A Few Words About Nose Pads for Plastic Frames

Many eyeglass and sunglass frames are made of nylon, zyl or acetate plastics. They have one-size-fits-all nose pads that are molded into the plastic eyeglass frame. Those seem to fit and work fine for some people, but don’t always work out so well for others.

If the plastic eyeglass frames are carefully fitted to the patient's unique face, nose, and ear shapes, they will sit on the nose right where they belong.

For the rest of us, the frames slip down the nose, needing to be pushed back into place. Or the frames rest on our chubby little cheeks, and steam up the lenses.

One solution is to use stick on nose pads for plastic frames. These silicone nose pads are thin, and have adhesive on one side. If installed on clean frames they will stick to the frame for a few days to a few weeks. They are easy to remove and replace.

Another solution is to use snappy pads, a simple method of adding silicone nose pads for plastic frames to your eyeglasses or sunglasses.

Remove the lenses from your eyeglass frame
to avoid accidentally scratching the lens

Measure the distance between the centers of the two studs
located on the back of the nose pads
and mark two spots on the frame

Drill two #52 holes (slightly smaller than the studs)
being very careful not to drill all the way thru the eyeglass frame!
Measure depth twice, drill once...

Press the nose pad studs into place with smooth nylon-jaw pliers

Snappy pads are not adjustable. For the most flexible fit the solution is to install nose pad arms onto your plastic eyeglass frames. This is a bit trickier, and requires tools that the average do-it-yourselfer may not have. A trained optometrist or optician should probably perform this modification.

1) Heat the plastic eyeglass frame with a frame warmer (44070) and remove the lenses
2) Using a zyl file (31383) or flex shaft grinder (34300) and a tree shaped burr (32887), grind off the molded nose pad areas from the frames
3) Use a buffing wheel (17126) and blue rouge (47322) to smooth out and polish the ground areas
4) Use a marking pen (44205) to mark the spots where you will drill two small holes (one for each nose pad arm)
5) Measure the thickness of the frame with a caliper (35181). DO NOT drill all the way through the frame.
6) Measure the nose pad arm and select a drill the same size, or slightly larger
7) Insert the drill into a pin vise (58250). Be sure the drill extends less than the thickness of the frames to avoid drilling all the way through the frame. Carefully drill holes for the nose pad arms.
8) Insert the nose pad arms (829101) into the holes, making sure you have the box openings facing each other
9) Insert screw-on nose pads (876629) into the box, and insert the nose pad screws (80083)
10) A drop of Super Glue (12176) on the arms may be used to hold them in place in the frames
11) Adjust the nose pad arms with small nose pad adjusting pliers (46421)
12) Heat the frames with a frame warmer and replace the lenses