keeping your edge

Annual Edging equipment roundup

By Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

EB's roundup of edgers that offer attributes and performance to fulfill—and often exceed—in-house lab expectations for your in-house lab to stay competitive and profitable today your edging equipment must offer the ability to easily and efficiently process a wide range of lens shapes, sizes, materials, and coatings.

Oh, and did we mention that the edger also has to be easy to operate and maintain?

The following is a rundown of some of the latest offerings.

AIT INDUSTRIES: CONTINUUM SOLO CNC-3D

This mid-range patternless edging system is designed specifically for businesses that are new to in-office edging and those interested in upgrading but not looking for drilling or auto-recognition blocking; ideal for small to mid-sized finishing labs.

The Continuum Solo CNC-3D edging system offers beveling, safety bevel, grooving, polishing, 3D tracing, and an integrated digital blocking solution.

When price is most important, the Continuum Solo also comes in a more economical version utilizing AIT's Delta-Scan Tracer and Speede Blocker.

INFO: aitindustries.com, 800-729-1959

AIT's Continuum Solo CNC 3-D edging system is designed for entry-level edging or simple upgrading

BRIOT USA: ALTA PRO

The latest addition to Briot's Alta line of edgers, the Alta Pro features totally automatic beveling, grooving, and drilling to accurately handle fabrication of all of today's popular lens styles.

A high-speed motor increases lab productivity, and the unit is environmentally friendly by significantly reducing water consumption. A new edging wheel is dedicated to high curvature lenses, allowing changes to the bevel angle to match the frame groove angle, and the back facet can be adjusted up to 3mm.

TVC/OMA compliant, the model is combinable with Alta XL or Alta XS tracer/blocker for a complete high-speed lab system.

INFO: briotusa.com, 800-292-7468

Briot USA's Alta Pro features a new edging wheel dedicated to high curvature lenses

GERBER COBURN: MR. BLUE

Mr. Blue's hybrid milling cutter answers issues associated with hydrophobic lens slippage, plus consumes no water and produces less dust, smell, and residue.

A high-curved lens cycle helps with difficult lens-to-frame fits, variable geometry bevel profile can be used to reduce lens thickness, and accurate tilted drilling up to 30 degrees makes for easy drill jobs. The traditional grinding wheels process is still available, but with faster cycle times and improved quality and first fit rate.

Other features include a scalable multi-tool module, control of all finishes up to base 9, and absolute centering control.

INFO: gerbercoburn.com, 800-843-1479

Gerber Coburn's Mr. Blue consumes no water and produces less dust, smell, and residue

MEI: S.R.L. MEI641

Concentrating the same MEI industrial edger's features in a smaller manual-loaded unit for small- to medium-sized labs, this edger has the ability to cut, polish, groove, and process wrap and sport style lenses.

Full auto configuration capacity on the edger enables lens thickness detection to automatically determine the exact cutting edge and angle.

It also features straight and inclined drilled rimless processing, grooving, T- and V- beveling, and a step milling process that helps reduce lens thickness. There are options to perform different groove, bevel, inclination, and different size of step along the lens' circumference.

INFO: meisystem.eu, 847-357-0323

The S.R.L. MEI641 concentrating industrial edger features in a small, manually loaded unit

SANTINELLI INTERNATIONAL: ME 1200

This compact and feature-rich edger has high-quality step-beveling technology which allows Rx lenses in any high-wrap frame.

Additional key features include high-curve beveling, exclusive partial beveling, partial grooving, design cut, faceting, advanced shape editing, and exclusive 3-D grooving.

The industrial-grade design with whisper-quiet drilling and notching, and the ability to process every type of three-piece mount as well as Chemistrie Sunlenses with Click Mode, set this edger apart.

INFO: santinelli.com, 800-644-3343

Santinelli International's ME 1200 has the ability to process every type of three-piece mount

SATISLOH/NATIONAL OPTRONICS: ES-CURVE

This latest addition to Satisloh's industrial finishing product line utilizes proven National Optronics' five-axis finishing technology for a complex edging solution.

The articulating bevel, groove, and drilling process provide the best fit for challenging shapes and wraps. Seven on-board tools allow for multitask edging, and additional tools for complete edging capabilities can be programmed.

Lateral drilling expands capabilities to include lens edge drilling, and a unique roughing process makes the ES-Curve ideal for finishing delicate and slippage-prone lens coatings.

INFO: satisloh.com/nationaloptronics.com, 262-255-6001

Satisloh's ES-curve edger features National Optronics' five-axis finishing technology

SUPER SYSTEMS OPTICAL TECHNOLOGIES: ADDVANTAGE

Offering a competitive advantage to small- and medium-sized in-office labs, the latest addition to the Fastgrind all-in-one system (it surfaces, generates, fines, and polishes), is the ability to process a proprietary high definition lens product, the new ADDvantage PAL. Exclusively for Fastgrind users, the ADDvantage has regular and short corridor versions in clear, photochromic, and polarized options with front-side AR.

INFO: superoptical.com, 800-543-7376 EB

before you buy

Ask these questions and have hard answers before going into purchasing mode:

1 Does the equipment we're considering complement the practice's existing demands (i.e., volume, sophisticated work, basic work)?

2 Will the equipment handle what we need it to, or will it fall short (i.e., drilling, wrap lenses, super-hydrophobic AR lenses)?

3 Will the equipment handle the work we plan to produce in-house in the near future (i.e., if the practice is aiming for a higher percentage of AR sales moving forward)?

4 Why do we really need this equipment (i.e., replacing an old machine or opening a new location)?