1 hour ago, Chelonian said:

If it is strictly for forum usage, then why does it have a paragraph on grinding and milling anvil faces?

Because we didn't have a "Common Beginner's Mistakes" thread! If someone does create such a thing, then we'll replace that caution with a link to that thread.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/28858-common-beginner-mistakes/

 

 

It's hard to get newbies to read the Read This First thread and it's relatively short. Add all that to it and it will be more difficult to get them to read it. (IMO)

BTW I and my wife wear IR glasses when forging.

I've created a new Common Basic Mistakes That Beginners Should Avoid thread and requested the mods to link to it in the RTF thread in place of the "don't grind the anvil" bonus tip.

My mate just posted this, over forty years ive had the odd 9" explode,also 5" once with each causing me great pain,touch wood its been years since, I use what is tagged in OZZ Zip discs 125mm x1mm on a daily basis, luckily ive not been hit with them yet.

We used to call them zip disks too but it seems most everybody is calling them cut off disks. I think zip disk is a better name, that's the sound the halves make as they shoot past your head when they break.

MAN that's as good an argument for eye protection as I've seen in a long time. Multiple layer eye protection actually, a face shield might have kept it from penetrating the glasses. OR perhaps deflected into his forehead or nose.

A guy can make up some pretty good stories about an impressive facial scar, can be worth a drink or two you know. 

Good pic for the PPE sticky section. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Yes Frosty sometimes photos do more to bring a very dangerous topic up my friend!

I find that odd to say the least. you had my fair share of 1mm cut off disk breaking and every time the light mass of the disk meant they did not do much damage at all. Had bits hit my shirt, pants or hit the floor with no consequences. A thicker disk is another matter entirely. 

I believe that the disk in the gyprock wall is a fake. You can still see the paper surface lifted in the cut and gypsum powder going down the cut from when it was done with the running grinder. i abstain from commenting on the safety glasses picture ... however it seems to me ... may be wrong ... but those two halfs, the glasses and the wall seem to fit each other. 

I hear what your saying Marc1,but for the young it could save from a stuff up, at 23 I sunk a 9" disc at work in my knee, years later a 5" disc in my left forearm, but ive been in the trade since 78.

Sure, I am not denying the dangers of a grinder of any size. It would be redundant to anyone with metal work experience to enumerate the occasions he knows first hand of horrific injuries. 

i am only saying what i believe to be the case of those photos. The many times I have broken thin cutting disk, when cutting colorbond fence sheeting,  something they are not made for,  they fly apart and just flop one meter away due to their minimal mass. Not to encourage anyone to be complacent with disk of any size though. The grinder is by far the most dangerous powertool in a metal workshop.

Yes so true Marc1 ! Off topic I luv paying for these! They take a lot of work 

I use "Pferd" made in germany. Bought a large box of the things and another box of flap disk. 

Yes so true Marc1 ! Off topic I luv paying for these! These.oh ceramic is awesome for ripping off welds and  flushing 

So currently I've been using my protective eyewear that I got for my guns when I'm forging however, they fog up really easily. I was hoping that I could get some recommendations for good protective eyewear for blacksmithing and forging in general.

Thanks!

Good eye protection with a little anti-fogging agent applied maybe?

My trifocals are poly carbonate safety glasses with side shields and designed to fit close to my eyebrows. I still wear a face shield when doing something that's likely to put junk in the air. Powered wire wheel for example.

Frosty The Lucky.

46 minutes ago, Frosty said:

with a little anti-fogging agent applied maybe?

For example, spit. 

I use the "heavy duty safety goggles" (also known as "splash resistant safety goggles") from Harbor Freight, which are inexpensive, have a good safety rating, don't let flying scale or grinder grit in around the edges, and won't break the bank when they inevitably need replacement. 

I had sprung for some prescription safety goggles with the appropriate bifocal lenses and HATED them. Oh, well. At least the insurance company paid for most of that.

ir can be blocked by clear lenses that are treated, or by screen mesh as it interrupts the wavelengths. we wear them in foundries. the infra red light is a wavelength radiant, the ultra violet light is blocked by eirther uv treated clear plastic or those yellowish lenses. glassblowers use neodymium lenses to stop the uv and the ir that is why people recommend them. a glassblowers glory hole is identical to a forge, albeit a little hotter, but usually around 1800º. i just got in a fight with a guy onine who makes instructional videos about forging who absolutelt makes fun of people who forge with any safety gear on. he says safety is pointless. i will direct him to read the 15 pages here!

Welcome to IFI... Have you read this yet? READ THIS FIRST

Welcome aboard Gwyn is it? Glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many members live within visiting distance. Can we call you something more easily pronounced and remembered than your logon handle?

Glass blowers use neodymium glasses to block the sodium yellow flare given off by the glass. They're no help blocking visible light at the forge other than the bright yellow from some welding fluxes and they're DARNED expensive. They do block ir nicely but so do my poly carb trifocal safety glasses.

Regardless don't stare into the forge, keep an eye on things but don't stand there and stare. It's really hard not to gaze into a fire but gas forges put out way too much IR.

Gas forges do NOT emit UV, well not enough to be detectable without lab grade equipment. Your TV is a stronger (brighter is the correct term) UV emitter.

About the clowns who argue safety gear is for sissies. Don't argue with idiots, it'll only frustrate you and only natural selection will help them. . . . Unless I say something idiotic, please set me straight, I hate it when I'm an idiot.

Frosty The Lucky.

On 3/15/2019 at 5:58 PM, JHCC said:

For example, spit

That's what I was taught to do to my scuba mask to keep it from fogging. I don't know if they still teach that. It's been a long while since I took a scuba cert. course, but it works well.

Pnut

I wear RX tri-focal glasses.  I also hate safety glasses with a passion........................especially the kind that are large enough to allow me to wear my RX glasses because for some reason they distort my RX.  But after seeing that disc stuck in Bean07's glasses, I'm an instant convert.  Thanks for posting that.  WHEW, I can only  imagine the bodily damage that would have caused had you not been wearing them.

 

Chris

My former boss was an avid scuba diver (her husband runs a dive shop), and she assured me that spit is still the preferred defogging agent.

thanks guys! i will update my profile. Frosty-what is sodium yellow flare? i havent heard that before and now am curious. as for me i always wear both safety glasses and a face shield! always, even if im just walking across the shop floor. i guess what they say about 'common sense' is even more true these days!

-G

Sodium produces a bright yellow flame when heated sufficiently; you may remember this from flame tests in chemistry class. You see this a lot in glassblowing with soda-lime glass. 

I use salt to test for critical temperature in heat treating (its melting point of 1474F is closer to the 1450F-1500F necessary for complete conversion to austenite than the usual 1413F at which steel becomes nonmagnetic), which almost always turns the dragon's breath of my propane forge to a yellow-orange.

I wear safety glasses and an impact rated face shield every time I use a grinder or wire wheel. I will not use a grinder that has the guard removed. I have seen two face shields with part of a grinder wheel embedded in them during my career, neither employee was injured because they were wearing proper PPE.