Reactolite spectacle lenses

Poignard

Poignard

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Any opticians out there?

Q. Is there any way to remove the Reactolite coating [asuming it is a coating] from glass spectacle lenses without scratching them?
 
no, keeps me sailing :-)

it's not a coating if they are glass, so they need to be re-ground, not worth it.

by the way, glass is a seriously bad idea, especially when boating, they shatter in nice sharp bits when they break, shock chord is great for this sort of damage.

you can have glass toughened, nice and heavy, ok if you have a big square nose.

plastic scratches even more, but much more impact resistant.
 
Always found the glass lenses to be too heavy. But the advantage is that they are so much more resistant to scratches. I have polished up watch glasses to remove visible scratches by using brasso and lots of elbow grease.
 
Assume you are in the business. But have to agree with TALBOT that glass lasts for ever, unlike the best plastics. At -6.5 dioptre I agree glass gets heavy especially if you like a large lens.

I had given up on hard contacts after over 20years, but one day coming down Southamptom Water in mist and drizzle convinced me I had to find an alternative.....now use monthly softs all the time -brilliant.

Vic
 
I now use monthly softs, to be frank I rarely wear them for work, too much hassle carrying the lens pot, drops, cleaner and spare specs.

The last time I wore my glasses on the boat was at 5:30 am in October when I went down to move the boat to the posts to scrub her, it was pouring down, difficult to see anyway, but with the distortion nigh on impossible, I never made the posts, misjudged and sat on the mud!!

Now wear contacts every time I even think of the boat!
 
Last time on the boat forgot to take the GLASSES..........now that's an uncomfotable feeling in the middle of the night at anchor!

Now can someone in the know please tell us why we can't buy cheap minus dioptre glasses over the counter so we can at least have something to see with in emergencies even if not a perfect prescription.

Vic
 
If you Google 'Cheap Glasses' there are about twenty companies with similar offers. £9.99 was the cheapest I saw. My wife bought some distance glasses from Spex4less for £20 including postage.Their range was attractive. They arrrived in 24 hours and were as good as advertised. Reactorlite/transistions lenses are extra as are polorised or tinted.
 
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... especially if you like a large lens...

[/ QUOTE ]
I thought they were banned these days. I see all these TV ads that imply you are a dork or laughably ugly if you have lenses more than 10mm high! (Of course in a couple of years the story will be reversed and they'll be telling us we have to have some other stupid shape to stay trendy).

I'm on the 4th set of lenses in my frames, but perhaps that explains a lot!
 
Why do you want to remove the "coating"?

As mentioned by others, the photochromic properties of Reactolite (tm) come from the glass itself, and any imperfections could be polished out. However the lenses may also be anti-reflection coated, and attempts at polishing will destroy this. If you are seeing something flaking off, it is probably the AR coating. Depending on how old the lenses are, they may also be made of alumino-phospate glass which can succumb to weathering effects which make the surface hazy.

In any case, they will last much longer, and work much better than plastic - if you can stand the weight.

Andy
 
[ QUOTE ]
Why do you want to remove the "coating"?


[/ QUOTE ]

I have a spare pair that I wish to use only indoors. I notice that, even out of the sunlight, the lenses have a slight tint which means less light reaching my eye. I am getting to an age where I need more light so I thought that if the Reactolite was just a "coating" then I could perhaps remove it and save the cost of new plain lenses. However, if it is not a coating then I have no choice but to buy new lenses.
 
A-ha I understand now. You'll get at least 5-10% light loss because of the photochromic glass - much more if the lenses have a pre-tint. (And another 8% or so if the lenses aren't AR coated).

Might be time to cough up for some new ones /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Still, if you only want them for indoors, the plastic lenses might last more than 5 minutes.

Andy
 
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