Surfacing is the process by which a prescription is placed onto a lens and preparing its surface prior to being cut for the frame. Although large commercial ophthalmic labs do their own surfacing, this is not a process typically done at the small in-office lab. There are 4 steps involved in surfacing.
What is digital lens surfacing and how does it work?
Digital lens surfacing is mostly relevant to progressive prescription lenses because the major difference between digital and traditional surfacing is digital’s ability to do custom regions within a lens to suit an individual. Sound a little complicated? It can be.
Why choose MJ optical lens surfacing?
The MJ Optical lens surfacing lab in Omaha, NE uses state-of-the-art technology and a digital manufacturing process to transfer complex optical designs to the lens surface. The prescription the doctor writes for your customer is completely personalized for their eyes. It makes perfect sense that their lenses should be too.
What is the difference between traditional surfacing and prescription lenses?
In traditional surfacing, a prescription is polished into a lens using a “tool” that is tailored to a specific prescription. In other words, traditional surfacing labs have pre-made tools stocked for every prescription imaginable.
What is the shape of the surface of a lens?
Of course, most lenses are not comprised of angular prismatic surfaces but consist of curved surfaces. The most basic of these curves is a sphere. The curve on the surface of a spherical lens, if extrapolated in all directions, would form a ball or perfect sphere. The sphere would vary in size based on the steepness of the curve.
What is a digital lab bifocal?
What is the difference between digital and traditional surfacing?
Why do we use digital surfacing?
What side does a progressive lens work on?
Is digital surfacing better than traditional surfacing?
Is there a difference between digitally surfacing and traditional bifocal lenses?
Can a lab use a semi-finished lens?
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Are digital surfaced lenses worth it?
They're six times more precise than regular lens surfaces and give patients up to 20% more vision channels for intermediate and close distances.
What is surfacing explain the steps of surfacing in detail?
Surfacing refers to altering the surface characteristics of a material to achieve improved chemical or physical properties. This is done by welding or by spraying a filler metal coating onto a substrate. Surfacing imparts corrosion prevention properties to the substrate metal.
Are digital lenses the same as progressive lenses?
Traditional progressive lenses are produced using “pre-molded” templates and the same design is used for every wearer. Digital progressives are customized for each wearer's prescription. This customization eliminates more distortion and will help you transition to and from far and near vision much more easily.
WHAT IS lens blocking?
Lens blocking alloys are used to attach optical lens blanks to surfacing blocks for grinding the required optical prescription into the lens blank. The advantage of using low melting temperature alloys is that they conform to any lens configuration, are easy to use, and recyclable.
What are two common surfacing overlay methods?
The methods are: 1. Surfacing by Oxy-Acetylene Welding 2. Surfacing By SMAW 3. Surfacing By GMAW 4.
Why is metal surfacing needed?
Surfacing is a process of depositing one metal or alloy over another (base metal or substrate) to improve its wear resisting properties like resistance to abrasion, corrosion, friction, or for achieving dimensional control, and metallurgical needs.
What are the disadvantages of progressive lenses?
Drawbacks of Progressive Lenses Some people never adjust, but most do. During the learning period, you may feel dizzy and nauseous from looking through the wrong section of lens. There may also be some distortion of your peripheral vision (what you see on the edges when looking straight ahead).
Can't see computer with progressive lenses?
Progressive lenses don't work well for computer screens because the intermediate part of the lens isn't wide enough to allow you to see the width of your monitor simply by moving your eyes. This forces you to move your head from side to side to see the entire screen.
What is the latest technology for eyeglass lenses?
digitally surfaced lensesThe latest technology in lenses is digitally surfaced lenses. This involves customizing each lens for your visual needs. These digitally surfaced lenses provide crisp and sharp vision.
What is prismatic effect of lens?
Prismatic effect of the lens: Prentice Rule Prentice Rule The prismatic effect at any point on the spherical lens is equal to the distance of point from the pole of the lens, in centimeters, multiplied by the power of the lens.
What is Prentice's rule?
Prentice's rule. The prism power of a lens at any point on its surface, in prism diopters, is equal to the distance away from the optical center (h) in centimeters times the power of the lens in diopters.
What is Pantoscopic tilt?
Pantoscopic tilt is a measurement we take that analyses the angle from the bottom of your glasses (at the cheek) to the top of the frame. Some glasses have flat frames, but most will tilt slightly, so the top portion of your glasses is slightly further from your face than the bottom.
What does a digital lens mean?
What are Digital Lenses? Digital lenses are digitally enhanced eyeglass lenses that provide a dramatic increase in clarity over traditionally made lenses. The clarity is then increased when the digital lens is paired with an anti-reflective coating.
Are digital lenses more expensive?
One question we get a lot is if digital lenses are worth it. They're more expensive than standard lenses, but we think the price upgrade speaks for itself when you consider the better lens quality. Again, digital lenses are more beneficial the higher your prescription, but the optics are clearer across the board.
What is a digital progressive?
Digital progressive lenses are customized lenses designed on a computer specifically for you rather than using pre-molded designs for traditional lenses. These digital manufactured lenses provide improved visual clarity for those who have trouble seeing both short and long distances.
What are digital HD progressive lenses?
Digital (HD) progressives have custom lens designs, allowing for the best peripheral vision, wide corridors, and smooth visual fields. Also referred to as 'no-line bifocals' and 'no-line trifocals,' progressive lenses look like single vision lenses, with a corridor of increasing power as you travel down the lens.
Are digital lenses worth it? : glasses
Yes I would say definitely worth it, especially for that price! Go for it. It's especially important that their measurements are accurate (relating to frame fit & your eye distance) and the warranty is usually exceptional, so if it's not quite working I've seen them jump through hoops to get it right.
What is a digital lab bifocal?
A digital lab has the ability to surface the progressive bifocal and the rest of the prescription on the same side. The progressive can be altered or tailored to suit an individual’s requirements, ...
What is the difference between digital and traditional surfacing?
Lens Surfacing: The Difference Between Digital and Traditional. Digital lens surfacing is mostly relevant to progressive prescription lenses because the major difference between digital and traditional surfacing is digital’s ability to do custom regions within a lens to suit an individual. Sound a little complicated?
Why do we use digital surfacing?
Because digital surfacing is so much more complex, it is possible to over complicate a relatively simple prescription, creating poorer vision for the wearer. We bow to digital surfacing for its ability to make better progressives for those with smaller pupil distances, but beyond that there is no difference between the lenses our lab produces ...
What side does a progressive lens work on?
For a progressive prescription, a traditional lab must use a semi-finished progressive lens that has the progressive bifocal on one side, then it works the prescription into the side opposite the progressive.
Is digital surfacing better than traditional surfacing?
One of the biggest misconceptions about digital surfacing is that digitally surfaced lenses are always better than traditionally surfaced lenses. This is simply not the case. Because digital surfacing is so much more complex, it is possible to over complicate a relatively simple prescription, creating poorer vision for the wearer. We bow to digital surfacing for its ability to make better progressives for those with smaller pupil distances, but beyond that there is no difference between the lenses our lab produces and the lenses produced by a digital lab.
Is there a difference between digitally surfacing and traditional bifocal lenses?
If you have single vision or use a lined bifocal, there is no difference for you between digitally and traditionally surfaced lenses. In a small number of cases, digital surfacing can create stronger prescriptions than traditional in highly curved wraparound frames.
Can a lab use a semi-finished lens?
The progressive can be altered or tailored to suit an individual’s requirements, and the lab has the freedom to use a semi-finished single vision lens instead of a pre-made progressive. The ability to use semi-finished single vision lenses means digital labs have more options for lens colors and sizes. Semi-finished progressives limit the pupil ...
Book description
Understanding Lens Surfacing covers both theory and clinical application of ophthalmic lens surfacing from start to finish. Both students and educators will find the text easy to r ... read full description
About the book
Understanding Lens Surfacing covers both theory and clinical application of ophthalmic lens surfacing from start to finish. Both students and educators will find the text easy to read and well organized: lens surfacing techniques are explained, demonstrated through clearly conveyed examples, and summarized in step-by-step tables.
What is the process of manually inserting the newly cut lens into the frame?
Mounting is the process of manually inserting the newly cut lens into the frame. Having a hand edger in the lab is useful for times when small modifications of the lens shape is needed to get a good fit in the frame.
What is the process of cutting a blank to fit a frame?
Now that the blank has the patient’s prescription ground into its back surface and has been polished, it is time to cut the blank to fit the selected frame using an Edger. An edger is a lathe, using a diamond or ceramic grinding wheel, which cuts the blank to the shape of the frame. This process is called “Edging”.
What is the process of generating and polishing prescription lenses?
Once generated, scratch protection is applied to the lens. This process is called Hard Coating. The process of generating and polishing the prescription onto the back surface of the lens blank will leave the back surface of the lens soft and vulnerable to scratching. For this reason, a hard coat is applied to back side of the lens at this time.
Why does my lens have a button hole?
This is typically due to dust on the lens prior to application of the antireflective coating. Antireflective coatings are thinner than a grain of dust, so the dust will leave a button-hole within the coating. This will leave small areas on the lens without antireflective coating. These small areas, looking like a pinprick to the naked eye, is actually a spot on lens where a speck of dust prevented the antireflective coating from adhering.
How to protect a lens from scratches?
Scratches can occur at nearly any phase of lens creation. Protecting the lens is the best protection by the use of tape on the surface. Most lab supply stores sell surface protectant tape. By making sure the front surface (base curve) of a lens is taped while the back surface is being generated or making sure both sides are taped when being mounted in the frame or not being worked on, the lab can minimize the chance of scratches happening.
What is a blank lens?
“blank” is a hockey puck size lens. There is no prescription within the “blank”. The parameters preinstalled in the blank are only the front curvature (base curve), lens material such as polycarbonate, and the overall diameter.
Why does my lens warp?
This can be an indication that the lens is to large for the frame. Having to tighten the frame around a lens edged to large will cause the lens to warp. The aberrations caused by this warpage will appear as a rainbow or an oil slick on the antireflective coating. The lens may need to be removed from the frame and manually edges to slightly reduce its overall size.
What is digitally surfaced lens?
In contrast, digitally surfaced lenses are high-definition lenses that are created with state-of-the-art equipment, using a diamond-point lathe cutter controlled by computer software. The prescription is carved into the back of the lens blank.
How are surfaced lenses made?
Traditionally surfaced lenses are created with a hands-on approach that is very laborious and time-consuming. Lab technicians are in charge of making sure the materials they select for your lenses match your prescription. The lenses have to be laid out, marked, and blocked all before they can be processed. Once the surfaces have been generated, the lab tech must choose from among hundreds of pre-made tools before they are fined and polished. If all goes right, these tools get the Rx within 1/10 of a diopter of the actual prescription. Then the lenses have a scratch-resistant hard coating added to the back surface that is UV cured.
What is R&D optical?
At R&D Optical, we take pride in manufacturing the highest quality custom lenses and eyewear in the industry . We offer infinite solutions to all of your optical needs by employing cutting-edge technology to create the latest digital lens designs and 3D-printed lenses. As a matter of fact, our business is built on providing you with digitally produced, high-definition lenses that you may not be able to find anywhere else.
What is a visual perfection lens?
At R&D Optical, we offer our Visual Perfection HD Digital Lenses, a unique and customizable group of lens designs. You will receive a unique lens calculated just for you with state-of-the-art, innovative technology that improves your lens performance for any gaze direction. Visual Perfection lenses also improve visual comfort and quality for any prescription and frame. Each Visual Perfection lens is specially designed to meet every patient’s need with high quality, natural vision in mind.
Can digitally surfaced lenses be used for single vision?
In addition, digitally surfaced lenses can be created for just about anyone who wears glasses, no matter if they need single vision or progressive lenses. The lenses can be created from thin and light materials, which means more comfort for all-day wear.
Do you need a pre-made lens for a lab?
Your lenses can be created specifically for your vision needs and the lab doesn’t have to use a pre-made lens to start with, nor are premade tools used to polish the lenses so they are polished within 1/100th of a diopter of your actual prescription, 10 times more accurate than conventional lenses.
What is the power of the meridian perpendicular to the cylinder axis?
The above examples show the cylinder curve at right angles. Note how the power in the meridian of the cylinder axis is plano , while the power of the meridian perpendicular to the cylinder axis is +4.00 D. To fully understand the cylinder curve, however, it is important to consider the lens form at meridians other than 90º and 180º from the cylinder axis.
What is a compound lens?
Most prescriptions have some combination of spherical and cylinder curves. A lens that combines spherical and cylinder curves is called a compound lens or toric. The convention of the power cross helps conceptualize the compound lens. The power cross is a representation of the two major meridians of the lens surface.
What is the difference between a spherical and a cylinder?
A cylinder curve is curved along a single axis and flat along the perpendicular axis. Furthermore, while the focus of a spherical curve is a single point , the focus of a cylinder curve is a line. The meridian along which there is no cylinder power in the lens and consequently the meridian of the cylindrical focus is the cylinder axis. The cylinder axis is expressed in degrees between 0 and 180.
How to find the power of a lens?
With a lens measure, the power cross, and the total power equation (F 1 + F 2 = F Total) it is possible to determine the nominal power of spherical and toric lenses. For example, if we use the lens measure to find the curve on the front surface of a lens to be +4.00 D in all meridians and the curve on the back surface of the same lens to be -2.00 D in all meridians, we know the curves are spherical and can determine the total power of the lens as follows:
How to determine if a lens is spherical or toric?
The lens measure can also be used to determine whether a lens surface is spherical or toric by placing the lens measure on the optical center of a lens and rotating the instrument about the center. If the indicator does not move while rotating, the surface is spherical.
What is the meridian of a lens?
The meridian along which there is no cylinder power in the lens and consequently the meridian of the cylindrical focus is the cylinder axis. The cylinder axis is expressed in degrees between 0 and 180. Most prescriptions have some combination of spherical and cylinder curves.
What is the shape of a lens?
Of course, most lenses are not comprised of angular prismatic surfaces but consist of curved surfaces. The most basic of these curves is a sphere. The curve on the surface of a spherical lens, if extrapolated in all directions, would form a ball or perfect sphere. The sphere would vary in size based on the steepness of the curve. A steeper, higher power curve would form a smaller sphere with a smaller radius, while a flatter, lower power curve would form a larger sphere with a larger radius.
What is a digital lab bifocal?
A digital lab has the ability to surface the progressive bifocal and the rest of the prescription on the same side. The progressive can be altered or tailored to suit an individual’s requirements, ...
What is the difference between digital and traditional surfacing?
Lens Surfacing: The Difference Between Digital and Traditional. Digital lens surfacing is mostly relevant to progressive prescription lenses because the major difference between digital and traditional surfacing is digital’s ability to do custom regions within a lens to suit an individual. Sound a little complicated?
Why do we use digital surfacing?
Because digital surfacing is so much more complex, it is possible to over complicate a relatively simple prescription, creating poorer vision for the wearer. We bow to digital surfacing for its ability to make better progressives for those with smaller pupil distances, but beyond that there is no difference between the lenses our lab produces ...
What side does a progressive lens work on?
For a progressive prescription, a traditional lab must use a semi-finished progressive lens that has the progressive bifocal on one side, then it works the prescription into the side opposite the progressive.
Is digital surfacing better than traditional surfacing?
One of the biggest misconceptions about digital surfacing is that digitally surfaced lenses are always better than traditionally surfaced lenses. This is simply not the case. Because digital surfacing is so much more complex, it is possible to over complicate a relatively simple prescription, creating poorer vision for the wearer. We bow to digital surfacing for its ability to make better progressives for those with smaller pupil distances, but beyond that there is no difference between the lenses our lab produces and the lenses produced by a digital lab.
Is there a difference between digitally surfacing and traditional bifocal lenses?
If you have single vision or use a lined bifocal, there is no difference for you between digitally and traditionally surfaced lenses. In a small number of cases, digital surfacing can create stronger prescriptions than traditional in highly curved wraparound frames.
Can a lab use a semi-finished lens?
The progressive can be altered or tailored to suit an individual’s requirements, and the lab has the freedom to use a semi-finished single vision lens instead of a pre-made progressive. The ability to use semi-finished single vision lenses means digital labs have more options for lens colors and sizes. Semi-finished progressives limit the pupil ...
