Best eyeglass frames for bifocals?

[Merkava_4]

ex opticians tech ,,, get a pair of glasses for welding , if you need glasses for reading then you will need a separate pair for tig , you tend to tig weld closer than you read , mig you may get away with .
get decent frames with flexible hinges , and either the cheapest pair you can find , or a brand you can get sides for as spares , if you wear glasses daily then go for bi focals but aim for a d32 instead of a standard d28 , bigger area magnified , and set the height about two thirds up the frame , a larger metal square frame will tend to work better ,,,
trick is to speak to the optom and spend time getting what you actually need , not just what they want to sell you ,,, make sure you get a copy of your script and include your pd . then just order a spare pair off the interweb for humble money ,,,, and two important things ,,,
1 ,,, look after them , no face down on the bench ,,, you soon get the habit
2 ,,, wear them , they are no good in the box in the house , you have to wear them to get the good out of them.

thats in brief ,,, any questions feel free to pm, if I can help.

That's good information; I can't thank you enough. I'm thinking about getting a special pair of eyeglasses that allows me to read print at an arm's distance on the 2/3 lower half, and then have clear non-prescription on the upper 1/3 half. I only need distance glasses when driving. I'm wearing my reading glasses right now and the screen is an arm's distance away while I'm typing; that works out just fine for welding too. But when I'm at the end of a weld pass and need to flip my hood up, everything past an arm's length will be blurry. So if I need to get up and walk around after making a weld pass, I can't do that without removing my eyeglasses. And I have to take the hood off first because the headband clamps around the eyeglass temples. If you read all that, I appreciate it.

 

[ajlelectronics]

my glasses always feel like they are on the skunt, so I'm always pulling and twisting them, bending arms etc to try and make them feel right. I'm very surprised they always survive so long.

Try that with astig. it makes you feel sick.

 

[rtcosic]

That's good information; I can't thank you enough. I'm thinking about getting a special pair of eyeglasses that allows me to read print at an arm's distance on the 2/3 lower half, and then have clear non-prescription on the upper 1/3 half. .......

About 15 years ago I tasked my optician with providing just such a pair of varifocals.

The main, upper, area optimized for the distance to the PC screen and the secondary, lower area optimized for the distance to the keyboard/desktop.

He was very sceptical, never having supplied such a set before.

Revelation!

I believe this is now a common prescription.

For frames, I have had rimless glasses for the last 30 years. More recently with the hingeless legs that you can almost tie in a knot. The legs are easily displaced by goggles, helmets etc but always require two hands to insert or remove.
One leg on one pair suffered fatigue failure after about 5 years of continuous use.

But I was a desk driver only pottering in the shed.

 

[tom2207]

That's good information; I can't thank you enough. I'm thinking about getting a special pair of eyeglasses that allows me to read print at an arm's distance on the 2/3 lower half, and then have clear non-prescription on the upper 1/3 half. I only need distance glasses when driving. I'm wearing my reading glasses right now and the screen is an arm's distance away while I'm typing; that works out just fine for welding too. But when I'm at the end of a weld pass and need to flip my hood up, everything past an arm's length will be blurry. So if I need to get up and walk around after making a weld pass, I can't do that without removing my eyeglasses. And I have to take the hood off first because the headband clamps around the eyeglass temples. If you read all that, I appreciate it.

hi , instead of a clear top , get a very minor add either .50 or .075 of a diopter ,,, they will work well for grinding . the optom will be able to do a demonstration on the test frames , and the cost will be the same ,,, be sure you weld and read at the same distance ,, I know for a fact I mig closer than I read most of the time ,, and I tig at about half the distance I read all the time ,,,,, but dont be afraid to experiment Glasses that are task specific are very very personal ,,, as an example I used to make a pilot his glasses and they were tri focals , think bifocal with an extra bit at the top too , as his overhead switches were at a different distance than his consul gauges , and of course the center strip was for looking out the window .

 

[tom2207]

About 15 years ago I tasked my optician with providing just such a pair of varifocals.

The main, upper, area optimized for the distance to the PC screen and the secondary, lower area optimized for the distance to the keyboard/desktop.

He was very sceptical, never having supplied such a set before.

Revelation!

I believe this is now a common prescription.

For frames, I have had rimless glasses for the last 30 years. More recently with the hingeless legs that you can almost tie in a knot. The legs are easily displaced by goggles, helmets etc but always require two hands to insert or remove.
One leg on one pair suffered fatigue failure after about 5 years of continuous use.

But I was a desk driver only pottering in the shed.

its so common the big manufacturers offer it as a standard lens for office use , called Eyezen , or something like that , a soft line and a wide corridor .075 reading add for computer screen segment.

 

[Tangledfeet]

@tom2207 Thanks for all the information you've shared on this discussion - I've bookmarked it.

 

[tom2207]

@tom2207 Thanks for all the information you've shared on this discussion - I've bookmarked it.

if I can help at any time , feel free to drop me a pm ,,, or ask away ,,,

 

[slim_boy_fat]

 

[tom2207]

View attachment 401016

we still made those ,,, they work and thats all there is to it ,,, a tad task specific . be handy for welding outriggers though ,lol

 

[Merkava_4]

hi , instead of a clear top , get a very minor add either .50 or .075 of a diopter ,,, they will work well for grinding . the optom will be able to do a demonstration on the test frames , and the cost will be the same ,,, be sure you weld and read at the same distance ,, I know for a fact I mig closer than I read most of the time ,, and I tig at about half the distance I read all the time ,,,,, but dont be afraid to experiment Glasses that are task specific are very very personal ,,, as an example I used to make a pilot his glasses and they were tri focals , think bifocal with an extra bit at the top too , as his overhead switches were at a different distance than his consul gauges , and of course the center strip was for looking out the window .

So as it turns out, Matt at Urchfab wears a very similar style of eyeglasses as I do. I have several pair and they're all single vision. Do you think that style is big enough for bifocals?

 

[GRW]

I note lots of mention of bifocals in this thread, but not varifocals.
Is there a specific reason why bifocals seem to be selected over vf?

 

[addjunkie]

I was thinking of this just today, a pair of dedicated readers that are focused about ten inches from my face, which is where I generally weld, rather than the 14-18" I read books and iPad at.

I have 3 sets….welding tig, mig and lathe. Normal in the house readers…..pain in the bum getting old!

 

[Morrisman]

I note lots of mention of bifocals in this thread, but not varifocals.
Is there a specific reason why bifocals seem to be selected over vf?

I battled with varifocals for a couple of years but the 'sweet spot' for reading and close work was so small I was literally moving my head, not my eyes, when reading a book or doing something on a PC.

After about the 5th trip to Specsavers to try and sort them out the optician admitted they're not really suitable for reading.....

My mother used them for years though, and did a lot of reading, so I suspect it depends on how extreme the lenses differences are between near and far as to how small the focal spot is.

 

[tom2207]

So as it turns out, Matt at Urchfab wears a very similar style of eyeglasses as I do. I have several pair and they're all single vision. Do you think that style is big enough for bifocals?

yep , they look grand ,,, the important part is to get the seg , ie segment [ the bit with the added mag in ] set to the right height , if you wear them in the workshop the seg height will end up being higher than what would be the norm , I did a few pairs for a hairdresser and the seg was probably 3/4 of the way up the lens , as the girl spent most of her time looking down through the lower section while cutting and really only looked up trough the top 1/4 with her normal script in [ distance vision] to see who had just come in through the door.

 

[tom2207]

I battled with varifocals for a couple of years but the 'sweet spot' for reading and close work was so small I was literally moving my head, not my eyes, when reading a book or doing something on a PC.

After about the 5th trip to Specsavers to try and sort them out the optician admitted they're not really suitable for reading.....

My mother used them for years though, and did a lot of reading, so I suspect it depends on how extreme the lenses differences are between near and far as to how small the focal spot is.

we used to do a months non tol for varifocals ,,, non tolerance. in that time the manufacturers would take the vari lenses back and swap them for bi focals free of charge ,,, vari is not for everyone ,,, personally even with expensive vari lenses the swim [ what we call the distortion that occurs outside of the corrected corridor ] would drive me crazy ,, and I couldnt ride a bike in them ,,, others adapt to the swim very easily though . There is a new generation of bifocals due to hit the wider market where the line across the seg is blended for cosmetic appearance , some folk dont like the line at all ,,, I had a woman of about 90 who wouldnt wear bifocals as she said the line across the lens made her look old .... and thats true.

 

[GRW]

we used to do a months non tol for varifocals ,,, non tolerance. in that time the manufacturers would take the vari lenses back and swap them for bi focals free of charge ,,, vari is not for everyone ,,, personally even with expensive vari lenses the swim [ what we call the distortion that occurs outside of the corrected corridor ] would drive me crazy ,, and I couldnt ride a bike in them ,,, others adapt to the swim very easily though . There is a new generation of bifocals due to hit the wider market where the line across the seg is blended for cosmetic appearance , some folk dont like the line at all ,,, I had a woman of about 90 who wouldnt wear bifocals as she said the line across the lens made her look old .... and thats true.

I have a pair of single-vision specs specifically for mountain biking - the last thing you need when navigating a near-vertical drop-in - is to be looking down through the "reading" part & your route going all fuzzy!