Eye protection when forge welding??????

B . Buxton

B . Buxton

Joined
Jul 8, 2001
Messages
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What does a person need for eye protection when foge welding, I was told that just regular clear eye glasses would knock down the uv rays and protect your eyes, what do you guys think and recommend. Do you need sun glasses over prescription eye glasses.


Thanks

Bill
 
15 years ago when I was working working as an ellectrician I regularly visited the welding shop. I was told clear safty glases would give protection against casual flashes from distant ark welding only. I don't know how much protection or weather it referes to prescription glasses. The only thing they did warn against in those days was contact lenses.

When I forge weld I use uv sunglasses from the cancer council. Or a second pair I recently got was uv tinted safety glasses which are even better they will take the impact of an object better than regular sunglasses.
Some sunglasses are just tinted glass some cut the uv.

I would not forge weld without some kind of tinting/uv protection.

I was able to adjust to the change in colour very quikly. This is just what I do there is no science to my reply just half memories of the old days.
 
Thanks Reg, I hear that half memories of the old days, too. Boy do I. :D

come on guys give me some feedback here, what type of eye protection do you guys wear when forge welding. Bruce E. and Bruce B. you guys do a lot of it, what do you recommend.

thanks

Bill
 
Bill, I too use the same protection as using a torch. Go to your local welding supply store and talk to the old guys. Make sure the glasses have a tint and say UV protection. If you wear prescription glasses they have some that fit over them unless you want to spend some serious $ and go see your eye doctor. I wear glasses but dont need them for just welding. Hope this helps.
 
Bill, there was a very large thread on this very subject at CKD. I think it was a year or more ago. There were some startling revelations in it, about eyewear.
You might want to ask Tom Ferry, he was involved in it. :confused:
 
when i am normally forging i wear just my sunglasses ... as i know that these have good UV protection.. (prescription)

when it comes to the protection factor i was told that you have to wear something to cut out the IR that comes from the forge.. anything that is between youe naked eye and the forge will help with that ..
(though i still havent found anything around here that claims to cut any other amount of IR radiation)

and then you need to protect against the UV radiation .. which most good quality glasses will do.. though, as Reg said, some glasses are just tinted glass and will provide diddley for protection.

i think that if you are going into large amounts of welding .. or needing to glare into the forge for large amounts of time .. then the torch glasses are probably the way to go.

but again .. this is just what i have found out from talking to people here...

D.
 
In his video, Jim Hrisoulas uses a very specific type of eye protection. I forget what it is off the top of my head. He has a doctorate in metallurgy, so is definitely worth listening to.
 
Personally I use a pair of #2 green glass engineers glasses from crews, i'm an old weldor and that has always worked for me.

Go here for the never ending didiyium debate.

eye for an eye

and here for some more schtuff on the same subject

once again


I read one time that Jim Hirsoulas recanted his position on the blue expensive lenses The last time I worked on this it came down to

you buy your lense and I'll buy my cheap green ones, that do the same thing.
 
When you get your prescription eye glasses you can have them fixed up to cut out the uv problem. I would recomend that you also use a full face shield. It protects the face from heat and top of the neck area from perniment burns that will lead to skin cancer. Not to mention those pesky burns.
jf
 
I personally haven't gotten in the habit of wearing anything but my prescription glasses when I forge.Then when I weld I don't think to add the green lenses over my glasses and thus after a long day in the forge and welding Damascus my eyes water all night.I guess I better start wearing them as I have them there just don't think.I agree that the gas welding enses should be great for this.
Bruce
 
I wear my shooting glasses...very good UV resistance and a pair of light green goggles over them. Up to a year ago I didn't wear anything but sunburned the he!! out of my eyeballs one day!:o
 
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