FIX AND FIT

Tilting Tips

Bending frame end pieces is often necessary, but not always easy. To help, here are a few bending basics

bending the end piece of a frame is one of the most common adjustments a dispenser will perform. End pieces get impacted and bent away from the head in many ways.

Regardless of the cause, when one side is spread wider than the other, there is a disturbance in the balance of pressure on the head from the rear portion of the temples. The temple that was not bent out will bear harder on the back of the ear and that lens will also be farther away from the face than the side that is bent away. Pressure on the nose will also be affected.

RESTORING BALANCE

To restore balance, the temple must be adjusted inward toward the head by bending the end piece inward while bracing the eyewire barrels. This will also prevent placing undo pressure on the lens edge and avoid lens breakage.

Adjustments to a frame’s end pieces are also made:

…TO ADD TILT. Angle the tips downward for pantoscopic tilt. Angle them upward to add retroscopic tilt.

…WHEN ONE SIDE OF THE FRAME IS HIGHER THAN THE OTHER. When leveling a frame, it is often difficult for beginners to remember which direction the temple should be moved by bending the end piece. Though either side may be bent to correct the problem, just remember to bend in the opposite direction that you want it to move on the side you are bending. For example if the right side is low and the left side is high, you could bend the right end piece down, or the left end piece up.

…AND TO CONTROL THE TEMPLE FOLD. This is a matter of rotating the end piece with the temples folded so their position can be observed. When done in the correct plane of adjustment, this rotational twist should not affect either the head-space alignment nor the pantoscopic angle.

Hold the barrels with bracing pliers to prevent lens breakage

Use angling pliers to restore the end-piece to its appropriate position

Don’t lose heart if one of these angles changes a little; it’s easy to accidentally turn your pliers slightly out of plane. Just be sure to triple-check all the angles and fine-tune them where needed.

Bend the right temple end-piece down (pantoscopic tilt, top) or left temple end-piece up (retroscopic tilt, bottom)

—Alex Yoho, ABOM

AND, DON’T FORGET…

BRACE: When working on end piece adjustments, always brace the eyewire barrels to keep them from shifting against the lens edge and breaking it.

STABILITY: For stability, you should also ensure that the eyewire screws are tight.

MASTOID: If the adjustment has turned the temple tip in or out at the mastoid area, correct it behind the ear to make the temple tip lay flat against the head.