SUPERDENIM SMALL QUESTIONS THREAD (Use instead of making new threads)

[smoothsailor]

That would be a cool excercition. @81FXR 
I would give an old or cheap pair a try first

Edited January 1, 2025 by smoothsailor

[CSL]

To reshape you'd need the pro equipment i.e. a heating box full of tiny glass beads (looks like sand). Even with this you need to be very careful. I've watched my optician manipulate a number of vintage frames I've brought in. He'll get to a certain point & say, 'I think this is as far as I can push it'. He'll offer to go further if I take the responsibility for breakage but I've never took the risk.

Regarding sanding off edges, you'd also need a means of polishing them back to a high shine.

Edited January 2, 2025 by CSL

[81FXR]

Thanks both!

Sounds risky, especially on nice frames.

I’m only really looking to take the sharp(ish) edge off, they fit perfectly so would need to do so without affecting the overall shape at all.

I’ve got an old inexpensive pair lying around which I may attempt it on. I’ve got a few polishing wheels for the Dremel I could try.

It’s really such a minor detail it’s almost not worth it but as with most of the topics here, those minor details can make all the difference!

[Double 0 Soul]

I do this quite a lot.. not usually with acetate but with most other resins.. polyurethane, polycarb, acrylic ..ect

Forget the Dremel, one false move and it's fked.

If i was you i'd unscrew the arms and mask off the lenses front and back, then use 100grit sandpaper to create the desired shape, if you want it to be more of a chamfer than a rad, wrap the piece of sandpaper around a small block of wood.. bit of 1/4 ply or summat (1.5" long) .. get the shape right, then move to 320g sandpaper to remove the sanding marks, then 1000g wet n'dry, use it dry.. then 3000g wet n'dry keep dipping them in a bowl of warm soapy water the soap acts like a lubricant.. finally 6000g grit.. you can polish them back up with Brasso or T-Cut and for a super-polish, i use whitening toothpaste, keep them wet while doing so.. if you want a finished shine some resin car wax/polish works a treat.

I wouldn't recommend any polishing machinery.

If you find the acetate quite soft, use 240g instead of 100 and 600g instead of 320, you'll only know this by trying it.

Edited January 2, 2025 by Double 0 Soul

[Cold Summer]

I'm interested in getting a green jacket. I'm looking at styles including the M-65 1st, like those made by RMC and Buzz Rickson, as well as the Runabout Overland jacket. I'd love more suggestions, especially if it's something I could plausibly find on Yahoo Auctions or Mercari for a good deal. Thanks!

 

[81FXR]

Thanks @Double 0 Soul  hugely helpful! 
 

I’ll get stuck into it over the weekend and post some pics of how I get on.

[Double 0 Soul]

Good luck!

Just avoid the Dremel, heat will soften acetal which is why you can manipulate glasses in a heat box, but any kind of fast rotating friction (even with a soft polishing pad) will generate a lot of heat and risk melting them.

Slowing the Dremel down just makes it ridiculously hard to control. 

[dawn]

Are there any brands beside LVC that has the braces/suspender buttons attached?

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

8 hours ago, dawn said:

Are there any brands beside LVC that has the braces/suspender buttons attached?

There are quite a few. Tcb has them on their 20s jeans and other offerings. Belafonte has them on quite a few options, I think if you’ll be a bit more specific about the cut I can be a bit more helpful. 
 

trying to avoid double comments here so: 

 

@Cold Summer is Barbour an option for you? It’s green, but totally a different style to the ones you mentioned (there are also Japanese Barbour repros)

[81FXR]

Had a go at the cheaper glasses today. Thanks for the tips! It didn’t go terribly and the acetate is super easy to work with. Only issue was I broke a lens putting it back in. No big deal as it was the ‘test’ pair.

I’m confident I could probably get the ‘proper’ ones looking nice but I’m not comfortable with the risk. As well as being quite expensive, it’s not always easy to get hold of the Japanese Tart AR so it would be a big risk to mess with them.

Here’s the ones I sanded:

 

 

And a photo of the original Tart Arnel with a photo of my ‘repro’ ones where you can see the difference. Subtle, but a difference nonetheless.

Originals:

 

Mine:

Edited January 4, 2025 by 81FXR

[81FXR]

Famous last words… went ahead and did the Tart pair. Came out nice, really pleased with the results.

Thanks again for the help!

[Double 0 Soul]

You've made a good job of those!

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

Anyone here placed orders with Mcfly? 
weird inquiry but - how accurate are the measurements on the website? 

[julian-wolf]

^ I’ve bought from them a couple of times and received good service, but can’t comment on their measurements

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

13 minutes ago, julian-wolf said:

^ I’ve bought from them a couple of times and received good service, but can’t comment on their measurements

Did you contact them via email? I guess I’ll just ask them. 

[Talan]

2 hours ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

Anyone here placed orders with Mcfly? 
weird inquiry but - how accurate are the measurements on the website? 

I was ordering from Mcfly. By accident it was a pair of Freewheelers Walden corduroy pants, which have suspender buttons - a question couple of days ago here 🙂

[CSL]

Mostly I've ordered FW shirts from them.

I did buy a pair of 601XX at one point and the measurements seemed to be accurate.

Edited January 5, 2025 by CSL

[mlwdp]

@81FXRWould love to get a hold of Tart, Blanc or Max Pittion but leary about the usps handling them with care.  DHL  would be better but would use a proxy like world shopping etc.

Edited January 6, 2025 by mlwdp

[81FXR]

11 hours ago, mlwdp said:

@81FXRWould love to get a hold of Tart, Blanc or Max Pittion but leary about the usps handling them with care.  DHL  would be better but would use a proxy like world shopping etc.

Yeah they’re truly great glasses. Quality on a par with anything I’ve seen. My pair of  FDR sunglasses are a few years old now and still look new.

I inadvertently got mine through a proxy. The site didn’t explicitly advertise themselves as such but the glasses arrived via FedEx from Private Eyes and Trackers who are a Tokyo retailer of Tart.

They occasionally have them at Clutch Cafe too but most popular models/colours seem to be out of stock.

[81FXR]

How often do UES typically release new flannels?

I’d slept on the brand for too long and picked up the indigo heavy selvedge last year and it’s become my favourite shirt.

Seems the other available styles are mostly sold out in my size so wondering if new ones tend to come out each year?

Edited January 7, 2025 by 81FXR

[julian-wolf]

Preorders open each year around late March / early April, and the shirts release in August

[81FXR]

1 hour ago, julian-wolf said:

Preorders open each year around late March / early April, and the shirts release in August

Nice, thanks for the info!

[lyraman]

Anyone know of a Japanese proxy service that will lower the declared value?

[OutSider]

3 hours ago, lyraman said:

Anyone know of a Japanese proxy service that will lower the declared value?

JapanRabbit will let you set custom value 

[lyraman]

Thanks OutSider 

[Double 0 Soul]

Thanks @OutSider it looks like a very good proxy service, trustpilot reviews are superb!

I've just had a little poke around the site and found..

..so what's the process for lowering the value? .. is it automated a'la Zen or do you have to request it from the staff?

What are the fees?

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Funnily I had the same question yesterday in my mind and found Japan Rabbit as well.

@Double 0 Soulthey have a fee calculator on their site. They are more expensive than other proxy service. Lowest fee is 9$ and it is related to the item price.

https://app.japanrabbit.com/pricing

[Double 0 Soul]

$9 is cheap enough if the value is lowered.. i stopped buying clothes in 2019, i think the last purchase was the Junky-46s, i've still been buying stuffs from Japan but i've tried to keep everything under out £135 limit for border charges.

The DS SC-47s, i purchased recently cost £150ish then i was hit with a further £30 in shipping costs and an additional £60+ in border charges, making a reasonably priced pair of jeans very costly..  :(£240)

I'd like to buy a handmade (est £1000+ once in a lifetime purchase) bike frame from JP (Mercari or Yahoo JDirect) one day but shipping charges jump significantly when the package is 1m+.. A bike frame measures around 1m from headtube to rear dropouts but add lots of packaging (at my request) and it'll be more like 1.2m, meaning it has to go FedEx at significant cost.. but it will still be worth it / doable when these costs are factored in.. what rules it out entirely is duty and vat.

[OutSider]

I've never used JapanRabbit. I was suggested it myself as you can set custom value, I've just bitten the bullet and used buyee as of now.

If I keep up buying like I am now I'll try them out. Custom fees are killer, we pay at or over $20

 

[81FXR]

This just popped up on my Pinterest, can anyone ID the jeans? I clicked through to the link but there was no info.