I had new progressive lenses made, but the old ones are still fine and don’t have a scratch. They’re just a bit weak at near distance, but otherwise perfectly serviceable.
So I made new frames for them because I don’t like to throw away things that work.
All assembled, the frames weigh 3.5 grams, and 14 grams with the lenses mounted.
This was printed with a Prusa Mk4 and regular PLA at 0.15 mm layer height. The hinges use simple 10x1 pins - and I worked my magic to print the holes horizontally to the final dimension with interference fit, so no reaming or drilling is necessary. These glasses are straight out of the printer with zero rework.
I think they look pretty good as they are. If anybody notices they’re 3D-printed, I’ll say I’m gunning for that particular style 🙂
The front of the frames prints in 11 minutes and both temples in 12 minutes. I could break and make a new pair every day for the rest of my life and it would still be faster and cheaper than going to Specsavers only once.
I'm not OP but if you look close to the outer edges of the frame where they meet at the hinge you can see that the front frame is not "sealed" and lenses can be inserted this way and then fixed with the hinge pin. That's my guess.
Exactly right.
Nice design. Now is the comfort for long wear? May I ask where you get the lenses from?
I wore them all day yesterday, no problem.
The nose bridge is angled 45 degrees, so it has steps due to the layers of PLA. I expected to have to chemically-polish it with acetone or smooth it out with sandpaper, but I didn't to test it out, and it turns out to be comfortable as-is. Actually, the steps may provide a bit of additional grip on the skin of my nose.
As for the temples, they're printed length-wise, so what pushes on my ears is basically a bundle of smooth PLA wires deposted in several smooth swoops. I didn't do anything to them either.
But I did take a lot of time to model everything to the exact shape of my anatomy. I find that's what seems to matter the most.
And of course, the whole thing weighs 14 grams. That's never going to cause a lot of discomfort.
I had the lenses made and mounted to my regular metal frames 2 or 3 years ago by my local optician. Not sure which. Specsavers probably.