Safety equipment for forges

[germany411]

Hello all!  I know this question has been probably been exhausted, however, I have been doing some research and asking some questions on other forums but haven't quite come to a complete answer.  My question is what kind of safety equipment should I buy in order to protect myself when forging?  I am interested in forge welding, bladesmithing, blacksmithing just really about everything there is to know.  I have a coal forge and I wouldn't be buying a propane forge anytime soon so what kind of respirators would I need and glasses?  I know dydimium glasses aren't useful for the applications I am interested in.  Do they sell a pair of galsses that protects UV, IR, and Sodium flare?  If so, what is the best brand I should purchase?  Also, since I am forging in a semi outside place (it's in the pole barn with doors open) what kind of dangers would I be facing which would call for a respirator to be used?  Thank you for your time!

[ptree]

A pair of polycarbonate lens safety glasses will stop almost all of the harmful light radiation. You can get safety glasses with shade 4 flipups as well for looking into the forge, but they are more to keep the eyes from being dazzled than anything else as Polycarbonate does a good job of filtering.

 

As far as respirator a particulate respirator in a HEPA rating is best. A respirator is NOT a paper mask, but a real rubber facepiece with filters. Be aware they work poorly to not at all if you have facial hair under the face piece seals area. Be aware that a respirator also stresses you respiratory system and if you already have issues, this can make them worse and cause respiratory distress or even a cardiac.

 

Decent, non melting clothing, IE natural fiber like Cotton is best and should be thick if the weather allows. Many like an apron. These can be a cheap Denim, next best and coolest is the Green cotton Sateen welders aprons followed by the best protection a leather apron.

Foot wear is often not mentioned, a nice leather boot, better if safety toe, best with meta-tarsel guarding. The meta-tarsel will both protect those delicate bones behind the safety toe as well as shed hot scale or steel bits.

 

A decent set of earplugs for loud times or my favorite, Hearing muffs with built in radio. Saves the hearing, stops random bits from entering my ears and also keeps them warm in the winter. Mine are Hear-tunes and limit the radio to 85Db.

 

Enjoy

Ptree the industrial safety guy

[germany411]

Thanks for the reply!  I am just really curious if they sell glasses that protects against all light radiation and sodium flare.  With all of the glasses out on the market it's kind of hard to judge which one is the best to get.  So the polycarbonate lens will filter out IR, UV, and sodium flare?

 

As far as the respirator goes....that's pretty much only when you are sanding or grinding away metal correct?  Fumes from the forge do not harm you at all if you are in an open environment?

[Glenn]

If you can see it, smell it, or taste it, then it is not air. Use a chimeny to get the smoke and exhaust gases out of your work space.

 

Go to the welding supply store and get the shade 3 or so welding glasses. While there get a full face shield. 

 

 Ear protection is very helpful whether plugs or muffs. Get what is comfortable so you will wear them.

 

A 5 gallon bucket of clean water is good for any burns or to put out any small fires. It doubles as a quench tank. A bottle of aloe gel can come in very handy for burns.

 

Keep hydrated, drink more fluids than you think you need. 

 

There is a ongoing discussion on wearing gloves at the forge. I prefer NO gloves. There are times when the gloves are needed and necessary so have a pair handy. When wearing work gloves, cut the cuff off the work gloves for most uses. They will not get snagged, and do not act as a funnel for any thing hot. 

 

Use a 1-1/2 to 2 pound hammer until you build up muscle and technique. Then you can use a slightly heavier hammer, but make sure what ever weight you use, that you can use it for hours at a time without pain. Keep the 3 and 4 for short term use.

 

Most important is when you get tired - stop. If you miss the metal with the hammer take a 20 minute break. If you miss the second time think seriously about shutting down for the day. It is your body telling the brain that it is not functioning correctly.

[germany411]

@Glenn  Thank you for the tips!  I am curious though about the type of coal, though.  What kind of detrimental effects does it have on your lungs?  Blacksmithing coal is low in sulfur so it shouldn't be that harmful unless you are in an enclosed space.  I know you can get CO poisoning if you're not careful.  Where I do my forging is inside a pole barn with big sliding doors that I open up.  I can move my forge around and I position it right next to the sliding door.  I have no interest in blacksmithing metals that have lead or galvanized stuff on them so that's not a concern for me.  I am more curious about the fuel source like coal and what it does to the body.

 

Would a shade 5 glasses offer more protection for your eyes than a shade 3?  I can see why shade 3 would be useful, though, considering you need to see where you are at in the shop lol.

 

I have a 2 1/2 lbs. hammer that I can use for several hours without pain so that's pretty much a good one for me I think.  Thank you for the advice!

[Frosty]

Sodium flare isn't much of a factor blacksmithing, you'll get a little when using borax as welding flux but it's not serious enough to filter against.

 

UV isn't a factor at the temperatures at a forge, NOT staring into the heart of the fire will protect you from IR caused cataracts. It's really hard not to stare into the fire but it's a good thing to avoid.

 

as said, NO synthetics, hot material contact will melt it and deep fry you're hide. Cotton, wool, leather and probably hemp linnen are your safest bet for clothing.

 

I like slip on leather boots so hot things can't get trapped by the laces. The downside is they have open tops so that very hot thingy may go down into your boot instead of getting stuck to the outside. I keep my pants OVER my boots for that very reason.

 

One important factor against gloves has to do with habits. If you're bare handed you'll quickly learn to hesitate slightly before touching a piece of metal to feel for radiant heat. Wearing gloves you start just grabbing metal because you can. This can be bad in two ways. First you might pick up something hot enough to really burn into the leather and by time you start feeling it the glove may have shrunk and trapped your hand. THEN the heat comes through and you can't get it off so your hand gets baked like a potato. The other downside to weaaring gloves has to do with getting used to grabbing whatever you want. Believe me there WILL come a time you do this but without gloves and it will be HOT.

 

Sure, you get burned all the time not wearing gloves but they're usually just hot scale burns and you get toughened up to them pretty quickly. Seeing as you don't want a gasser you don't have to worry about dragon's breath or how much it'll heat up outside the forge.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[germany411]

Here's something that I was thinking about.  Does the metal itself emit any light that would be harmful to your eyes?  We have talked about the forge fire being bad for your eyes but what about the metal once it is removed from the fire?

[son_of_bluegrass]

More or less we are talking about black body radiation, particularly with the hot metal.  So above a certain temperature the steel emits visible and IR light (it tends to melt before much UV gets emitted).

 

ron

[germany411]

So the steel would emit IR light when taken away from the fire but it would melt before emitting UV light?  Did I understand this correctly?

[son_of_bluegrass]

If you are familiar with black body radiation, you understand that all objects with a temperature above absolute zero emit some level of radiation.  Exactly what and how much is dependent on the temperature, the higher the temperature, the more radiation and the higher energy of that radiation.  This is why infrared cameras can detect body heat.  Somewhere around 700 F, visible light starts to be emitted, below this there are IR emissions.  The temperature where there starts to be UV emissions are hot enough for steel to melt, well above forging temperatures.

If you are interested search for black body graphs, you'll find ones that correlate temperature to the emitted radiation with marks to indicate visible, IR and UV.  (Generally the temperature is give in Kelvin, not Fahrenheit.)

[germany411]

well I now picked up a pair of blackstone oxy/acetylene goggles that are a shade #5 it's hard to find anything lower than #5 right now lol. Sorry I haven't been able to respond it's been a crazy week lol.  thank you all for your hints and tricks!