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Date: Jun 3, 2009

Installing eyes

cowgirl · Veteran Member

On "The art of Newborning" Secrist's dvd there is a section on inserting eyes.
I cut the eyesocket half way around with a exacto knife. Doing in on the bottom half of the eye. On the inside of the head. Not all the way around. Insert the eye with some long hemostats or your fingers. Position eyes and glue in with E 600 glue.
Some will soften the head and insert from the front. Hope this helps.

Brenda

sara zata · Guru

If they are secrists eyes and are in the kit when you get it, they are OK to be left in the head when you bake it. If not do as Brenda says. XXXXXX June

Buffington · Guru

Exactly as stated. Great job ladies! And once you insert your eyes from inside the head and glue with E6000, be sure to set the head face down on a bowl or coffee mug to make sure the glue doesn't slide down the back of the eye sockets and drip out. I glob a bunch on. Let sit that way for about 24 hours

jburle · Senior Member

What do you mean when you say glue in? like the cut on the back of the eye inside the head? I am getting two kits with open eyes. well one is open and the other is closed on the one and the second one has two open eyes...

and if I glue the slit's shut would the eye still move and would it be safe.. I think I asked so that it wouldn't be miss understood. but I think I didn't ask it in a right kind of way....

Liselle · Guru

I understood it, but I don't cut the vinyl for mine. I simply heat up the vinyl with my heat gun, and pop the eyes in from the front.

Tina W. · Guru

There are a couple of really good thread about installing and placement of eye in the forum. You might want to check them out. I've done a couple open eye babies and my first one I was about to throw across the room LOL it was harder for me than I thought it would be. I tried from the front and had no luck even heated the vinyl up, didn't help. I wound up cutting a slit from behind (still not an easy task) positioning the eyes then gluing them in from behind. I worked up quite a sweat putting them in LOL!

jburle · Senior Member

lol I will check them out those threads.... I was just wondering I dont' know if I want to heat up the vinyl and then "pop" them in..

Tina W. · Guru

Alot of artist do it that way if the eye openings are large enough and of course the vinyl isn't too hard. It just didn't work for me, but I did a tanner sculpt and the eye opening were a bit small.

Play Days Dolls · Guru

I heat the head and put the eyes in from the front unless I am hand rooting the eyelashes or there is some other reason for not doing it (such as the shape of the eye, wideness of the opening, softness of the vinyl, etc.)

If you glue the eye in from the back, make sure it is one of the last things you do. When I first tried this, I wasn't done rooting, and the eye came unglued.

Buffington · Guru

jburle wrote:

What do you mean when you say glue in? like the cut on the back of the eye inside the head?
...and if I glue the slit's shut would the eye still move and would it be safe.. I think I asked so that it wouldn't be miss understood. but I think I didn't ask it in a right kind of way....

Yes, glue the section inside the head where you made the slit in the eye socket to remove the old eye (for reborning) or where you intend to insert the new eye (on a blank kit).

When you glue the slit shut the eye no longer moves but you don't want the eye to move or it can make the baby look really strange if one eye is looking up and the other out KWIM? hehehe

If you're doing reborning where you're starting with a play doll with blinking eyeballs, you don't want to reuse those eyeballs anyway.

If this doesn't explain it just come back and ask again