ThomasPowers Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 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) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welder19 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptree Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 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-xxxx, 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. phone number not working Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironrosefarms Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 I ware the frame type and I have the problem with the sweat getting in the eye's.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmercier Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Jmercier No problem tie two of them together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Jmercier Or, like ptree said, use a tee shirt. Just cut a 4" wide strip, and it makes a great head band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateDJ Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 I wear a welding hat to keep the sweat out of my eyes, It helps a lot. I also keep a ''Clean'' rag handy for when I am sweating really bad, (it gets 100+ w/ 98% humidity here in OK). I use a face shield for grinding or anything that has flying metal, I find that is is by far the most comfortable of the safety eye ware I have tried. It is the one from Lowes and was ~$12.00. Why would something like a full face shield not be safer than safety glasses? Not arguing just need to know! These face shields wrap up the face like a welding helmet but are clear except the top forehead piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 Nate most face shields have a gap on the top that can let stuff arc up and over to fall inside. Not a very common occurance generally however there is a problem with stuff building up in your hair that then falls in your eyes when you take off the shield---with the goggles you can comb out your hair before taking them off. I had a potentially nasty example of this when I had been using a die grinder with a milling bit that spewed a lot of small semicircular sharp bits of steel all over. My shield protected from direct impact but I got one in my eye from off my hair. Luckily it wan't stuck in my eye but was riding on the surface---one of the scarey strong disk drive magnets was able to easily remove it without an ER trip, though I did monitor for infection for several days after just in case. Note this was with wearing my regular safety glasses and a face shield! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welder19 Posted August 26, 2008 Share Posted August 26, 2008 The ones I like the best are made by MCR and are called Tremor meta-flex ProGrade, they are $8-$10.50 per pair depending on the lens, clear, gray, blue, mirror, etc. and we purchase them through Airgas, I think my other post had a link. Worth every dime in my opinion. As far as the fog goes, even if you find glasses you really like and they don't offer them in anit-fog, there are anti-fog spray and wipes available that will help prevent fogging on any glasses or facesheild and usually cost in the $5-$10 range and work good, atleast the ones I have used, the brand we have is Radnor, also available through Airgas. welder19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son_of_bluegrass Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Since you're talking about protecting eyes, don't forget that a forge emits IR and UV rays. You may want to consider something to protect against them. (the simple solution is not to look into the fire, but cataracts run strong in my family) ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welder19 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Tinted safety glasses are a must when forging, especially when forging at night, or a tinted face sheild if you want some protection from the heat also. welder19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptree Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Polycarbonate lens naturally protect from UV with or without tint. face sheilds are designed to protect the face. They are not tested for eye protection the same as safety glasses. I always prefer the heavier windows for face shields, as the thin ones are not much protection from a burst grinding wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Roy Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Just to add my two cents on what has already been said. I already have to wear glasses just to see so adding some form of safety glasses over them was a pain. I now use prescription safety glasses with side shields. But for some activities that isn't enough. One day when grinding I felt some debris hitting my forehead. I didn't feel anything in my eyes but some material was going over the top of my glasses. When I looked into the mirror I wondered what those spots were. The eye doctor knew and I spent some time in his chair as he pulled particles out of my eye. I would rather go to the dentist. No I wear the safety glasses and a face shield. Also: usually a dust mask, sometimes hearing protection and one or more gloves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 (edited) Depending on what I'm doing I'll add a face shield to my poly lensed readers. There's a trick I do when doing something really dirty, meaning lots of crud in the air. Before I take my face shield and or safety glasses off I close my eyes, bend over at the waist, take my hat off and shake as much out of my hair as I can. Then without opening my eyes I take off the face shield and safety glasses and repeat for my eye brows. Last but NOT least I close my eyes in the shower for the first shampoo as stuff will rinse out of your hair, eyebrows and even eye lashes that won't shake out. On some occasions I've worn my face shield and glasses into the shower before removing them. This has usually been after a lathe session with lots of flying chips. I HATE having stuff pulled out of my eyes. NEVER use an air hose to blow chips off your clothes or out of your . . . HAIR! Bad, REALLY BAD things are just too likely to happen, especially to your ear drums and bloodstream! Frosty Edited November 10, 2008 by Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I wear a welder's cap when in my shop, especially when using power tools. It keeps stuff out of my hair, which from reading the previous postings, sounds like a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I usually wear tee shirts so that when I pull the shirt over my head what ever dirt and chips that are trapped in my shirt are going right past my eyes. At the suggestions of my eye doctor the last time I was having a foreign object removed from my eye he had me take my shirt off before he started the procedure and not to wear anything that had to be pulled over my head when grinding in the future. So now I wear button up shirts when grinding, wear a cap on my head and bandanna over my beard. I use a full face shield with safety glasses and hear protection as I'm already half deaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I posted this to another thread but it's worth repeating. Crud gets caught in your hair, eyebrows, eyelashes as well as the head band of your face shield, on top of your safety glasses, "T" shirt and anything else that'll get near your eyes. When doing things that put a lot of crud in the air I close my eyes before taking my gear off, then ruffle my hair, brush my eyebrows and eyelashes before opening them again. This goes for pulling my "T" off too. There have been times I've worn it all into the shower before removing it so I could wash the chips out before opening my eyes. I haven't had a major eye pickin incident since. (sound of me furiously knocking on wood!) Never, NEVER use an air hose to clean off with. If you didn't like it on you you most certainly will NOT like it IN you! Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Good subject, I need to get me some good tinted safty Glasses.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidney brink Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 do they make safety glasses that are period corect ?????hum I wonder????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironrosefarms Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I am not suggesting these for forging as I can not find any IR rating, however I am looking into if I can get lenses made for them...Retro style shooting safety glasses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingmaker3 Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I use #4 cobalt blue flip-ups with my regular prescription safety glasses. Side shields are a must, because of those pesky "forge fleas." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Czar Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 pretty much anything cheap off the welding truck I would point out that a few pairs of goggles are appropriate from time to timeHere is to a needle in the eye (A cautionary tale) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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