Techniques for Making Wooden Glasses DIY

In my daily research of objects to be built I spent a lot of time understanding how to make glass frames from wood from basic materials without using prefabricated elements.

in this instructable I share the techniques I used to build my glasses, some of which I wear everyday in the office ;-)

I have used few manual tools and so much patience and determination. I do all this for the only passion to build anything that comes to mind, in life I do a job that moves me away from the use of manual tools so in free time I put my hands in action.

As with all things, perfection is achieved by trying and trying again, by mistake and not getting lost in mind, and the question that I pose most often is this: "Why did other people do that I should not succeed?"

Build a CNC machine with lots of satisfaction, but it is also true that making a product with the only hands is even more gratifying.

Step 1: Building the Front of the Glasses

I have tried different construction techniques from milling with CNC to the manual construction of a bent plywood.

In terms of mechanical strength, the plywood made with cross-veneered layers wins the milled monoblock for reasons of wood grain.

One very important aspect is to know how to keep costs and a cnc is very expensive, gluing layers of veneer is a very economical technique and within reach of everyone. The only necessary tools are a brush, a wooden shape and clamps.

The technique of gluing cross-veneer veneers allows you to work a lot with fantasy because combining woods of different woods can get more and more beautiful motifs.

Inserting a dark soul into a light wooden frame makes the glass look very distinctive.

After solidifying the glued layers, the front should be shaped by removing the superfluous parts

Step 2: Mold the Front Face by Hand

Now you are in front of a piece of curved wood and you have to draw a symmetric shape above it, but how do you do it?
If you want to copy a model of glasses it will be enough to remove the lenses and place it on the curved shape and with a pencil follow the contours.

Alternatively, you can print the silhouette of a frame on white paper, cut it along the lines, and place it on the curved shape that we previously created.

After stamping on the curved wood, you must first remove the superfluous parts with a drill by holes and then with a blade or tunnel, and finally with an electric tool with a roll sandpaper cylinder (eg Dremel)

Step 3: The Bevel

The bevel is very important because it is needed to hold the lens, it must be carved in the thickness of the frame.

A tried and tested technique to make it is to use a cutter on the floor and turn around with the inside of the frame, once the cut is done you will need to soften it by hand with a ball head cutter.

With the very fine glass paper you have to round off all the edges

Step 4: Build the Rods

For the construction of the stands the technique is the same as used for the front.

It is possible to copy the template from ready-made stanghetes or to invent one's own form. the only limit is the fantasy ...

Step 5: The Hinges

This is (at least for me) the most difficult and delicate part.

Installing the hinges and getting a frame in the squad is very difficult, if the hinges are mounted crooked, it will also be noticeable when the glasses are resting on the nose.

I have tried 3 hinged mounting techniques.

1. finger join hinges
2. metal hinges for eyeglasses
3. hinges made by hand

Those that have given me more reliability are No. 3

Being able to screw metal hinges is very complicated, it is easy to mistake and then mount them out of the squad.

Building zeros from scratch is easy and fun, I've glued 4 layers of beech veneer that is very tough then I've drawn them over the hinge shapes.

With a small manual saw I divided it roughly then slowly I leveled it up to reach the drawn shape.

With a small drill I made the seat of the hinges both on the front and on the stents. On the front I created 2 seats and one on the stand.

I also insert photos of the other types of hinges I've tried.

Step 6: Get a Small Sander

Often the need to make an object drives you to invent other objects to help you achieve the purpose.

In this case I needed a small, weak disc sander and instead of buying one I would prefer to arrange with what I had at home, an old hard drive.

Fixing a glassy disc disc on the plate in 5 min gives you a perfect working tool for smoothing small surfaces such as the tiny hinges I've built to support the eyeglass sticks.

It is very effective and is not dangerous to your fingers.

I used a lot to sift the small hand-made hinges (unfortunately I have no pictures)

Step 7: Fitting the Lenses

I'm not capable of shaping the lenses so I brought the frame from the optic that cut my lenses and mounted it.

This is the glasses I currently wear in the office, my colleagues wanted to see the photos of the realization because they did not believe it ;-).
for me it was a great satisfaction.

I hope this article has inspired you to build your own custom glasses.