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I Forge Iron

Insulating Fire Brick Eye Warning


ede

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While carving a burner port in an insulating fire brick last night without any power tools, I got a particle embedded in my eye.  No I was not wearing safety glasses and just using a hand file.  I don't know how it happened exactly.  The particle was on my iris and would not flush out no matter how much water I splashed or ran across my eyeball.  Fortunately, several hours later it dislodged naturally.  Just a word of warning for those that don't think they need safety glasses when using hand tools. 

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Oh MAN I feel your pain! The problem getting something like soft brick or saw dust out of your eye is it needs to absorb enough water it isn't absorbing it from your eyeball. You need an eyecup and literally soak it out. Add a little dissolved salt and it won't sting but don't get any salt grains on your eyeball, that isn't so good. Not horrible but not comfortable. Oh heck, what am I saying just buy an eyewash bottle, they come with an eye cup, saline solution and are cheap. 

Plain old Visine or whatever makes the soak time more comfortable but whatever you do you have to soak it till it's saturated to get it to release. If you don't have an eye cup wet guaze works well enough and anything will do in a pinch, paper towel, toilet paper, cloth diaper (clean, I HOPE I didn't have to say THAT!) tear a piece off your t shirt or shorts, Heck, clean whatever. 

If it wont clear in say 15 minutes get, your butt to the emergency room!

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 7 months later...

The same thing applies to everything in the shop.

Last Thursday while Debi was in a class at ESSA and while lighting one of the propane forges, which she has done hundreds of times, particle blew out and somehow got past her safety glasses into her eye. She went to the emergency eye wash station and flushed her eye but it didn't dislodge the particle.

A trip into town to the eye doctor was in order. Thankfully no damage was done and a lesson learned, don't look in the forge while lighting it.

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