge fit, but is a little larger than ideal, and it could cause a problem with the optics.

    I need to either attach a nosepad assembly or shrink the bridge (preferably).

    I know that you can heat the bridge and press against a dowel (or something). Does anyone do this successfully, anymore? I've tried it several times, but a big old "botch" results!

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    Been a rough month...I read the thread title as "binge drinking."

    Sorry, I can't offer any advice to bridge shrinking.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post
    I have a patient who absolutely needs this plastic frame, for a variety of legit reasons.

    The frame is "close" to a nice bridge fit, but is a little larger than ideal, and it could cause a problem with the optics.

    I need to either attach a nosepad assembly or shrink the bridge (preferably).

    I know that you can heat the bridge and press against a dowel (or something). Does anyone do this successfully, anymore? I've tried it several times, but a big old "botch" results!

    Depends on what part of the bridge needs to be narrower. You could do a nasal fill if you just need some more contact on the sides of the nose. You are going to need lot of heat and a real good frame, and preferably thumbs made of asbestos, to narrow the bridge of an acetate frame with the dowel rod technique. There are also bridge reducing pliers, I've never used one though. I always nasal fill or add pad arms if it is really wide.

  4. #4
    Manuf. Lens Surface Treatments
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    Redhot Jumper .......if you can find an older lab guy, ..............................

    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post

    I know that you can heat the bridge and press against a dowel (or something). Does anyone do this successfully, anymore? I've tried it several times, but a big old "botch" results!

    .......if you can find an older lab guy, who still can just heat the middle of the bridge, and pull it around a heated metal rod, you might be in luck, if the plastic is still fresh and flexible when hot.

    .......if not you better .............look for another frame that fits from start.

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    Master OptiBoarder rbaker's Avatar
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    Might also consider a keyhole bridge. Much easier to work with. Personally, in a zyle frame I would require a 12 or 14 keyhole bridge for a good fit. But on the bicycle I have less wind resistance than you.

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    Redhot Jumper Might also consider a keyhole bridge............................................

    Quote Originally Posted by rbaker View Post

    Might also consider a keyhole bridge. Much easier to work with. Personally, in a zyle frame I would require a 12 or 14 keyhole bridge for a good fit. But on the bicycle I have less wind resistance than you.

    ..................................why the heck did I not think of this one ?

    drk.............................rbaker just gave you the perfect solution for your problem, no heating, bending and messing up the bridge.

  7. #7
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Thanks everyone.

    This is a rough case where the person has a double concave lens because he's -14.00 or something and he's a young 20 year old and wants to catch a good woman in life, so he wants them to look nice.

    This is the ONLY FRAME IN EXISTENCE that we can use, trust me, so re-selecting is out of the question. It took me forever to find this one.

    It's just a little wide on the sides...what is a "nasal fill"? Is that where you heat the "nose pad" part of the frame and roll them inward?

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    Master OptiBoarder optical24/7's Avatar
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    Edge the lens, altering the shape at the bridge with a slight bulge or smallish hump in that area. Adjust the lenses sizing for this too.

    PS; Who the heck used a -14 in a bi-concave?!

  9. #9
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    -18.50-2.50x104. I checked.

    Very creative.

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    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post

    It's just a little wide on the sides...what is a "nasal fill"? Is that where you heat the "nose pad" part of the frame and roll them inward?
    Optical24/7 explained it correctly. Here is what it looks like in 3 pictures. Original, one lens edged, then both lenses edged. You can see how much the bridge can be manipulated. I slapped this one together pretty quick just to show you the idea. In a patients frame I would take a little more time and not have that bit of lens bevel showing near the top of the bridge.

    The opposite can be done with a nasal cut, by removing shape from the pattern, then restoring the C size to original to widen bridge.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  11. #11
    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Absolutely brilliant!

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    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post
    Absolutely brilliant!
    What he^ said.

    Really impressive work. So cool to log on here, check things out and learn something. Thanks.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Quig View Post
    What he^ said.

    Really impressive work. So cool to log on here, check things out and learn something. Thanks.
    Agreed! This is such a great piece of information to store away for later use. Awesome!

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    Optiboard Professional Bill West's Avatar
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    Many of the "plastic" frames today are made of a material that does not respond to heat, except to burn your fingers. Only buy plastic frames that will respond to heat. Check this out while the rep is showing them to you or only buy one if sight unseen. RayBan has several of these. As far as the fit goes, never use a plastic frame that is not a perfect fit before selling it, lots of frames today are almost impossible to heat and have to be cut down and mounted cold.

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    Compulsive Truthteller OptiBoard Gold Supporter Uncle Fester's Avatar
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    Now this is how we shrunk a bridge in the good old days-

    Anyone have this beast of a pliers?

    Click image for larger version. 

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  16. #16
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    There's a plier for that. Check out www.westernoptical.com Bridge Reducing Pliers #2037.

  17. #17
    OptiBoardaholic OptiBoard Gold Supporter Mick's Avatar
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    Yes, we have one. We still dust it off occasionally.

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    I have a question about nasal fill-I don't edge anything in house, so how would I go about determining how much nasal fill is needed and how do I articulate that to my lab? I can eyeball stuff pretty good and can sometimes heat and adjust a plastic bridge for a better fit. Sometimes I'm not too good at explaining what I need lol. I don't come across this very often, but it sounds like a good skill to master.

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    Quote Originally Posted by GAgirl View Post
    I have a question about nasal fill-I don't edge anything in house, so how would I go about determining how much nasal fill is needed and how do I articulate that to my lab? I can eyeball stuff pretty good and can sometimes heat and adjust a plastic bridge for a better fit. Sometimes I'm not too good at explaining what I need lol. I don't come across this very often, but it sounds like a good skill to master.
    If you aren't edging the lenses yourself I would not recommend attempting this. I wouldn't trust anyone at a remote lab to edge my work, let alone edge a specialty type job.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kwill212 View Post
    If you aren't edging the lenses yourself I would not recommend attempting this. I wouldn't trust anyone at a remote lab to edge my work, let alone edge a specialty type job.
    100% agreed. however it can still be done at the cost of a lengthy turn around time.

    1) trace demo onto a hard piece of paper or board
    2) modify the shape as desired
    3) send cutout to the lab to make a demo
    4) test new demo with patient and modify as necessary.
    5) send the finalized shape to use for the actual rx.

    the other option is to hand-mold the frame in the nasal area to the desired shape and tell the lab to carefully trace your adjusted frame.

  21. #21
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    Thank you both! Oscar, I may play around with your idea and run a couple of 'tests'. I may not ever have the opportunity to put it to use, but I like learning and using old-school, hands on remedies to those rare predicaments.

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