Safety glasses for forging...

[Randy]

Before it was a standard to wear safety glasses I got a piece of aluminum in my eye just by walking through the grind room at a company I worked for. Had to get it cut out. No fun. Wear glasses.

[KST1-Derek Fultz]

Been there, done that, learned a lesson.

Just the memory of that little micro-burr coming at my eye to get rid of the rust ring is usually enough to make me find my safety glasses.

-Derek

[Willis]

I've worn glasses since the third grade, only now I order special safety glasses with a side shield, and I'm never without them, and I still had to pick a steel spliner from a wire wheel out of my cheek last night.

[Don A]

Just the memory of that little micro-burr coming at my eye to get rid of the rust ring is usually enough to make me find my safety glasses.

Seriously. And if anyone needs further motivation, check this out:

http://www.flickr.co...N04/1967365392/

[JNewman]

Grinding, glasses may not be enough. I did 2 minutes of grinding at the end of a long day 2 nights ago. I had my glasses on and I watched a spark go right into my eye, I swear I heard it hit. I tried flushing it with water, went and got a rare earth magnet and moved that around just above the eye. It was painful all the way home I think I flushed it out in the bathtub but it was still somewhat painful for the next 2 days. Luckily today it feels fine. I have been wearing my full face shield the last two days while grinding nothing has even come close to my eyes.

[Jacques]

Recurrent corneal erosion is a disorder of the eyes characterized by the failure of the cornea's outermost layer of epithelial cells to attach to the underlying basement membrane (Bowman's layer). The condition is excruciatingly painful because the loss of these cells results in the exposure of sensitive corneal nerves. There is often a history of previous corneal injury (corneal abrasion or ulcer) -Wikipedia

I've had it and probably still have it (it is recurrant) and look after my eyes carefully. Mine was caused by grit in the eye and I had weekly episodes for more than a year, some not very bad and some extremely bad, a few times ending up in an emergency clinic on a weekend after not having slept at all.

Typical of the disorder is waking up 2 o'clock in the morning feeling as if something has just hit you in the eye and sitting in pain until things get better. There is some very expensive laser treatment for it, with an 80% chance of success.

[Michael]

These stories got me wearing both a face shield AND safety glasses over my regular glasses when I was doing some angle grinding the other day.

I have a friend, he repairs industrial lasers. He has a stack of stickers in his tool box that he applies on each new machine he workes on. "Don't look at LASER with remaining eye!"

[Glenn]

The eye doctor always wants to know what I have been doing. He is amazed at all the junk stick to the lenses. More so when I tell him I wear large safety glasses over them or a full face shield, or both when I feel there is a need for protection.

Ever use a weed eater and when your finished try to clean all the grass and junk off the safety glasses?

I know, we say it often but here it comes again.
Personal safety is YOUR personal responsibility to keep YOU safe.

[ThomasPowers]

Since I wear a heavy prescription the eye guys keep wanting me to wear smaller glasses---I show them the dings, chips, scratches and burns on my old pair and tell them that I quite like the big wide lenses!

[Marksnagel]

One month ago I woke up with an irritation in my left eye. I went to work drove @80 miles to the job site. It got worse as time went on. I had to drive to another town to drop off some samples and it got so bad I finally went into the emergency room of the small town hospital. They said I had a three hour wait. i told them I would be blind by that time. Drove across the road and saw with the good eye an eye dr's office. They took me in looked in my right eye and said, "Yep, its scratched." I told them it was the other eye. They looked there and said, "Yep. That one is really scratched."
They pulled out a very tiny little black speck. I knew what it was right away. The day before I was breaking up some coal that was too large. I had on safety glasses that I thought was enough. Not so. I never felt it go in but it made its way to where it began scratching.

My point? Everything we do is inherently dangerous and we should always use PPE. Just because it isn't hot or whirling at 3,000 rpm doesn't mean it can't get you.

[ptree]

I have worked in factories all my life. Been a safety guy for quite a while. For those who don't wear prescription safety glasses, check out the Pryamex brand Highlander safety glasses. They have a soft, COMFORTABLE gasket that really does seal well if the quick connect strap is fastened across the back of the head. We have tried many many brands and types and the guys and gals like these better than any others. They are very inexpensive, and the bikers love them to ride with.
Less than $10 from the wholesaler, I think less than $5 if bought by the box.
I order the Pryamex Highlamder Safety glasses from my local Hagemeyer NA mill supply.
If you need help call 502-962-xxxx and ask Mike Morrison and he can sell them to you over the phone by credit card, and or tell you which of the 1700 shops they have worldwide is closest to you.
Hint, These are real snazzy, not you average "BC's"

 

phone number not working

[Private Entrance]

The only thing I had ever been religious about eye protection with is bench and angle grinder because of the volume of garbage they spew out.

I've always had one response to the safety guys that have bugged me about eye protection: The safety glasses you provide me are so scratched up because they'd get thrown in a drawer with files and screwdrivers, that I can't see what I'm doing. I'm afraid I'll lose a hand in the stone grinder/sander/edger I'm using. Since most companies I've worked for have been too cheap to fork out $10 for a set of glasses for the shop manager to keep as his own, I've always learned to live without them.

That all changed when I worked for a company that gave me a brand new set of glasses that were 'mine.' Amazing what a difference it makes to wear glasses you can actually see through! Since I treated them with care, they were never jacked up, so I didn't mind wearing them. I wear them all the time when I'm doing stuff in the shop with power tools or 'smithing.

Lessons to be learned from this: 1) I'm one lucky son of a gun to have not lost an eye at some point; B] If you have to, buy a new set of glasses and take care of them, so you can see what you are doing and not take them off because you're afraid of losing body parts and/or can't tell what it is you are working on, and III} Wear the XXXX things. They won't do you any good hanging on a hook, or laying on the bench, or tucked in a pocket of your apron. They need to be on to be effective.

[Blacksmith Johnny]

check out my new torch goggles, my boy said there steam punk whatever that is- lol

[Spears]

Underneath a truck reinforcing a running board drilling a hole while wearing safety glasses a small flake got through and I ended up at a clinic. I actually ended up holding a giant magnifying glass over my face while one lady held my eye open while the other lady rubbed my eye with a Q-tip. That's after they put in some nasty dye which made the metallic partical visible.

The fact that they were good looking didn't relieve any of the torture. Wear as much protective equipment as you can stand because taking a shortcut and leaving it off can cost a lot of damage and discomfort which doesn't just happen to other people.

[ThomasPowers]

If you're working in a shop that doesn't supply a good set of safety glasses doing stuff that you SHOULD be wearing them it's well worth the money to supply your own!

There is no amount of money that can compensate you for messed up eyes!

[basher]

not just tool work . I managed to walk into a spikey bit of metal ,(left eye) no damage laccording to the eye doc ,luckily my eye has a little give!! but I have quite a bit of scaring on my right eye that i did not know about. glasses on at all times!!
where did those cool steampunk welding classes come from?

[ptree]

Guys, If you work in a comercial shop the following applies to EVERY SINGLE OPERATING FACILITY IN THE us. OSHA REQUIRES that PPE such as plain safety glasses be provided at NO COST to the employee. Presciption glasses are different. OSHA requires that the PPE be maintained and in good, clean condition. Soooo.... If you work in a shop that only has one pair for the shop gently point out the error of their ways. Plain, good fitting safety glasses with hard coat for scratch resistance and anti-fog are cheap, WAY cheap. I buy at wholesale for $1.18 per pair in boxes of 12.

That is so cheap that every employee gets a pair first day, and every employee is encouraged to exchange scratched glasses as soon as they can. I supply glasses to a shop of about 250 workers and go through a bunch of glasses. The management is tickled to provide them as ONE single bad eye injury will drive up the insurance premium for 5 years, and deny us a trained worker until they are healed, not to mention that they actually care when folks get hurt. I put 5 dozen pair in the cabinet today. I keep about 4 dozen pair of the great Pramex Highlander grinding glasses on the shelf as well as they get swarf burns and get hard to see thru as well. Again at less than $4 why not.

If you need to know, the safety glasses are Varrati #2000 safety glasses from Hagemeyer NA. By the way, they shop folks love these calling the "Bikini" glasses after wearing the clinky glasses my predecessors had them wear.

[doc]

As we've already heard in previous posts above, even with safety glasses on it's you'r still liable to get something in you'r eye. I've always worn them since I have virtually no site in one eye to begin with so protection is something I take VERY seriously. BUT glasses, face shields and all don't stop the particals caught in you'r eyebrows hat or other clothing from dropping in either as you remove you'r safety gear or at a later time when you least expect it.

I make it a habit to wipe my face down with a clean kerchief and then dust of with a light blast from the compressor BEFORE I remove my safety glasses.

my 2 cents

Mod note: 'blowing off' with the air tool is dangerous as you can force tiny particles into your skin and eyes. we all use to do it, but lately found its not good to do, but that same research gave us the air injection system for medications.

[Blacksmith Johnny]

Hey Basher they are ArcOne G-FLY-A1501 The Fly Safety Goggles I got them from Amazon . I tried a pair on at the welding supply house they were real comfortable. But cheaper online.

[evfreek]

I had two really dumb eye related accidents in the past couple of years. First one, I was leaving a garden pot luck and I saw a lady getting out of her car and wanted to get a better look at her, so I tipped my shades down. Heh heh. Must have gotten a bit of road dust in my eye. A couple of miles down the road, my eye started hurting really bad, and I couldn't keep it open. I was going through a major intersection, so I just jammed the brakes and stopped right there. It was a good thing that I had a bottle of water to pour into my eye on the spot, and was able to make it out of the intersection before the light turned red. My clothes were really drenched, and I was afraid I would short out my expensive power seat. All in all, it was just a real ego deflator.

Just recently, I was yanking on a stuck dishwasher door. Suddenly it came free. It broke the frames on my favorite safety glasses, shattered one lens, and I got a black eye. Probably would have been injured really bad without them. Yep, I wear safety glasses even for the evening walk, after I took the end of a broken branch right in the eye in a wind storm. It can happen. It happened to a friend of mine, and got him right through the cornea. The eye doctor was able to fix him up with an artificial one, but he never saw that well out of that eye after that.

The earlier posters are absolutely correct. Safety glasses are really economical if purchased online. I bought a whole box of the Pyramex ones mentioned earlier. They are a great brand.

[Marksnagel]

BUT glasses, face shields and all don't stop the particals caught in you'r eyebrows hat or other clothing from dropping in either as you remove you'r safety gear or at a later time when you least expect it. I make it a habit to wipe my face down with a clean kerchief and then dust of with a light blast from the compressor BEFORE I remove my safety glasses. my 2 cents

I do believe I got the coal speck from a particle that had lodged in my eyebrow or hair.

[Pat Roy]

One day I took a short cut. I needed to clean up a burr on a piece and so too out the die grinder. Just a little burr so I didn't reach for the face shield. Later I spent two afternoons in an eye doctors office while he picked grit out of one eye(luckily just one). I always wear glasses just to see, but the grit managed to fly around the frame and right into the eye. I felt a little hit my forehead but I didn't feel anything in the eye. The next day it was visible. I had to smear goop in the eye daily and wear a patch for nearly a week. That is not something I want to repeat. My face shield is kept handy to my grinders and wire brushes.

[rthibeau]

A word of caution: an air blast from a compressor should never be aimed at the face....imagine a small particle accelerated by the air blast.

[Mephitus]

Good advice all around.
Question though, I wear prescription glasses but they are pretty small as far as protection is concerned. Aside from a full face shield, can anyone recommend a partuclar safety goggle/glasses that i can wear on top of my existing ones? Most the work i do on things is pretty small dremmel hobby work, but i really hate even thinking about anything threatening my eyesite.

[son_of_bluegrass]

I wear glasses and spend the money for prescription safety glasses because I've been disappointed with everything I've tried that is suppose to fit over glasses other than a full face shield (which I sometimes add over the safety glasses). My advise is to go to a good supply store that will let you try various one over what you wear and see if you can find something you like as what fits someone else over their eyeglasses may not work for your face and glasses combination.

ron