Safety Glasses

[ironrosefarms]

Since I have restarted in my smithing I have really been trying to use safety equipment. The one thing I am having the most trouble with is safety glasses. I have now bought 4 different pairs and have had trouble with each pair. The biggest problem is them fogging up to the point I can not see. Another problem that I have had with a few others is they channel sweat directly into my eyes. One pair of them was goggle type and besides the above two problems they hurt.

Working my paying job as the supervisor over 40 production employees, I know that the only safety equipment that works is equipment that is comfortable enough to be worn even when the boss isn't around. Well that is what I need is safety glasses that are comfortable enough to stay on my face and yet truly functional in protecting my peepers.

So what are you using? I'm willing to pay for a pair that will work but don't want to keep buying pair after pair just to find out they are just as problematic...

James

[coltpax]

my dad works at freightliner, and i got an old pair of his SS framed glasses. those things are nice.

[ThomasPowers]

Would a face shield work for you; not as safe as the glasses but as you said it has to be comfortable enough to be worn and some shielding is better than none.

(I wear safety glasses and a face shield for some things)

[welder19]

They make anti-fog safety glasses and they work really well, we get ours from airgas.com, they have a large selection of all types of eye protection.
At work they got REALLY BIG on safety in the last few years so we have tried out all different kinds and AirGas has been great to deal with, they let us try out all different kinds till we got the ones we liked best, now we stock about 10 or 12 diferent ones at the shop, this way everyone has the one they like best since different ones suit different people the best.
If your going to wear them a lot then I suggest anti-fog and ones with a small wire fram since they are the lightest and most comfortable, another thing that adds greatly to the comfort factor is having a soft rubber nose piece, and the ones with no frame around the lenses make for the best unobstructed veiw.
Don't buy cheap ones!
The cheap ones will work but they are uncomfortable, they ones that I wear on a daily basis at work are around $15 per pair but they are very comfortable and they hold up very good, I get about a month out of a pair, give or take depending on what type of work I'm doing, when we were using the cheaper one's I would go through 2-3 pair a week which ends up costing a lot more than the more expesive ones.
Also the cheaper ones will scratch when you clean them which just shortens their life making them harder to see through.
I hate wearing glasses of any kind but I don't mind these ones, also do yourself a favor and get tinted ones as well, they are good when working outside and when forging.
If you want I can find out the exact ones we use, that way it may save you some trial and error.

welder19

[ptree]

I am an industrial safety guy and have been thru this manny times. All of the major makers ahve anti-fog glasses, and all offer versions with a "Hardcoat" that is scratch resistant. I get mine from Hagermeyer, 502-962-5930, Mike Morrison.
AOSafety makes a nice wrap around, witha frameless style, and soft nose piece, hard coat and anti-fog, called the Virtua V-5. I think I pay about $3.50 each for thes when I buy a box of 12.
I also use many many Varrati 2000. These are an all clear, hard coat, antifog for $1.18 each for the box of 12. These are very well accepted with about 85% of my shop employees wearing these.
Scratching. All safety glasses will scratch if abused. When you clean them you start by using an anti-fog lens cleaner to wet them, then move the fluid around the lens with bare fingertips to float the crud off and then use a clean lens tissue of CLEAN soft cloth to polish dry right?
For the sweat in the eye I use a strip of old tee shirt tied in a band as a sweat band just above the eybrows.

[ironrosefarms]

welder19 and ptree thank you,
welder19 if you have a specific brand by all means let me know...

I have spent up to $18 on a pair thus far and couldn't stand them. My boy's think they are cool so they wear them...

As for the sweat the problem is a few of them have a foam like bar on the top that just takes all the sweat and creates two streams into the corners of your eyes, a horrible design flaw.

James

[Woody]

Remember that safety glasses are ment to protect the eye from straight on impacts. Grinding etc can throw pieces of metal up under the glasses or in from the side and into they eye. A few years ago I had to have a piece of steel removed from my eye when the screwdriver bit on the drill spun out of the head of the screw and threw a sharp piece of steel up under my safety glasses and into my eye. Choose the right eye protection for the hazard, sometimes a face shield or goggles are what is necessary.

If you wear prescription glasses, get prescription safety glasses. Yes they are expensive but they are far less inconvenient than a dog and a white cane.

Sweat is a problem, I wear a dew rag bandana around my head. Fogging is another problem, anti fog compound helps but it can still be a problem when wearing safety goggles over prescription glasses. If something fogs up take the time to stop and clean up everything. Remember there is no GOOD reason to do something unsafe.

[WagonMaster]

I ware the frame type and I have the problem with the sweat getting in the eye's..

[Jmercier]

I wear prescription safety glasses, and I've taken to wearing a bandanna when I'm forging because of the sweat problem. There really is no "good" solution, but a bandanna seems to work well enough... Now the problem is that most bandannas are too small to get a good knot in the back of them after wrapping them around my head!

[Woody]

Jmercier

No problem tie two of them together