Eyeglasses are an important part of many people’s lives. They help to restore sight to people that have poor vision. While many people wear eyeglasses, few know how glasses are made. Because the process of getting glasses is simple, most people have no idea what happens behind the scenes when their glasses are made. The first step in creating a pair of glasses is to have your eyes examined. Based on this examination, the optometrist will write a prescription to specify what requirements are needed for the lens. Before the glasses are ever started several decisions must be made. Eyeglasses lens can be made of either glass or several different types of plastic. Most eyeglasses today have plastic lens.
The first step in making glasses is to load a large block of plastic or glass into a machine called a generator. The block of lens material must be placed carefully into the generator to ensure that the proper grinding is completed. The generator is programed with very precise instructions to make sure the proper grinding is applied to the lens. After the lens material is loaded into the generator, the technician will choose the proper template for the shape of the lens. Movements made when working with the generator must be very careful so not to cause it to mistakenly grind the lens in the wrong place. The generator works very quickly with an assortment of extremely fine grinding wheels. Much of the original lens material will be ground away leaving a lens ready to be treated and put into your glasses.
After the lens are ground, they are put into a polishing machine that rapidly polishes it to a blemish-free finish. The polishing machine uses water to finish the lens to glasses ready state. After the lens have been polished, they are then fit to the frames to see if there are any small adjustments to be made to ensure a proper fit. If there are problems the lens are then carefully adjusted so that they fit perfectly in the frame. Many people chose to have their lens treated with different types of coatings. Some of these coatings are scratch-resistant, tinting, anti-reflective or transitional. These coatings can be combined in the same set of lens, but the time to make the lens will take longer. Each coating must be allowed to dry completely before adding another type of coating. After the lens are ready they are then set in the selected frames and the prescription is double-checked. And as you wear your new glasses you will have a better understanding of how glasses are made.
Sara Roberts is the content editor for Just Eyewear, a website that sells glasses online. Visit to learn about how you can save hundreds buying prescription eyeglasses online.