Hello everyone, bespoke spectacle maker in London pulling my hair out.

[cropwell]

My appreciation of your aims at the moment is to save time cutting out from the blanks and getting the frame nearer to the finished shape than you get with a saw. There seems an awful lot of skilled hand working to get the product finished. On youtube there are a number of videos about CNC cutting wooden framed sunglasses and these look to be novelty rather than quality.

Sure, cutting out and pocketing the hinge recesses would save you a lot of time, but isn't your business based on hand-made quality rather than volume production?

On that basis, initially you would need a good quality small machine, maybe even as small as A5. If your business grew to the point where that machine was inadequate, then you would just get another one the same. That way if one broke down it would be an inconvenience not a disaster.

[Kitwn]

Sure, cutting out and pocketing the hinge recesses would save you a lot of time, but isn't your business based on hand-made quality rather than volume production?

I think the main point of this work is that the DESIGN is bespoke and made to suit non-standard customers. The labour-intensive manufacturing process is then something that merely increases the cost and reduces the accessibility.

I do like the multiple small machines idea. This will be the least expensive for a given quality of result and allows for expansion as cropwell suggests. It would also allow for reduced set-up time and tool or jig changing if, for example, all the hinge pockets were the same, all the frame blanks would mount up in the same way before bespoke machining. You could build up to having a row of machines each doing one task on a production line basis and concentrate the hand finishing work where it's really needed.

Kit