Going Blind?

[metalworker77]

I've been blacksmithing only since the beginning of this past summer. I built a forge with an electric blower; it has very good air flow and achieves a very bright white light, I've been leaving the blower on till till the charcoal sustains that white light for up to a minute or so. Recently I've been trying to save on charcoal so I've been putting only a small portion of charcoal on, I will wait till most of the pile is dull yellow or white hot, I sit there and stare at it monitoring it till the charcoal and steel is white hot, I remember saying to myself...wow! That’s really bright. I just found out recently that the light can be harmful. I've never heard of this before I, thought that was only with arc welding...but then I thought of the sun, and it is a white light! I've been researching it more and I noticed that most blacksmiths don't run their forge the way I do...they put a large pile of charcoal on and achieve a ball or gasses and white hot fire inside the pile...from what I can tell you can barely see the white light beneath it, I think I will forget about saving and put larger piles on. Should I be worried about the light? can you go blind from from the light off of a charcoal forge? How about the hot metal itself, can it damage your eyes?

[Mike Turner]

They have special glasses you can get that blocks the uv light, just go to the local weld shop they can fix you up. Yes it can hurt your eyes so I would not just sit there and stare at it.

[HWooldridge]

I can't speak to charcoal but I began pursuing my interest in blacksmithing at age 23 and had to have cataract surgery at age 42. That wasn't a bad thing since it turned out well BUT I do believe the fire in my coal forge damaged my eyes over the years.

[ApprenticeMan]

Originally Posted by metalworker77

I've been blacksmithing only since the beginning of this past summer. I built a forge with an electric blower; it has very good air flow and achieves a very bright white light, I've been leaving the blower on till till the charcoal sustains that white light for up to a minute or so. Recently I've been trying to save on charcoal so I've been putting only a small portion of charcoal on, I will wait till most of the pile is dull yellow or white hot, I sit there and stare at it monitoring it till the charcoal and steel is white hot, I remember saying to myself...wow! That’s really bright. I just found out recently that the light can be harmful. I've never heard of this before I, thought that was only with arc welding...but then I thought of the sun, and it is a white light! I've been researching it more and I noticed that most blacksmiths don't run their forge the way I do...they put a large pile of charcoal on and achieve a ball or gasses and white hot fire inside the pile...from what I can tell you can barely see the white light beneath it, I think I will forget about saving and put larger piles on. Should I be worried about the light? can you go blind from from the light off of a charcoal forge? How about the hot metal itself, can it damage your eyes?

I liek to stare at the fire to make sure it is burning good, and my eyes started to get watery even when I was not in the shop, so I got the cool goggles you can see in my avatar picture and can stare in the fire all I like. they are Welding shade 5 lenses, fully rated AISI certified and all that, they are cool to work the forge with because if you look at the steel and stuff, and you heat it up to welding heat you can actually watch the metal flow!

[ApprenticeMan]

FIRE IS HYPNOTISING

[bruce wilcock]

the smiths that worked at big fires chain welding developed a eye problem that my father called rheumy eye, and he olso told me he could pick out heavy chain makers by there eyes and the way they moved about ,from horse shoers and general jobbing smiths.

[Woody]

While everybody seems to be concerned about UV rays damaging the eyes remember that the primary radiation given off by forge fires and hot metal is infrared rays. Welding goggles for A/O welding provide the protection that you need, but many types of eye protection that protect the eyes from UV do not also provide IR protection. When in doubt seek the advice of a qualified professional like an opthomologist. What that will cost you is much cheaper than all the accessories you will need for your new white cane and dog.

Woody

[ThomasPowers]

Woody is right, IR is the problem with forge fires *NOT* UV so O-A welding goggles in the lighter shades are generally suggesed not Arc goggles.

If you want to research it loog for "Glass blowers Cataracts"

This is also one of the reasons I don't like gas forges to be at "eye level" I want to discourage myself from looking in as much as possible.

Once a gas or solid fuel forge comes up to temp you should have a pretty good feel for how long a piece will take to come to the right temp.

[Candidquality]

You've actually noticed the IR quite a few times looking at pictures of hot things taken with (cheap) cameras. Anytime you see a purple glowing rod, it's from the IR. Actually one of the easiest ways to see it is pictures taken from a cell phone.

[Paragon]

Take your TV remote.. and your cell phone camera (other digital camera with LCD screen may work too) and point the remote at the camera lense and press a button.. you will see the IR LED light up and blink.

I use my shade 5 OA goggles sometimes when I'm heating up. I think I need to use it more. (doesn't help I use the OA torch for heating) Might get one that has the flip up lense so I can see easier when hammering.

You can see the steel start to get glossy then it goes liquid. Easy to see with the shade 5. Just remember that things are hotter than they appear through the goggles.