| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 150869 | 2022-08-31 06:45:00 | Repairing cheap Spectacles | Brucem (8688) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1488179 | 2022-08-31 06:45:00 | My wife has, since having cataract surgery, used reading only glasses (2.5 dioptre), from the pharmacy. These, while being cheap (about $30), have a short life. Frequently the problem is that the side arm pivot screw comes loose. It is difficult to retighten it because the side arm is sprung, and consequently the holes don’t line up when trying to reinsert the screw. Is there any simple method to reinsert this? |
Brucem (8688) | ||
| 1488180 | 2022-08-31 07:32:00 | I bought an emergency pair of sunnies from Kmart for a cool $20 about 2 years ago and despite being used almost every day there's sunshine, they're still in one piece and going strong. No-one is more surprised than I. If they have reading glasses then maybe try there instead of dicking around trying to retighten the dead. |
allblack (6574) | ||
| 1488181 | 2022-08-31 07:55:00 | Spring hinges are great once they're assembled, and very frustrating when they're pulled apart. Get some very fine screwdrivers, and / or a fine saw blade and / or some fine single core wire. What you need to do is partly withdraw the sprung cylinder from the arm (small screwdriver through the screw hole pulling it back just a mm, or the wire through the hole and pulling) Then you should see a gap between the bit you're pulling and the body of the assembly. Jamb something into that gap - the back of the saw blade, or another screwdriver. This should hold the spring mech in the withdrawn state. Guide the frame front into alignment over the hole and get that screw into place (probably need tweezers to work the screw into place). Job done. A second pair of hands usually helps heaps. You might avoid future cases by using a fine punch/nail to flatten out the end of the screw while it is still in place (it often has a central pit to help position the tool). Make sure the screw head is against a solid object before you smosh the end of the screw, otherwise you may risk stripping the thread and ejecting the screw (so you're basically making the end of the screw mushroom out a fraction into more of a rivet function). |
Paul.Cov (425) | ||
| 1488182 | 2022-08-31 08:01:00 | We also used to have screws that had a needle point end that could be fed through the misaligned bits, forcing them into place before the threaded bit gets engaged. The point is then broken off with a twist from some pliers. Problem is these things come with a zillion combinations of thread, screw diameter, screw head diameter and countersink profile, so you can't always get lucky with just one size of screw. | Paul.Cov (425) | ||
| 1488183 | 2022-08-31 09:13:00 | reading only glasses from the pharmacy. These, while being cheap (about $30) Frequently the problem is that the side arm pivot screw comes loose. Is there any simple method to reinsert this? That's not cheap. Husband used to pay $3 at the Two Dollar shops. We had a few, cause yes they do break, he'd drop them a lot. But...took a pair of my mums bifocals into this place I found that does repairs. All very posh, expensive glasses for sale etc. She twiddled with the hinge and ended up charging me....nothing. We expected maybe $40? $50? |
piroska (17583) | ||
| 1488184 | 2022-09-01 00:19:00 | Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I have tried some of these without much success. The pair that I am looking at has metal only on the side arm as part of the spring system. The hole in that is not threaded, and the thread is mainly in the upper section of the plastic, I think there is some thread in the lower section, although the hole does not penetrate. The screw is pointed, like a miniature self tapping screw. | Brucem (8688) | ||
| 1488185 | 2022-09-01 23:10:00 | If there is a hint of any allignment when in the assembled position, sometimes just brute force down on the head of the screw will get a pointed screw to find the hole and draw the bits into allignment. Don't hold the frame in your hand (high chance of stabbing yourself with the screwdriver when it slips). Get the hinge down against a hard surface (corner of a block of wood in a vice) and give the screw a really good shove. Sometimes having the arm in a folded in position will give better allignment. Other times with the arm extended. Try both. If the screw only embeds in plastic, then you have a real cheapie on your hands, and it's not made to last. |
Paul.Cov (425) | ||
| 1488186 | 2022-09-08 13:13:00 | Might be worth it to get a better quality pair with all metal parts. Tiny screws in plastic is never a good idea. | Agent_24 (57) | ||
| 1 | |||||