Lopaka's DIY Garage (2.0)

[Lopaka KaMars]

Aloha OF. My names Robert (Lopaka is Hawaiian for Robert), and I live on the east side of Oahu like my profile pic says. I'm an old Oakley fan since my first M frames back in the 90's. And while I'm not a heavy collector like a lot of you, I've found that I really enjoy fixing up my own glasses. I live in a townhouse with a two car enclosed garage, and don't have any extra space for my extra hobbies. So my garage is where I do all my work, because it's easy to pull a car out and set up a table or two. The back of my garage is a mess, and someday I'll take a whole picture 'after' I clean up. I have (wifes) stuff in boxes, stacked up on the side, from when we moved in 5-6 years ago. Lol.



The DIY part to all this came about for a couple of reasons. First, I hate shipping things back and forth. I feel like it's just a matter of time till something gets lost. I live on an island and don't have much choices. And second. I'm actually a very impatient guy. I won't outwardly show it, but man, it seems nothing moves fast enough for me. Maybe that comes from being in a trade where production is everything. So yes, even some of the quickest turn-around times still get me biting nails. I hate the long term anxiety that comes with waiting. And half of that time could be in shipping.

Lopaka's DIY Garage is my chronicle of the things I've done since joining the Forum. I started with basic lens and rubber swaps. Then I got into X-metals and started taking those apart and putting them back together. Right now I'm polishing and anodizing, and am still working to perfect (better) both. I also have a couple air brushes and have been practicing with some painting. So I am planning on doing some O-matter as well. I am a total amateur-novice in all aspects of customizing glasses frames, and just wanted to share my experiences for two reasons. First. I'm hoping I can provide info for others, to pass on things that I've learned. Even if it may be a 'what not to do'. Lol. And second. I'm hoping I can use this as a place to learn from others. Like be honest and tell me if I'm doing something that isn't correct. I'll never take any constructive criticism the wrong way. And I'll always be open to any ideas, tip, or tricks.

I'm going to rehash on some older stuff in leading up to the present day. So please bear with me if the beginnings of this thread is old-hat.

Note about photo above. I sold most of what you see. Sorry.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

I'll start with the most basic of DIY jobs for Oakleys. The lens and rubber swaps. The main argument here is OEM versus after-market. That is a personal preference. But I'll share one insight that is TRUE.

YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET.

Simple as that. The best lenses and rubbers are the ones that are most expensive. Sucks, but there it is. Oakley purists will say stick to OEM stuff. But I've found that the better after-market companies are not that far behind, and have a better variety of colors. I do buy Oakley stuff. But I also buy Linegear, Ikon, and Fuse lenses. There's now a variety of people here on the OF selling and cutting custom OEM lenses. Keep up the good work guys.

PM me if you want to know how I deal with those pesky Mars C-clips.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

I really started customizing when I started working on X-metals. I wanted to learn how to change the finish by just polishing the metal (titanium) to a high shine, because I had plans to learn anodizing after. But I had to start with learning how to take apart, then put back together, X-metals that have a bridge with pins in it. The two must-have tools is a bridge pin setter-extractor and a T6 screwdriver. The Linegear pin setter I have works fine for me, and is the only one I own, and can give an opinion on. Others that I have seen look very similar, so I imagine that they must work just as good. The T6 screwdriver, on the other hand, is a tool that you need of good quality. The last thing you want to do is strip screws. And the Wiha I use is one of the best. This is another 'you pay for what you get' item. Buying cheap stuff increases your chances of doing damage.

I actually use that nail set in the photo above rather than the setter tool. I've seen photos of blow outs, and wanted to make sure I don't get close to making a mistake. I've tried using that extractor-setter tool and turned the knob till things were getting pretty tight, but pin would not go in. For anyone that wants to know how much force it takes to knock a pin in, just try putting one into the bridge piece without anything else. With the proper line up, that's how easy it should be even with tab and flex coupler inserted into bridge. With the nail set, I feel I can control how much force is used in order to insure I don't damage anything.

The line up of the hole is the most important thing to putting together your bridge.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

I use OXM temple washers because I'm too lazy, and it's much easier to deal with two washers, instead of four. You can use a flat head screwdriver to widen gap a hair, so you can carefully slide in ear stem with washer on top. I put my finger in back to try keep other washer from coming out back while I'm doing this. Then use a micro-screwdiver to line up the screw holes. Once you get screw in, just need to tighten to desired level.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

This was my project number #1. The first X-metal I took apart and tried to fix up. I completely rushed it and it looks ugly. But at the time, I was super proud of it. I managed to put it together tightly and without damages, so not bad. Lol. The bi lens and black rubbers made for a boring pair. I did this by hand only, and was impatient. It showed.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Project #2 was done with having more color in mind obviously. I went with Linegear for the lenses and rubbers. Still pretty rough, but I think there was an improvement.

 

[layzurguy]

a true electrician with his dikes.
Got some side cutters?
Got a set of nines?
Cant wait to see what goes on in this garage.
I missed 1.0, so this should be pretty cool!

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Project #3 was another rushed project yet again. Looked better than project #1. But still had plenty of imperfections. I'm a little sad looking at these photos. When I was selling off a lot of my stuff, I put this up for sale just to see how it would do, and it sold. I'm regretting it big time. So I'll let everyone know now. This was the last time I want to sell a crater or hammerstem.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Here's a good photo of how many frames I had apart at the same time. It just so happened that I had a few beaters come in at about the same time, and I took them apart as they came in to make sure everything was ok. And because I did that and had all these frames in pieces, I feel this was the reason I started rushing things and doing cr@ppy work.

And it was around that time I had a pair come in from @Bonz-1 that he did for me. And I did that in order to gauge my own work, and to make sure I had at least one pair that looked awesome. Thank you sir. Still haven't touched yours yet.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Project #4 was when I started using my Dremmel to help smooth things out, and it made a big difference in time and shine. Still using all Linegear lenses and rubbers. Getting a better shine now.