[jared314]

Single material. Customized for each client.

This looks like a good place for 3D printing to start chipping away at traditional manufacturing.

[Edit] I am talking specifically about printing the overpriced frames sold by Luxottica. Not the lenses.

[logfromblammo]

Hobbyist-grade volume printing does not have the resolution necessary to create an eyeglass lens.

But some old washing machine parts and an Arduino can grind out any lens shape you might need from a printed blank. Building a garage lens grinder using a volume printer wouldn't be any more complicated than replicating a RepRap.

You really could make a pair of glasses from one type of plastic. If you need the temple pieces to fold (if it even has temple pieces), the same hinge design used by whittlers to make pliers from a single piece of wood would suffice, and could probably be cut with a laser of the correct wavelength.

[jared314]

Please note my other comment. I'm talking specifically about the overpriced frames, not the lenses.

[logfromblammo]

Volume printing is best suited for applications that cannot be mass-produced.

Eyeglass frames can be described adequately by overall width and length of the temple pieces. One machine can produce several similar styles of frame in all the most common sizes before you can blink. If they don't have a brand name on them, frames are dirt cheap.

The lenses are the unique element. If you're not including either the lenses or the unique shape of someone's face in the printing process, there's just no point in doing that instead of going to Costco or Walmart for a frame.

Or you could create a style so alien to current styles that it could not be produced with current mass production machinery. Perhaps it secures the lenses with nose and eyebrow piercings, or a hatband-like ring around the entire head, or a pince-nez style that puts silicone hooks over your nostrils.

The lenses are still the majority of the effort.

[minthd]

So we're talking baout knockoff frames.But many(or even most people who care about brands) don't like to buy knockoffs and prefer the real brand.So this will probably carry over to frames.

[jared314]

> So we're talking baout knockoff frames.

Actually, I'm not. I'm talking about printing frames as opposed to buying them from Luxottica.

[minthd]

Than why not go to costco or walmart ? they have a decent enough selection probably.

[mcmancini]

What part are you proposing to be 3d printed?

[jared314]

The metal frames.

[avmich]

There were an interesting report about manufacturing lenses using 3D printer - for original shapes, which then are additionally processed. The article described covering 'layered' lens shape with a film which makes the surface smooth and then using that for making a form for final casting of the transparent plastic. It wasn't a complete replacement for lenses - but still an interesting step towards automating the process.

[mcmancini]

I'm not understanding how 3d printing the frames would reduce costs over traditional manufacturing methods.

[jared314]

From the article:

Consumers do not get a break. At LensCrafters, the average cost for a pair of frames and lenses is about $300. You may think -- well, there's choice in the mall for other glasses. But Luxottica doesn't only own the top eyewear chain in the country, it owns another large chain: Pearle Vision, and Oliver Peoples, and several boutique chains. And it runs Target Optical and Sears Optical. And we're not done, Luxottica also owns Sunglass Hut - the largest sunglass chain in the world.

The cost of frames is not based on the cost of traditional manufacturing. Luxottica controls the market, like De Beers and the diamond market.

[mcmancini]

I didn't reply very intelligently. How does 3d printing the frames lower the barrier to entry for competition?

[gertef]

and what would you put in those frames?