So I've got a couple of old pairs of cheap prescription glasses (you know, that Americas Best two pairs for about $70 thing). The lenses are still in good shape but they're way too heavy and I always hated the way they left deep marks on the sides of my nose, and how at the end of the day when I took them off I'd have always have to massage my nose to try and restore circulation or something, plus, whatever they electroplated the frames with kept turning them Statue of Liberty green (probably copper), exposing more of the gray metal beneath every time I cleaned them. A friend even told me once they looked like they belonged to a serial killer! But I don't want to pay $700.00 for extreme light weight frames and custom lenses either.....

So I went to my shop (the kitchen table) and got out all the various precision instruments I would need from storage (hacksaw, file and pliers from the kitchen drawer)....

I then obtained some of the highly advanced specially engineered material required (some of the wire from an old stainless steel basket found in the alley)....

....and got right to work. No time for drawing, measurements or plans, so first, I just bent a piece of wire to get the spacing about right....

Then I cut down the rounded lenses to make them small rectangular lenses (about 1/3 the weight of the original lenses) and filed grooves along the sides....

Next a quick single mock-up....

....to test the fit....

Then a quick double mock-up....

.....to make sure the spacing between the lenses is correct....

Last is the final bend of a single length of (now highly polished) stainless steel wire (about 1/4 the weight of the original frames)....

....along with many slight adjustments for allignment and proper fit....

And they're done! So, a little before and after....

Perfect for the computer, at home reading and watching television, I even wear them when I'm out and about. I'd planned on putting nose pads on but they're so light I can barely feel them on my nose. I've worn them a couple of times now for 7 or 8 hours straight and whan I take them off there're no marks at all. Very comfortable really....

Not bad considering it's the first pair of eyeglass frames and custom lenses I ever designed. Time elapsed, about two and a half hours. So, a little review, based on the fact that prescription lenses are always situated in front of the eyes such that the wearer is looking through the centers of the lenses, I applied blue painters tape to the outer face of the lens. Lines were then drawn, half the height and half the width gives the center....

....then the new lens shape was designed around the center and scored with a blade through the blue painters tape on the outer face....

....before being cut and filed smooth around the edges....

....prior to filing the grooves along the sides that would hold them in place....

....followed by checking for the proper spacing of 2.75 inches between the centers of the lenses (red) with a mock-up leading to the final bend of the wire that situates the centers of the lenses directly in front of the pupils....

Obviously it wouldn't work for everyone, but fortunately mine is a simple prescription for myopia easily corrected by convex lenses....

....easy to establish the IPD by the way....1. Stand in front of a mirror and hold a ruler up to your nose, such that the measuring edge runs directly underneath both your pupils. 2. Close your right eye and look directly at your left eye. Move the ruler such that the “0″ mark appears directly underneath the center of your left pupil. 3. Close your left eye and look directly at your right eye. The mark directly underneath the center of your right pupil is your inter-pupillary distance.....unless of course one can't see well enough close up in a mirror without their glasses on, in which case one would have to have someone else perform the procedure. My IPD is apparently a bit on the narrow side at 2.75 inches compared to the (male) average of 2.8 inches.... it only took a minute to establish that.... see you later.
Edited by IsaacNewton (10/08/15 11:26 PM)
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PS: Don't try this at home.
-------------------- My father used to say: I don't care what else you do in life, just don't be an asshole. People, forgive me when I forget what my daddy said. Cut back the proliferating list of people whose opinions can hurt you. Unless they have done or want to do you some good, their views are just not worth tracking. Saul Bellow “People are just cannibals unless they leave each other alone.” Doris Lessing Those whom the gods would save, they dower with compassion. Mr. P. Silocybin
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