Today my cat decided to wake me up a bit earlier than usual. He decided to plop his heavy, lovable, fuzzy body onto my bed (which is on the ground) next to me and started to claw and scratch my head and pillow. Of course, I was not too happy about this in my semi conscience state. I decided to gently push him off of my bed so he would leave me alone hopefully for another few minutes. I heard a fat body plop and slight popping sound, and he just sat there. Breathing heavily.
*looks at me with clear disapproval of my actions*
Well, that popping was the arms of my glasses breaking. Both of them. He slid off my bedroll and onto them laying face up, arms not folded. So they broke at the weakest spot on both sides.
I could have sworn I heard my cat walk off giggling and choking on a piece of cheesecake as he walked his fat self out of my room. And look, I know it wasn't his fault. But it doesn't change that my cat is a fat asshole on the regular. Immediately I was pissed. I have restrictions on my license so I can't drive without them. I started looking for options to fix them myself and came up with jack shit. Reason being most people are going to either get a new pair or just pay to have them repaired. Well neither are in the budget at the moment.
The popular thing I was seeing was to use heat shrink tubing on them and ta-da. Nope, that wont work here due to where the break was at. It would need bracing of some sort to even be an option. So I came up with an idea myself. Now I did take into consideration that the heat shrink tubing may work after I do some modifying and engineering.
I went to the hardware store and got some things.
The popular thing I was seeing was to use heat shrink tubing on them and ta-da. Nope, that wont work here due to where the break was at. It would need bracing of some sort to even be an option. So I came up with an idea myself. Now I did take into consideration that the heat shrink tubing may work after I do some modifying and engineering.
I went to the hardware store and got some things.
For the sake of this entry I will say I did not use everything in this photo. However, you can use all of these things and they will work. The things I recommend are:
- Super glue - Fast drying type.
- Waxed floss
- Epoxy - Quick setting kind with a 5 hour cure time, 24 hours for full set.
- Heat shrink tubing - has to be able to go over the thickest part of frame, remember.
You can use all of these items to be able to fix glasses at least temporarily. And I needed to do something that would work realistically for about 2 weeks. Where my glasses broke on the arms was at the weakest place on the entire frame. Heat shrink tubing would not work on them because the end wouldn't have anything to hold onto with this frame design. Then I remembered something.
I used to watch videos of a survivor guy on youtube who showed how to use sinew rendered from game animals. Sinew is basically a tendon that is dried and has many used for many different things related to bow hunting specifically. You get it wet and its like a fiberous noodle, and then when it dries it becomes very hard and stable. With this in mind, I figured the wax floss may work really well as it could obtain the same properties with an adhesive.
What I did was I used a small amount of super glue to hold the arms and frames together in place. Then I took the wax floss and wrapped it up around the bits I needed to hold together. Then as it got tighter and better wrapped I started to wrap a bit tighter. At this point they were held together and I would put them on and move the pieces a bit. I did this to make sure the frame and arms fit my face. I gently took them off and started applying superglue to the wax floss wrapping. Slowly, I started to add more and eventually covered the entire wrapping. The glue dries really poorly if you do too much at one time. Would be wise to suggest small amounts more often as it dries.
This is what it looked like after I did a good amount of layers and fitted them.
I used to watch videos of a survivor guy on youtube who showed how to use sinew rendered from game animals. Sinew is basically a tendon that is dried and has many used for many different things related to bow hunting specifically. You get it wet and its like a fiberous noodle, and then when it dries it becomes very hard and stable. With this in mind, I figured the wax floss may work really well as it could obtain the same properties with an adhesive.
What I did was I used a small amount of super glue to hold the arms and frames together in place. Then I took the wax floss and wrapped it up around the bits I needed to hold together. Then as it got tighter and better wrapped I started to wrap a bit tighter. At this point they were held together and I would put them on and move the pieces a bit. I did this to make sure the frame and arms fit my face. I gently took them off and started applying superglue to the wax floss wrapping. Slowly, I started to add more and eventually covered the entire wrapping. The glue dries really poorly if you do too much at one time. Would be wise to suggest small amounts more often as it dries.
This is what it looked like after I did a good amount of layers and fitted them.
I did both sides and waited probably 20 minutes, but I should have waited longer before I put them on. But I figured if it was still soft somewhat, they could dry in the right position on my face and then be comfortable when I have to wear them until I get the replacements. Note: these do not bend anymore. Simply put, this is a last huzzah for this pair of glasses.
After this step I did attempt to see how the shrink tubing would fit and with the new layers of wrap on them the tubes did not go over it completely. So the shrink tubing was pretty much useless to me. The idea was that I could put epoxy on the wrapped area and then heat shrink tubing over it as a means of extra protection. If these glasses ever were broken again, with these measures taken it would be pretty difficult to break them in the same place I figured.
After this step I did attempt to see how the shrink tubing would fit and with the new layers of wrap on them the tubes did not go over it completely. So the shrink tubing was pretty much useless to me. The idea was that I could put epoxy on the wrapped area and then heat shrink tubing over it as a means of extra protection. If these glasses ever were broken again, with these measures taken it would be pretty difficult to break them in the same place I figured.
No I wasn't completely in love with them either after this. I did not want to look like the stereotypical geeky kid with tape on his glasses. I did what I always do. Took a black permanent marker to it to finish it off. I wasn't planning on the extra steps as it would be useless. The optometrist will be seeing me tomorrow anyways. Just need this pair to last 2 - 3 weeks tops and then they go into retirement.
After the black marker, they looked wearable. No one will probably even notice as long as I keep the bits I worked on as dark as the frames. The DIY instructables were trash online. It was a good thing I remembered about sinew or I wouldn't be typing this up right now. The floss worked as a great medium for wrapping material and the super glue dried hard and keeps everything firm and in place.
As a matter of fact the glasses fit better today than they did yesterday before they were broken. Strange how that works out. But hey, I am not complaining. I will be getting my Rx from the doc and ordering glasses online. Fingers crossed they are as durable as this pair. These have been worn daily since sometime in 2008.
-TSB
*See following post for how to buy glasses online and which companies are best*
Update: The Dr who did my exam today told me that my repair was legitimately one of the best he has seen since he started his practice. He couldn't tell they were repaired until he asked me to take them off. He laughed when I said they fit better now after the repairs.
As a matter of fact the glasses fit better today than they did yesterday before they were broken. Strange how that works out. But hey, I am not complaining. I will be getting my Rx from the doc and ordering glasses online. Fingers crossed they are as durable as this pair. These have been worn daily since sometime in 2008.
-TSB
*See following post for how to buy glasses online and which companies are best*
Update: The Dr who did my exam today told me that my repair was legitimately one of the best he has seen since he started his practice. He couldn't tell they were repaired until he asked me to take them off. He laughed when I said they fit better now after the repairs.
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