Eyeglass Frames

Create New Revenue or Save on Eyeglass Frame Repairs

With a Sunstone micro welder you can save money on eyeglass frame repairs. Why send frames out for repair when you can do it yourself? Or, if you’ve thought eyeglass frame repairs were beyond your capabilities, now it’s not! With minimal training you can create and grow your own repairs business.

Flexibility for Any Type of Metal Frame

Most eyeglass frames are made of low-quality metals mixed with zinc, which make welding a bit tricky. But not for a Sunstone micro welder. You’ll be able to add any type of filler wire to strengthen a break and, with argon gas, your welds will look bright and professional. With several models of pulse arc and laser welders available, speak with a Sunstone welding expert to see which fits your needs best.

What are you welding today? Call or text us at +1-801-658-0015.

Weld Broken Eye Glass Frames Together

One common application for the Orion Welding systems is to repair broken eyeglasses. This is a great use of the Orion and can be a great way to offset the original purchase price of an Orion Welding System. 

There are many different factors that affect a repair on a Specific eyeglass frame. Many of frames can be repaired using Pulse Arc Welding and Laser Welding. However, it is important to understand that some frames are very difficult to weld and repair. We will discuss several factors that affect the welding process and some tips and tricks that can help in fixing frames. 

What Factors Affect a Weld?

The single biggest factor that affects the welding process is what metals are being welded. The majority of eyeglasses are made of low-quality metals, these metals include high levels of Zinc. Zinc has a boiling temperature of about 1700 degrees, this is far lower than the 7000 degrees that the weld reaches. This means that the zinc in the metals boils off before the other metals melt. This causes week joints and poor welds. This also causes porosity or air pockets inside the weld joint. 

Another Factor in Eyeglass repair is that the majority of frames break at the weak point in the design. These include the hinges, where the bridges connect, and the Pad arms are the common areas that fail. When repairing these areas it can be difficult to get enough material in the surrounding joint to provide the necessary strength. 

Many eyeglasses are made with plastic parts that are joined with metal. For example, the basic frame and temples or arms will be made of plastic, with the metal hinge being manufactured directly into the plastic. When the hinge connecting them fails, it can be difficult to get enough strength for functionality without affecting the function of the hinge.

Image by: Northwest Frame Repair

How to get good Welds on Eyeglass Frames

There are three main tips to get good welds when welding on eyeglass frames. These are Joint Preparation, filler material, and Argon Coverage. 

JOINT PREPARATION

Joint Preparation is a very important factor for any welding project. In order to ensure a quality weld and a quality final product, a few simple steps are required. Clear the weld area of any paint, varnish, clear coat, or coating. These will cause problems with the welding process. Clean both sides of the welds to ensure that all oils, dirt, and grime is removed from the welding process. Lastly, ensure that the joint is tight. If the parts broke in a way that is difficult to get the joints tight, grind the parts flat, or chamfered a bit. This will give more area for the joint to be joined, and allow for more filler wire to be added. 

After getting the weld joint properly prepared, begin welding and place a few welds across the top of the joint. These are mainly to hold the parts in place where you want them. If the first few welds look poor or have a lot of black, that is normal, continue to weld in the same spot until the blackness decreases and the weld looks decent. 

Adding Filler Wire

The next step is to add filler wire. Filler wire will work as a glue and join the two pieces together. The type of filler wire is important. At Sunstone We recommend using silver fill wire on all eyeglass repairs. Silver is the most compatible to join with the most other metals. We recommend a Smaller wire such as a 26-30 AWG wire, this allows for you to add additional metal as needed, and it will b more precise in your placement. 

We also recommend trying a Silver eyeglass wire, this is generally a mix between a solder or braise and silver. This can be helpful especially when using a laser welder for Eyeglass repair. 

The use of filler wire is very highly recommended to get good results on any eyeglass repair. 

Argon Gas Coverage

The last factor is argon gas coverage. Titanium is a very common metal used in eyeglass frames. Titanium is highly susceptible to oxidation during the welding process. This means that oxygen interferes with the welding process and causes weak joints. All of the Orion Welding systems utilize argon in the welding process which pushes the oxygen away from the weld site. Having and maintaining adequate argon coverage is a huge factor in achieving good weld joints. We recommend increasing your pre-flow and post-flow Argon Coverage on the Orion to help get more argon coverage.  

What are you welding today? Call or text us at +1-801-658-0015.