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Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

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Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#71

Post by zmk_ »

patentatt wrote: post #38
14 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose but personally I have only ever heard of people changing the entire frames with the glass. What a wasteful time we live in.

I’ve tried to change lenses while keeping frames, most manufacturers make it pretty hard to do so. Some don’t sell blank lenses without frames, and others have such fragmented and changing product lines that lenses aren’t available 1-2 years after original purchase. And to be fair, frames aren’t really all that durable anyways, and for something used daily it’s not all that wasteful to replace them every once in a wh…

Lenses are sold as discs and cut to the shape of your frames in store.

Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#73

Post by beat »

smolder wrote: post #44
toomuchtodo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trade offs. Don’t optimize prematurely.

I don't think we'd be premature in reducing our environmental impact

Worrying about discarded eyeglasses as an "environmental impact" issue is a classic example of bikeshedding.

I'll burn more gasoline driving home from work than the mass of a pair of eyeglasses. And I'll burn it in a car that has a 10-15 year lifespan and weighs about as much as 100,000 pairs of glasses (I'm guessing here, but it's at least in the tens of thousands).

Bikeshedding for purpose of condescension is one of the biggest and most avoidable sins of environmentalism. Don't do that.

Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#74

Post by dunham »

trymas wrote: post #62
patentatt wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve tried to change lenses while keeping frames, most manufacturers make it pretty hard to do so. Some don’t sell blank lenses without frames, and others have such fragmented and changing product lines that lenses aren’t available 1-2 years after original purchase. And to be fair, frames aren’t really all that durable anyways, and for something used daily it’s not all that wasteful to replace them every once in a wh…

That's really strange. I did replace my lenses and kept the frames. It was basically the same procedure as ordering new glasses. To my knowledge opto-technician will map and cut new lenses using your frames or old lenses as a template. Also looking at the prices, it looks to me that most of the profits are in selling the lenses (unless you buying designer frames for gazillion $). Where I live no-name frames are very…

I've even had an optician replace the lenses in glasses I just purchased with ones made from a different material. (I don't remember the materials involved, but I was getting chromatic aberrations in the first one.)

Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#75

Post by blattimwind »

deweller wrote: post #3
platzer wrote: post #2

How is this advantageous over gluing?

From the article: > At the moment, equipment and products that involve glass and metal are often held together by adhesives, which are messy to apply and parts can gradually creep, or move. Outgassing is also an issue - organic chemicals from the adhesive can be gradually released and can lead to reduced product lifetime.

On the other hand glass has been glued to metal in e.g. optical assemblies for a long, long time and those joints rarely if ever fail.

Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#77

Post by space_ghost »

excalibur wrote: post #15

Eyeglasses with frames welded to the lenses would be kinda cool, and may even justify current commercial price points (not that they would be sold for them).

The vast majority of Rx eyeglass lenses are various forms of plastic now (CR39, polycarbonate, etc). True glass Rx lenses are still available but very few labs process them and even fewer doctors recommend them.

Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#78

Post by patentatt »

jdietrich wrote: post #59
patentatt wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve tried to change lenses while keeping frames, most manufacturers make it pretty hard to do so. Some don’t sell blank lenses without frames, and others have such fragmented and changing product lines that lenses aren’t available 1-2 years after original purchase. And to be fair, frames aren’t really all that durable anyways, and for something used daily it’s not all that wasteful to replace them every once in a wh…

That's not how eyeglasses work. Lenses are supplied to opticians as a round blank, which are then cut to fit the frame. Any optician should be able to re-glaze any frame, regardless of age or manufacturer; their equipment measures the frame, then cuts the lens to fit. It's really quite impressive to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCjGNUPO0WU

Well my experience above was with Costco optical and Kirkland branded frames, a Luxottica brand frame through a small independent optician, and Warby Parker. Maybe they were just blowing smoke to drive sales of new frames? I dunno. The one time I did get new lenses, they didn’t fit quite right and always looked a little “off”.

Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing

#80

Post by patentatt »

jorvi wrote: post #58
patentatt wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve tried to change lenses while keeping frames, most manufacturers make it pretty hard to do so. Some don’t sell blank lenses without frames, and others have such fragmented and changing product lines that lenses aren’t available 1-2 years after original purchase. And to be fair, frames aren’t really all that durable anyways, and for something used daily it’s not all that wasteful to replace them every once in a wh…

I'm confused, at my local optician I just point out a frame I want and he either pulls my measurements from his system or re-measures me and tells me my glasses will be ready in a few days. Hell, one time I had a frame that constantly bent and they ended up just letting me pick a new frame with almost identical glass slots and he just polished off a tiny bit until the glasses fit the new slots. How does the manufactu…

Well the line that has been told to me is that they receive lenses and frames together, and they can’t sell me the lenses without the frames because then they’d have a frame without lenses. Essentially putting the onus on the manufacturer for why they can’t do it.
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