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Cutting Custom X Metal Lenses?

@Michael Kasch s133 I am impressed with that first attempt.

I would be concerned with the use of blue painters tape and effects of the glue/solvents. Is this OK or is there a better solution for this?

Good luck with your future cutting!
 
@Michael Kasch s133 I am impressed with that first attempt.

I would be concerned with the use of blue painters tape and effects of the glue/solvents. Is this OK or is there a better solution for this?

Good luck with your future cutting!

Lowest grade blue tape works perfect. Never had an issue. Unless the lens is hydrophobic, clean it first and it will adhere fine.
 
There is no need to mount the dremel down. This is done by hand and finished by hand

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The bevel is a learned practice and XMM's bevel is pretty much identical to OEM bevels. He does do his by hand and its stellar. My bevel is done by a machine and most machines do them in a "V" shape. We do use a stone wheel to shape it a little more on the backside, but nothing close to what XMM does. Again his is by hand and he takes his time, and if you do this, you after awhile will achieve something at least close to his, but many people have tried this, and in the end unless you plan on doing many lenses and already have the skill, and the equipment theres not much reason financially to attempt it. One slip and there goes a $100 lens, or too much off here or there and now you have a gap. Trust me I know.

Newer issues that are occurring for cuts are proper donor lenses for Romeo 1's, X-Squared's and OTT's. Big Taco was the go to lenses for a long time along with the Plaintiff's, however both models are discontinued and most stores I have been in are out or almost out of them. So what donor can be used for those frames????? One big thing lately is curvature of donor lenses. For hand cutters anything NOT a 8 base shouldn't be cut for the intended frame. There is a high chance that tracing it wont be correct first, second when knocking it down to size to fit, and then tweaking it to actually go into the frame you will not cut even so when the lenses are inserted and the temple part pushed down you will be causing stress in particular areas which can distort the lens, and that might not be visible to the eye, but magnified it would be. (for XMM this is not an issue due to the way he cuts his). I use the new Turbine which Oakley says is a 6 base, however measured its a 7.25, but for machine cutting I could cut a 2 base and it would work fine just not look that good LOL. I tend to stick to 5 base and up, and the Turbine lenses will work on all X_Metals. I hope this helps explain some of the more technical aspects of the process.
 
I use the new Turbine which Oakley says is a 6 base, however measured its a 7.25
I find Turbines somewhat confusing, perhaps they are different for different markets. In Australia they're all pollaric ellipsoids and I recall seeing official page once stating that before they did a mass update and removed all descriptions about curvature across the site.
 
Oakley doesn't advertise curvature of their lenses, Opticians get files from Oakley that do state the curvature but members tend to figure it out on their own, but the Turbine Oakley did state somewhere they were 6's, several members asked me about it for customs and for me its no problem, but I did measure them and they came out to a 7.25. Any manufacturer will make the cheapest lens they can for production line work. Oakley has a company who makes them for them in blanks, as is typical, then has a factory that cuts them to fit the various frames. So basically all 8 base lenses come from the same blanks, ie.... Violet, HJ 2.0, Big Taco, Juliet etc are all the same blanks to start with. Oakley rarely does anything that is not your basic polycarbonate lenses that are prizm compensated, then adds varying levels of color, mirror, and polarization. The new Prism lenses are no different than what Costa Del Mar has been doing for their 480p and 580p lenses for years. They add in a rare earth metal and that allows them to play with the light spectrum to allow some colors and not allow others. The whole industry does these techniques to make their lenses, so for one specific Oakley lens to be done differently just isn't the case. Money drives everything with Oakley. Faster, cheaper and whatever advertising it takes to make the sales. They have over the past 5 years since Luxotica took over steadily increased their Vault stores and have drown out their mom and pop dealers. Online has taken a lot of sales away from those stores due to free shipping, more variety and in some cases a lot less taxes.
 
What I was referring to different Turbines for different market was along the lines of asian fit vs standard fit like how it was done for badmans: base 6 for AF, and base 8 for standard. Although I don't recall seeing Turbined being advertised so. The Oakley site used to state clearly which base curve for every model, and they also had that for Turbines when it was first released. However the pages were updated shortly afterwards and all mentions of curvature have been removed for all models.

FYI some retailers selling Turbines are still quoting the original marketing material from Oakley, stating pollaric ellipsoids, eg:
Oakley Turbine Matte Black Sunglasses | $179.99 | City Beach Australia
Oakley Military & Government Sales - SI Turbine™

The Turbines I've purchased locally from O stores are also polaric as you can easily tell by its reflections.

I agree with you that Turbines work, but just find it amusing there are differences across regions. :)
 

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