Eye protection for looking into the forge

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milkbaby

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Aug 1, 2016
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I do stock removal and HT in a two brick forge. I upgraded from small propane torch to the Atlas burner and am thinking of trying some different steels which require longer soak times. I figure that with practice I could maybe work up to 2 to 5 minutes pumping the steel to keep consistent color. I already only ever do HT at night in the dark to see better.

Is there a specific rating on eye protection to look for to avoid damaging my eyes when staring into the forge?
 
I have some Shade 3 flip up safety glasses from Galeton. About $11 a pair.
 
I have a full face shield with protective covering on the front. Really like it. If you do a google search on kiln face/eye protection you will find quite a lot of stuff.
 
DevinT said:
Look into didymium glass working glasses.

Hoss
Click to expand...

It was my understanding that didymium glasses are not recommended any more. I first heard about them from Jim Hrisoulas as that is what he used. But my understanding was that these glasses are used to block the bright yellow light created from glass working when heating the sodium in the glass.
 
Thanks, I’m old school. We used more flux than necessary back in the day and it put off lots of yellow flame.

UV protection now?

Hoss
 
Yes, that is now out of date info. Jim Hrisoulas used them and others followed his advice. However, they are to protect the eyes from sodium flare in glass work.

I used to use didymium glasses (still have an expensive prescription pair), but now the recommendation is for a UV/IR shielding The place to get them is Auralens. For general forge work you want the AUR99 lens in #3 shade. A pair of welders lenses in #3 or #4 will work, too.

One of these days I am going to make up a flip down lens pair of glasses with a welders electric lens in the flip part. I will have to figure a way to make it dim at a much lower light level, or dim it by pushing a button. I have some of the darkening lenses in a box .... somewhere.
 
milkbaby said:
I do stock removal and HT in a two brick forge. I upgraded from small propane torch to the Atlas burner and am thinking of trying some different steels which require longer soak times. I figure that with practice I could maybe work up to 2 to 5 minutes pumping the steel to keep consistent color. I already only ever do HT at night in the dark to see better.
Is there a specific rating on eye protection to look for to avoid damaging my eyes when staring into the forge?
Click to expand...
spend $40 and get a thermocouple and display. make a muffle of 2" or 3" square steel tube , put in center of the forge, put end of thermocouple in center of tube, when display says 1500*F, add knife. with practice, you should be able to maintain temperature +/- 15*F by adjusting your burners. and you can HT any time you want.
 
Propane doesn't burn hot enough to produce UV radiation according to Physlink.com. According to Reddit, UV is an issue. I know which one I'm going to trust. I just can't find any reliable studies showing UV emission from propane or coal. Welding is a different story. Lots of UVA and IR there.

IR blocking glasses. They're out there, and everyone agrees that a LOT of IR is created in the forge. The first link is about $7 per pair, the second has lots of different pairs.
http://www.rajsupply.com/safety-ite...2_rNkdjdo1tgIi6YpTpafjKd-sAUZzX8aAvkxEALw_wcB
https://www.safetyglassesusa.com/greenlens.html
 
DevinT said:
Look into didymium glass working glasses.

Hoss
Click to expand...
I used those for years, but now that I wear prescription glasses, I just don't look into the forge much. I burnt my eyes kinda bad when I first started wearing glasses during a long forging day.
 
Not trying to derail this thread but I stared into our propane forge all day yesterday watching steel come to color as me and my son worked on making our first forged project (a pair of larger tongs so we could then us them today making a hardy cut off tool). My eyes are fine. I am a firm believer in shop safety but I am unaware of the need for any type of eye protection for looking into the forge. Should we get something? What is the reason for safety glasses? Does damage only occur after years and years or is it a Damaged eyes quickly thing?
 
As a welding inspector I have been wearing Native polarized glasses for several years and they seem to give me a lot of protection. They have a set of lenses that are mind of a light rose color that work well even low light.
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Yes, that is now out of date info. Jim Hrisoulas used them and others followed his advice. However, they are to protect the eyes from sodium flare in glass work.

I used to use didymium glasses (still have an expensive prescription pair), but now the recommendation is for a UV/IR shielding The place to get them is Auralens. For general forge work you want the AUR99 lens in #3 shade. A pair of welders lenses in #3 or #4 will work, too.

One of these days I am going to make up a flip down lens pair of glasses with a welders electric lens in the flip part. I will have to figure a way to make it dim at a much lower light level, or dim it by pushing a button. I have some of the darkening lenses in a box .... somewhere.
Click to expand...

Stacy if you look for a welding lense with a TIG setting it can be adjusted so a dim lightbulb will darken them. The only thing is they start at a 3 shade and the lightest is usually a 9.
 
Yeah, that is the problem I have to deal with. The lowest auto darkening I have found starts at 8. Lots will trigger at #3, but they drop to 9-11 immediately. I was hoping I could find a variable that could be adjusted, but that animal doesn't seem to exist. I may look at plasma cutting lenses, as that type work is done at much lower lens darkness. IIRC, some at #4.

I just checked, and some adjustable auto lenses are rated 5-9 in the dark range (when set to LOW), with a trigger at DIN4. I think that would work for a forge. They are rated UV/IR.
 
Okie405 said:
Not trying to derail this thread but I stared into our propane forge all day yesterday watching steel come to color as me and my son worked on making our first forged project (a pair of larger tongs so we could then us them today making a hardy cut off tool). My eyes are fine. I am a firm believer in shop safety but I am unaware of the need for any type of eye protection for looking into the forge. Should we get something? What is the reason for safety glasses? Does damage only occur after years and years or is it a Damaged eyes quickly thing?
Click to expand...
It will damage your eyes over time. But it has a lot to do with how large & hot your forge is & if heating to forge or forge welding.

I was forge welding when I burnt my eyes. At the end of the day the shop looked smoky, outside looked smoky, inside the house looked smoky. My eyes were also sore & it lasted for a few days. Eye Dr. said I was lucky, but will pay for it one day.
 
Don , your Doc is right . Over the long run the itching , soreness etc will do real damage. Same with ears ! In the early days of microwave antennas some ignored the warnings --they are blind today ! You only have one body take care of it .
 
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