Glass Restoration

3rd Order Rotating Lens Restoration

Cast 3rd Order Bullseye and Catadioptric prisms

These glass Fresnel lens segments were the first pieces manufactured for the Ponce Inlet 3rd Order lens restoration project.  The upper images are the center bullseye lens and a catadioptric prism.  3D computer models were made of each shape according to Fresnel's original formulas.  Masters were then machined out of wood on a computerized milling machine.  These masters were used to produce glass replicas by casting, grinding, and polishing to the desired shape.

The photos above show the restoration and installation of a 3rd order revolving lens at Ponce Inlet Lighthouse near Daytona Beach, Florida.  56 glass prisms were manufactured, machined and polished, from CAD drawings created from Fresnel's original formulas.  This is the first time a modern Coast Guard beacon was removed from the tower and replaced with a restored Historic Fresnel lens.  Ponce Inlet Lighthouse website

The orginal 1st order fixed lens that was first exhibited in the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse in Florida has been restored.  Seventeen prisms were missing.  Eleven dioptric prisms from the center belt lens and 6 upper catadioptric prisms.  Pictured below are three glass replica dioptric prisms recently manufactured for installation in the lens.  The fully restored lens is pictured at the bottom of the page.

Pictured below is the first order lens on exhibit at the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse lens exibit building.  It was the orginal lens first installed in the tower in 1888.  The prisms above were manufactured for this restoration and are now installed in the lens.

Home   Preservation   Restoration   Acrylic Restoration    Glass Restoration 

Replicas   Lens Production   Augustin Fresnel 

3D Animation