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Thread: Tips for inserting lenses into Wood Frames

  1. #1
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    Tips for inserting lenses into Wood Frames

    Hello
    I am cutting a pair of lenses to be inserted into a wooden optical frame , any tips or tricks to do the job without breaking the wood frame?

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    OptiBoardaholic Optical Roy's Avatar
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    Sell em a different frame. lol! Those things never fit correct and are almost impossible to adjust without breaking, yes, speaking from experience. If a patient brings 1 in I just send to the lab and I tell them there is very little to no adjustment on them. I refuse to carry them in the shop.
    Roy W. Jackson, Sr. ABOC

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    Bad address email on file Lawman Nick's Avatar
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    We stopped selling them. We keep a few pairs in the back for a specific patient, who eventually will, and no fault of his own, break them. We have to warranty them every time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spotless View Post
    Hello
    I am cutting a pair of lenses to be inserted into a wooden optical frame , any tips or tricks to do the job without breaking the wood frame?
    Poly so you get some flex in the lens.
    Careful safety bevels front and back.
    If you have too much power/thickness and lose the flex you will be out of luck.
    Maybe run a few test lenses and try -0.1, -0.2 on sizing and see if you can get away with it.

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    The biggest problem with wood frames, from what I have seen, is how they respond to temperature and humidity. Apparently the people who makes these frames don't think about changes in dimensionality relative to these two factors and pick something that is relatively unresponsive to the changes in such factors. I have seen a pair warp like crazy after the owner kept leaving the glasses in the bathroom when showering.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lelarep View Post
    The biggest problem with wood frames, from what I have seen, is how they respond to temperature and humidity. Apparently the people who makes these frames don't think about changes in dimensionality relative to these two factors and pick something that is relatively unresponsive to the changes in such factors. I have seen a pair warp like crazy after the owner kept leaving the glasses in the bathroom when showering.
    Oh don't get started --- splinters, catching fire, woodpeckers, bark weevils and deciding which furniture polish to use --- the list just goes on and on and on.

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    There are some higher end wood frames that have eyewear screws, making life easier. Trivex has even fore flex...

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    Compulsive Truthteller OptiBoard Gold Supporter Uncle Fester's Avatar
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    I've never dealt with one but I would lean toward edging them like the old Zyloware nylon Invisible.

    Undercut it a half millimeter or so for a no stress insertion- then slip a little plastic lens liner (from Hilco) into the bezel.

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    The brand of the wood frame makes a big difference in quality and longevity.
    I have experience working with both ROLF and February 21st.
    The largest hurdle is making the customer aware that the frame is WOOD and therefore will respond differently than metal or plastic. WOOD will only be able to have certain adjustments performed, a set number of repairs performed, doesn't react well with high humidity or altitude.. you name it.

    Uncle Fester has it right - error on the side of cutting the lenses a little small and use a lens interliner band (some brand companies - Mykita, Lindberg, etc. - make these to fit into grooved lenses to fit if small).
    Otherwise there is a "perfect" size in which the lens fits snug AND doesn't put extra stress on the frame - but this takes trial and error to find and everyone will have slightly different measurements based on machine, calibration, etc.

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    Master OptiBoarder rbaker's Avatar
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    Who uses wood frames these days? Back in the day we used to edge a little large and take them down by hand very carefully.

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    Quote Originally Posted by John@OWDC View Post
    Oh don't get started --- splinters, catching fire, woodpeckers, bark weevils and deciding which furniture polish to use --- the list just goes on and on and on.
    Imagine the horror of taking a nap with the glasses on and waking up to find a woodpecker standing on your head pecking at the frame!

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    And are they warrantied against termites?

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    So I was browsing around our various frame vendors for my yearly pair, and found one I REALLY liked in wood. I'm a myope around -7.00/-8.00 depending on which eye we're talking about. Is a wood frame a bad idea for me due to my Rx? I've never worked at a place that carries any, so I'm not sure if that's a concern. I see the previous posts about lack of adjustments available, however

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    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    It's especially good for high myopes because you will be able to see the forest with a tree.

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    What's up? drk's Avatar
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    Don't let them call you "wood-eye", though.

    True story about one of my patients.

    A man was involved in a terrible car accident. Because of the accident he lost one of his eyes, and was very depressed. I explained to him that he could get a prosthetic eye to replace the real one. So the patient agreed and chose the least expensive: a wooden eye.

    Some months passed and the man's friends come over to visit him. They were very worried because he had not been out of the house for months. They told him that there was a party at another friend's house that night. My patient reluctantly agreed to go.

    When they got there people were dancing and having a good time, but the man still felt self-conscious so he found a seat in the corner and remained there. The friends found the man again and told him he needed to get up and dance. Then from across the room a women appeared. She was looking at the man sitting in the corner. The man's friends pointed her out.

    So he got up his courage, and walked over to her to ask her to dance. As he got closer he realized she had a cleft upper lip. He thought to himself , "What a pair we would make. My wooden eye and her hare lip, but maybe she'll understand how self-conscious I feel".

    The man walked up to the woman and asked if she would like to dance. And her excited reply was "Would I? Would I?

    He got red in the face and pointed at her and said "Hare lip, hare lip!"

    It's a sad story.
    Last edited by drk; 02-04-2021 at 04:05 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post
    Don't let them call you "wood-eye", though.

    True story about one of my patients.

    A man was involved in a terrible car accident. Because of the accident he lost one of his eyes, and was very depressed. I explained to him that he could get a prosthetic eye to replace the real one. So the patient agreed and chose the least expensive: a wooden eye.

    Some months passed and the man's friends come over to visit him. They were very worried because he has not been out of the house for months. They told him that there was a party at another friend's house that night. My patient reluctantly agreed to go.

    When they got there people were dancing and having a good time, but the man still felt self-conscious so he found a seat in the corner and remained there. The friends found the man again and told him he needed to get up and dance. Then from across the room a women appeared. She was looking at the man sitting in the corner. The man's friends pointed her out.

    So he got up his courage, and walked over to her to ask her to dance. As he got closer he realized she had a cleft upper lip. He thought to himself , "What a pair we would make. My wooden eye and her hare lip, but maybe she'll understand how self-conscious I feel".

    The man walked up to the women and asked if she would like to dance. And her excited reply was "Would I? Would I?

    He got red in the face and pointed at her and said "Hare lip, hare lip!"

    It's a sad story.
    Good one. Funny

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    Quote Originally Posted by juno View Post
    So I was browsing around our various frame vendors for my yearly pair, and found one I REALLY liked in wood. I'm a myope around -7.00/-8.00 depending on which eye we're talking about. Is a wood frame a bad idea for me due to my Rx? I've never worked at a place that carries any, so I'm not sure if that's a concern. I see the previous posts about lack of adjustments available, however

    Please: the frame must fit perfect on your face because: Yes there is lack of adjustments"

    If they are mounted properly with a good edger and bevel choice... they are good.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spotless View Post
    Hello
    I am cutting a pair of lenses to be inserted into a wooden optical frame , any tips or tricks to do the job without breaking the wood frame?
    Many wood frames that we see have screw mounting.
    The trick is to treat them like metal mounts, but use a 5 degree bevel and use Z data to match bevel to frame.
    These frames are not adjustable otherwise.
    Like any wood product, dry heat is not an answer. Steam is the only viable answer to adjusting wood.
    I bend light. That is what I do.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by lensmanmd View Post
    Many wood frames that we see have screw mounting.
    The trick is to treat them like metal mounts, but use a 5 degree bevel and use Z data to match bevel to frame.
    These frames are not adjustable otherwise.
    Like any wood product, dry heat is not an answer. Steam is the only viable answer to adjusting wood.
    Totally agree with you. Some wood frames with no screw mounting require some heat but if the lens was cut perfect the best insert for me is cold mount.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by drk View Post
    Don't let them call you "wood-eye", though.

    True story about one of my patients.

    A man was involved in a terrible car accident. Because of the accident he lost one of his eyes, and was very depressed. I explained to him that he could get a prosthetic eye to replace the real one. So the patient agreed and chose the least expensive: a wooden eye.

    Some months passed and the man's friends come over to visit him. They were very worried because he had not been out of the house for months. They told him that there was a party at another friend's house that night. My patient reluctantly agreed to go.

    When they got there people were dancing and having a good time, but the man still felt self-conscious so he found a seat in the corner and remained there. The friends found the man again and told him he needed to get up and dance. Then from across the room a women appeared. She was looking at the man sitting in the corner. The man's friends pointed her out.

    So he got up his courage, and walked over to her to ask her to dance. As he got closer he realized she had a cleft upper lip. He thought to himself , "What a pair we would make. My wooden eye and her hare lip, but maybe she'll understand how self-conscious I feel".

    The man walked up to the woman and asked if she would like to dance. And her excited reply was "Would I? Would I?

    He got red in the face and pointed at her and said "Hare lip, hare lip!"

    It's a sad story.
    Doc, I’ll kindly ask you to stop sayin’ disparaging remarks about my sister. She didn’t know you had a wood eye...She just thought you had a intermediate exophoria....

  21. #21
    Ghost in the OptiMachine Quince's Avatar
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    I have a pair from Daniel James eyewear out of Cape Cod. Very fun fashion but all the downsides are true. Not adjustable, not durable, hard to have a perfect fit for a lens; mine are plano Infinite Grey from Younger. The lenses stay in, but we did edge them small to eliminate frame stress. I use them as my beach pair because, even though I wouldn't advertise that they float, they do sink very slowly and therefore are easy to reclaim. I did lose a lens once but managed to fish it out and pop it back in.
    Have I told you today how much I hate poly?

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