Lopaka's DIY Garage (2.0)

[oneBigDixon]

Wow! That’s awesome work! Thank you for sharing. Very, VERY cool!

 

[SharkSugender]

That pearl looks good. Like bluish purple

 

[Elliot]

Aloha OF. My names Robert (Lopaka is Hawaiian for Robert), and I live on the east side of Oahu like my profile pic says. I'm an old Oakley fan since my first M frames back in the 90's. And while I'm not a heavy collector like a lot of you, I've found that I really enjoy fixing up my own glasses. I live in a townhouse with a two car enclosed garage, and don't have any extra space for my extra hobbies. So my garage is where I do all my work, because it's easy to pull a car out and set up a table or two. The back of my garage is a mess, and someday I'll take a whole picture 'after' I clean up. I have (wifes) stuff in boxes, stacked up on the side, from when we moved in 5-6 years ago. Lol.

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The DIY part to all this came about for a couple of reasons. First, I hate shipping things back and forth. I feel like it's just a matter of time till something gets lost. I live on an island and don't have much choices. And second. I'm actually a very impatient guy. I won't outwardly show it, but man, it seems nothing moves fast enough for me. Maybe that comes from being in a trade where production is everything. So yes, even some of the quickest turn-around times still get me biting nails. I hate the long term anxiety that comes with waiting. And half of that time could be in shipping.

Lopaka's DIY Garage is my chronicle of the things I've done since joining the Forum. I started with basic lens and rubber swaps. Then I got into X-metals and started taking those apart and putting them back together. Right now I'm polishing and anodizing, and am still working to perfect (better) both. I also have a couple air brushes and have been practicing with some painting. So I am planning on doing some O-matter as well. I am a total amateur-novice in all aspects of customizing glasses frames, and just wanted to share my experiences for two reasons. First. I'm hoping I can provide info for others, to pass on things that I've learned. Even if it may be a 'what not to do'. Lol. And second. I'm hoping I can use this as a place to learn from others. Like be honest and tell me if I'm doing something that isn't correct. I'll never take any constructive criticism the wrong way. And I'll always be open to any ideas, tip, or tricks.

I'm going to rehash on some older stuff in leading up to the present day. So please bear with me if the beginnings of this thread is old-hat.

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So I guess the poll was favorable towards re-starting your thread?

 

[Mistermugi]

Keep up the good work--awesome to keep this journal for progressive improvements!

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Wow! That’s awesome work! Thank you for sharing. Very, VERY cool!

That pearl looks good. Like bluish purple

So I guess the poll was favorable towards re-starting your thread?

Keep up the good work--awesome to keep this journal for progressive improvements!

Mahalo everyone for your kind words. Sorry that I haven't kept up with my thread. I've been getting busier at work, and ended up working overtime the last three weekends. So no time for any projects either. But I have been putting better shines on ear stems that will go on polished Juliets. After I've taken their hammerstems and put them on my Mars.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Back on topic. I got advice on a couple of things that made huge differences.
The first was my etch. I was using Whink rust remover straight out of the bottle. I was told to dilute the solution to almost a 50-50 mix. Before, I had trouble controlling the etch, and it was eating at the polished finish before I could stop it. And it created an uneven spotty anodized finish. Now I could leave my parts in much longer and pull them out before my finish starts bubbling.
Next was lowering my amps. I'm using 3 amp power supplies, and lowered it down a two-thirds. To about one amp. Because I read that too high an amp level will also cause bubbling in an anodized finish. The combination of those two things and all of a sudden I started getting solid colors on some titanium plates I was using to practice on. I was so happy I was getting decent colors on the plates, that I lost focus and started messing around with the plates only. And came up with this titanium color chart.

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

Right after I did those plates, I had a frame semi-ready for anodizing. As I was still in the experimental stage, I didn't polish the Mars to mirror levels. So finish isn't exactly where I want it to be. But this was my best job so far, and one that let me know I'm on the right track.

Note about frame color. I made bridge and stems slightly darker than the eye sockets, to try and create a subtle Ti02 effect.

 

[nicosauve1]

sooo you became a self learned anodizing master basically? Crazy man.. 91 colors to choose from dialed in, wow!

 

[nicosauve1]

Aloha OF. My names Robert (Lopaka is Hawaiian for Robert), and I live on the east side of Oahu like my profile pic says. I'm an old Oakley fan since my first M frames back in the 90's. And while I'm not a heavy collector like a lot of you, I've found that I really enjoy fixing up my own glasses. I live in a townhouse with a two car enclosed garage, and don't have any extra space for my extra hobbies. So my garage is where I do all my work, because it's easy to pull a car out and set up a table or two. The back of my garage is a mess, and someday I'll take a whole picture 'after' I clean up. I have (wifes) stuff in boxes, stacked up on the side, from when we moved in 5-6 years ago. Lol.

View attachment 846543View attachment 846544View attachment 846545View attachment 846546View attachment 846547

The DIY part to all this came about for a couple of reasons. First, I hate shipping things back and forth. I feel like it's just a matter of time till something gets lost. I live on an island and don't have much choices. And second. I'm actually a very impatient guy. I won't outwardly show it, but man, it seems nothing moves fast enough for me. Maybe that comes from being in a trade where production is everything. So yes, even some of the quickest turn-around times still get me biting nails. I hate the long term anxiety that comes with waiting. And half of that time could be in shipping.

Lopaka's DIY Garage is my chronicle of the things I've done since joining the Forum. I started with basic lens and rubber swaps. Then I got into X-metals and started taking those apart and putting them back together. Right now I'm polishing and anodizing, and am still working to perfect (better) both. I also have a couple air brushes and have been practicing with some painting. So I am planning on doing some O-matter as well. I am a total amateur-novice in all aspects of customizing glasses frames, and just wanted to share my experiences for two reasons. First. I'm hoping I can provide info for others, to pass on things that I've learned. Even if it may be a 'what not to do'. Lol. And second. I'm hoping I can use this as a place to learn from others. Like be honest and tell me if I'm doing something that isn't correct. I'll never take any constructive criticism the wrong way. And I'll always be open to any ideas, tip, or tricks.

I'm going to rehash on some older stuff in leading up to the present day. So please bear with me if the beginnings of this thread is old-hat.

View attachment 846583
Note about photo above. I sold most of what you see. Sorry.

I was wondering who ended up with those deadpool R1's...

 

[Lopaka KaMars]

sooo you became a self learned anodizing master basically? Crazy man.. 91 colors to choose from dialed in, wow!

Mahalo for the kind words, but very far from master. Still working on better colors. Just wish I wasn't so busy nowadays. I squeeze in a comment or meme on the OF when I can.