(extraterrestrial music)
(growls)
- [John] Uh!
No!
Stop screwin' around.
(Lights by Basspartout playing)
- Hello and as always,
welcome to the
Laramy-K OpticianWorks training center
where today we're gonna start a new series
on the proper use of common hand tools.
And today we are going to start with our humble friend:
the screwdriver.
Learning how to properly use tools
is something that you actually do have to learn.
Someone needs to teach it to you,
you need to see it,
you need to have hands-on.
So don't feel bad if you don't really know
how to handle a pair of pliers
or why you hold the screwdriver the certain way,
why it's designed in the way that it is.
It's something you have to learn.
And of course that's what we're here for.
Here's the scare.
I don't think that when you get that first job,
and you're working for those first couple of days,
that you're going to endear yourself
to your new employer when you slip with the screwdriver,
scratch a beautiful
progressive lens that wholesales for $75.
You can avoid that.
You can keep your job and keep your boss happy
by watchin' this video.
I am quite certain that a couple of you
out there are thinking,
"Oh, my God how is he going to make an entire lesson
out of the subject of a screwdriver?"
Bear with me for a few minutes,
you might just be surprised.
Fun fact:
if you take the current HILCO catalog,
which if you don't have one of,
I would suggest that you get and leaf through it.
If you took the time and you actually counted
all of them,
they have almost 250
individual part numbers
for screws alone.
They've got almost 115 individual part numbers
under the heading of drivers
screwdrivers
and blades.
I think that's a pretty good indication
that it's not a one size fits all or
a
screwdriver.
There's a little more to it than that.
Let's see if we can't figure out what it's all about.
There are two basic designs for screws.
You have your traditional flat,
which is the single slot that runs across it,
and we have what are called either dual slot
or in the HILCO catalog plus minus.
It means that it has a full slot across
so you can use a traditional flat blade
and it also has one that does not
cut through the entire head of the screw
so that you could also use a
Phillips head style screwdriver.
There are also out there,
they're rare,
but some frame lines still use a very traditional
full Phillips head,
which does not ever pass passed the edge of the eye-
of the screw head.
Why does any of this matter?
Why are we so concerned about with the head?
Because of the blades that go into these slots.
That's how the screwdriver works.
In a flat design like this,
they come in a one millimeter,
a 1.6,
a 1.8,
a 2.2,
and a 3.0.
In very traditional Phillips,
they come in a 1.6 millimeter,
a 2,
and a 2.5.
Why would they come in all these different sizes?
Well this is what it's about.
Screws
in
frames
fit flush
against
the frame
edge itself.
There's a picture of it,
that's kinda the idea that I'm trying to convey to you here.
The blade that I choose should be equal
to the size of the opening of the slot.
No more or no less.
If I go less,
then for the-
I mean, this is a mechanical thing,
a screw is designed with a head large enough
to accept the torque necessary
to drive it and hold it in place.
If I use a blade that's too small,
I'm not gonna have enough force to tighten the screw down.
If I use one that is too big,
too wide,
it goes beyond the size of the head of my screw,
this is where we get into trouble.
A blade for a screwdriver is like two dollars,
and they last for a year, two years,
they could last somebody a lifetime who is careful.
A screw,
the most expensive one out there,
the tap and snapper,
the
one with the little break off point,
they might be a dollar.
This frame over here,
if I use the wrong screwdriver
and I have a blade that's wider than my screw head,
and my screw is recessed,
I can create damage here and here.
That frame might wholesale for $75!
It may not belong to you.
The blades, hey,
those are yours.
Screws? You got a whole drawer full of 'em.
Frame might not even be yours!
You damage the frame,
you could be out-
I mean, it could be priceless,
who knows?
So on size does not fit all,
you're gonna have to have a little bit of a toolbox,
you're gonna have to have the different sizes
in the flat,
different sizes in the Phillips,
and swap them out when you need to do that.
Things to look for,
and how do you look for these things?
Magnifying glass,
set of cheaters,
readers,
whatever it takes,
'cause man
this stuff is small,
you need to be able to look at it closely.
If you look at the head of the screwdriver blade,
watch for this,
this is not all that uncommon.
You have this beautiful flat edge here
and then the corner will actually be broken off,
someone's used it to, you know,
chip paint or somethin', who knows?
If you see that,
throw it out.
If you're looking straight on at the blade
and it appears curved,
it's not perfectly straight,
it's had too much force applied
and the blade itself is bent,
that's really bad.
That's gonna create problems.
That's where it's gonna slip
and you're gonna damage something.
So if you see this,
no!
Throw it out.
Get a new blade out of the cabinet
and put it into your screwdriver.
Be careful,
pay attention,
always use the blade
that best fits the head of the screw
that you're actually workin' with.
You can damage frames,
you can also damage lenses
if you slip with the screwdriver,
hit it and scrape across the lens,
certainly not something that should happen very often
when you use the proper techniques
when handling the screwdriver.
So let's head over to the bench
and let me see if I can show you some tricks
on how to avoid the damage.
As I mentioned in the introduction,
the proper use of hand tools is
something that you actually have to learn.
What is part of learning?
Well, that's practice of course!
And, how do you get enough frames
to actually practice this stuff?
Well, I would say either hit the donation box
or
make a donation box.
Your education is certainly a worthwhile
charitable donation.
You may also try just asking opticians on Facebook,
see if somebody would be willing if you paid the postage,
to send you a big old pile of frames like this.
Once you've got a big old pile of frames,
well then break out you screwdriver,
all your different blades and sizes,
and practice,
practice,
practice.
When you're done practicing,
don't throw them away
because of course you can always use them
to learn the rest of the hand tools we're gonna go over
and of course, adjustments too.
As I mentioned on the whiteboard,
the optical screwdriver comes in many many variations,
however all of those different variations
do have some things in common.
They will all have a rotating head like this
and I'll show why that is in a minute.
Now those may vary in size and weight
but it will be there.
The length is always roughly the same,
that's because the way you hold it properly,
get the good grip,
and be able to move it around, with precision
is fixed in that distance.
They're all going to have a roughed up area
or a band of some kind that
allows your fingers to grip it and not slip.
Obviously they are all going to be designed
to have the blades changed
for those different styles and different sizes.
The first thing that I would do
is look around where you work.
Look around the lab,
a dispensing area,
and find what people are using to work with frames.
I guarantee you will find a table edge,
or a drawer,
or a bench
where people hold frames like this.
You'll want to do this too.
It helps you keep the frame from moving,
it allows you apply greater force,
and it protects the frame from damage.
Speaking of force,
I mentioned that there's a proper way
to hold a screwdriver,
that looks like this.
When the frame is properly braced,
and the screwdriver is held properly,
you can exert a tremendous amount of force.
That will be pressure both down
and a twisting,
or the application of torque,
to tighten or loosen screws.
It is not uncommon for frames
to be assembled and then plated,
which essentially freezes the eye wire screws in place.
You often have to break that bond
to get it to release.
So don't be scared to apply some force.
After practicing that,
let's look at the two most common things you'll do.
These are so common to the day-to-day
work of an optician,
they will become second nature.
The first is swapping nose pads.
What I want you to pay attention to here,
is just watch my thumb and my fingers.
Notice how I position them,
notice how I use them for guides,
notice how I use the temples around
and use them as a guide as well.
Practice this until it hurts.
Each pair of glasses will pose
it's own unique set of challenges.
Practice it
and practice it
and you'll do just fine.
The second most common thing
is lens insertion and removal.
Just like nose pads,
what I want you to pay attention to
is how I'm positioning my fingers,
how I'm using them to protect against
that blade slipping or moving from where I need it.
With experience,
you'll find that frames that have been worked on before
can be done without bracing,
however for now just use that technique.
Once you are 100% confident,
you can try other things.
Until then,
I know you're sick of hearing it,
but practice
practice practice.
As always,
thank you so much for watching,
I hope you learned something today.
If you're watchin' us on Youtube,
make sure you hit the subscribe button
down there in the corner.
If you're watchin' us on Facebook,
by all means share this with as many people as you can.
Be sure to consider joining opticianworks.com
or becoming a customer of Laramy-K
and getting your membership for free.
(extraterrestrial music)