On 3/10/2016 at 2:59 PM, Frosty said:

I don't stare into the forge so I'm not concerned with IR caused cataracts

Well, I've been diagnosed with the early stages of cataracts, so I'm not taking the chance on making anything worse.

On 3/10/2016 at 2:59 PM, Frosty said:

... my shop is too cluttered and kind of dim to start with.

I'm kind of dim to start with.

My optical neurologist ophthalmologist says I have an early stage cataract but says it's not IR related. I have to go to an optical neurologist because of nerve damage from the TBI and more recently the shingles which covered the left side of my head from my ear to the crown of my head and in front to just under my nose. I've never been in pain like the shingles, get the shot.

I'm not sure which I should do put more lights in the shop or pick it up. I've been trying to fix my dim all my life, think I'll hang some fixtures. I see LCD fixtures like fluorescent fixtures might give a couple a try. 

Frosty The Lucky.

The only kind of glasses that will help, while leaving incandescent colors little altered are didymium  safety glasses (spectacles are also available, and far more practical for hot work) Glassblowers use didymium to cut down on sodium glare, while still being able to judge color temperature as the glass cools; this will also cut down on furnace glare. What it won't do is reduce infrared, which is tiring for your eyes. Half a loaf is hardly worth the outrageous prices charged for these glassblowers aids, if you shop from the usual sources. Fortunately, Amazon.com sells all kinds of didymium glasses for reasonable prices.

I have a pair of didymium safety glasses in a tool box and haven't used them in a long time. They're only effective against sodium yellow so are minimally useful unless you use a lot of borax when fluxing. They don't appreciably alter colors but they don't dim them down either. At least not the pair I bought, newer ones may work better.

I used to have a pair of gray shade glasses and they worked very nicely for cutting the brightness and minimally altering colors. The all time champ in my experience are the gold lenses, they dim the bright and don't alter colors at all they're just spendy and fragile, a pointed look will scratch them.

Frosty The Lucky.

IR is more than just tiring on your eyes. IR will damage your eyes. Various IR frequencies damage corneas (cataracts), lenses (worse!) and retinas (yikes!). As noted, didymium does not block IR, but it will make you *feel* comfortable staring into a forge and getting a pretty stout IR dose.

I personally use #3 and judge heat against the ambient color of the forge. I'm not really looking at color, just relative intensity.

I suspect that a brief look into a forge will not do damage, but it's sometimes hard not to just stare. And, for something like welding heat it's pretty hard to get by with just a glance.

13 minutes ago, EricJergensen said:

IR is more than just tiring on your eyes. IR will damage your eyes. Various IR frequencies damage corneas (cataracts), lenses (worse!) and retinas (yikes!). As noted, didymium does not block IR, but it will make you *feel* comfortable staring into a forge and getting a pretty stout IR dose.

I personally use #3 and judge heat against the ambient color of the forge. I'm not really looking at color, just relative intensity.

I suspect that a brief look into a forge will not do damage, but it's sometimes hard not to just stare. And, for something like welding heat it's pretty hard to get by with just a glance.

I totally agree and would like to add that since the human eye has tricks in evaluating color, if you start with #3 shade welding safety glasses in polycarbonate material, you will have a consistent evaluation of color.  Polycarb safety glasses absorb both UV  and Ir

Start 'em young!