letters

Tool Stories

In the Last Word article, "Unusual Optical Tools," in EB's July 2010 issue, senior editor Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLE, wrote about handy household items and patients' innovative self-repairs and invited readers' responses.

WACKY WIRING

Some of the tools mentioned in "Unusual Optical Tools" were things I haven't heard of in my 30+ years of hanging around the optical world.

One evening while working at a major chain with one-hour service, a woman came in wearing the worstlooking metal frames I've ever seen. They were obviously old, only a -.75 prescription, and barely hanging on her face. Both temples and both eyewires were held together with a very fine silver wire. I told her I'd properly repair [them] during her exam.

The wire repairs were indestructible. I tried every cutting tool in the dispensary and none would sever the wire. Our young lab manager went through the same routine without success. He finally emerged from his workshop in the back with the wires removed and gave them to me so that I could insert screws and then straighten and clean the glasses.

When she returned from her exam, I proudly showed her my handiwork and adjusted them so she could shop while waiting for her new glasses.

When she returned, my curiosity overcame me. Where, I asked, had she obtained that wire for the repairs? She said her boss, an orthodontist, fixed them. Mystery solved. No wonder a mere optician could not master wire used for braces! Another lesson that doesn't appear in the textbooks.

Chuck Minerman, ABOC, FNAO, retired, Florida

HOUSEHOLD HELPERS

I was tickled by "Unusual Optical Tools." A few that you missed come to mind:

■ Needle and thread. Stitched through the hole of a missing eyewire screw to hold a lens in place.
I've even seen a broken plastic frame stitched back together by piercing small holes on each side of the break.
■ Staples and breadtwisties. Similar to the popular paper-clip-in-thescrewhole repair, only these can be twisted down tighter.
■ Fishing sinkers. I actually saw a patient use these in place of missing temples. He hung it on the broken side as a counterweight, and it made the glasses sit straight with one temple gone.
■ A pushpin. These come in handy in a couple of ways, but my favorite is as a temporary hinge-pin to allow me to easily retract a springhinged temple, so it can be clamped or jammed open and a screw inserted in the hinge.

David J. Roff, ABOM, Insight Optical, Newark, Del.