Eye Protection

[Chris Padilla]

The thread about Shop Noise Levels naturally got me thinking about eye protection.

What does everyone use? What do you like or not like?

I have to be honest: I find myself protecting my ears more than my eyes! I really need to improve this by finding some comfortable eye protection that sits well with my hearing protection.

Funny, but I find I can concentrate more on my ww'ing with the hearing protection. All that noise is very distracting to me.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris,

My employeer furnishes me with prescription safety glasses. I wear these when w/w plus a full face shield if I think the job might "throw" things.

[Jim Hill 2]

I wear these goggles from Woodcraft that have foam around them. It get's complicated when I'm wearing my dust mask, Eye Goggles and hearing protection. There is a certain order to putting it all on and off and I wish I could come up with an easier setup. It get's warm too, but the goggles have not fogged up on me yet. I have had many times where big chips have bounced off these goggles in the middle of a cut and I was thankful I was wearing them.

My safety goal is to never let my wife see me using a machine without the goggles and ear protection on. I also don't run tools without the dust collection running. May you have Happy, Safe and I hope comfortable woodworking for may years! Oh, and if you find a better setup than mine, let me know! ;)

[Dan Mages]

I always use safety glasses when Im working with my tools. i had a cunk of wood jump up and smash one pair of glasses already. If I werent wearing them, I would propably be blind in one eye. I use glasses made by Klein tool.

Dan

[Steven Wilson]

I have a pair of perscription safetyglasses which are always used in the shop. I also use a full face shield if I'm grinding, buffing, or working at the lathe.

As for hearing, I picked up a tip from Kelly Mahler and that is to use ear plugs that hang on your neck, that way they are always ready when you need them. I find I use hearing protection much more since I started wearing Rad Bands in the shop (always have them around my neck and ready to use), more comfortable and convienient that the Peltors I use when things get real loud. Check out item B in the attached picture (from Woodcraft).

[Rob Russell]

I wear a full face shield - have several of them around the shop. For sound, if it's going to be anything loud, I put on full coverage ear muffs.

[Don Abele]

I have several types of glasses that I wear. They are all the same (Tasco Venture II), just different tinting on the lens. I have clear for in the shop, smoke for outside, and amber for shooting. They run about $5.00 a set.

I also have several full face shields that I wear when working with anything that may throw big stuff back at me. I also have a helmet type shield for sand blasting and anther full face shield for welding.

So, yes, I have a lot of different types, but all for specific tasks. Like my hearing, I take protecting my eyesight very seriously.

There are 3 important considerations for eye protection:

- They should conform to ANSI standards for protection. That means they should have at least a Z-87 rating (the newest rating is Z-87.1). It'll be printed somewhere on the glasses. And yes, you can buy "safety glasses" which do not meet this requirement.

- If tinted for outdoor use, they should offer UV protection. The tinting causes your pupils to dilate. Without the protection, the UV can cause retinal damage. All of my Tasco glasses have UV protection.

- Also, they should wrap around the eyes to provide side protection from anything that may bounce or come in at an angle.

Prescription eyewear typically does not meet impact standards. You can order lenses specifically for this and then get some snap-on side shields that you can put on while in the shop, but take off for everyday wear.

Here's a link to the tasco glasses (no affiliation, just a happy customer):
http://www.tasco-safety.com/sglasses/pyramex-venture2-safety-glasses.html

[Bruce Page]

Good ol' Z87 approved safety glasses.

[Ken Garlock]

All you have to do is to order poly-carbonate lens when you visit you ophthalmologist. I get the poly-carb with additional scratch resistant coating, and UV filter. You can't see the UV filter or the scratch coating. :)

[Jim Becker]

Although I no longer need glasses due to LASIK in early 2003, like most folks, I need a "little help" with reading, including in the shop. At first, I tried some basic $20 safety glasses with reading correction, but found that the magnification area was too small for comfortable use. Late last year I found a similar, but better solution for $30 from Duluth Trading...wire-rim safety specs with reading correction and "side wings" that I find comfortable to wear and effective for both safety and close work correction. They go on first thing and don't come off until the end of the day unless I'm going to be away from the shop for a period of time. I also wear them out of the shop for "work around the house" when appropriate and have a wrap-around pair of safety sunglasses (no reading correction) for yard work when it's bright.

The bottom line is that I use eye protection even more than hearing protection...

[Joe Suelter]

I just recently got contact lenses, always wore prescription safety glasses before. So now I'm even more concerned with getting something in my eyes. I bought a pair of wrap around safety glasses (lexan lenses I believe) from our local safety supply house for about $7...I don't do hardly anything in the shop without them...or out of the shop for that matter...mowing the grass..weed-whipping, etc....

[Jamie Buxton]

For my eyes, I wear ASNI-spec safety glasses with glass lenses. The advantage of glass lenses is that they don't attract sawdust like plastic ones do -- static electricity or something -- and they are much more skratch-resistant. I had to go to an opthalmologist to get the glass lenses instead of buying off-the-shelf safety glasses. One more good thing about this approach is that I got frames that really fit my head, instead the one-size-doesn't-fit-all solution.
When fully suited-up, I'm wearing safety glasses, respirator, and big yellow earmuffs. Dogs run in terror.

[Frank Pellow]

Attached is a picture showing what I wear. As you can see, wearing it does not make me happy.

[Byron Trantham]

I wear glasses that have plastic lenses. I have tired to use those "wrap around" safety glasses but have found they fog up too easily. I also sweat profusely and occasionally I have to take my glasses off as well - I see close thing fine. This is not a safe practice but I just haven't found anything that works with someone who seats so bad. [Thank goodness for TopCoat! :D ]

[Chris DeHut]

For me, I don't have much choice about wearing or not wearing glasses as I can't see without them. I have the poly-carbonate lenses and like them - saved my eyes on more than a few occasions.

Oddly enough, while I have spent the vast majority of my adult life in a shop of one type or another, I have never had a close call in the shop. For me, it seems I get hit in the eyes (glasses) in the oddest of places. Last instance was when I was driving down the road with my window open. A truck or car kicked up a stone, which made it through my window (which was open about 3 inches), hit my left eyeglass lense with enough force to bend the nose rest piece, then proceeded to bounce around in the car for a bit. Don't know if I would have lost my eye or not, but I know it would have hurt a lot more without the glasses on.

I don't really care for the coatings they put on them - they always seem to start coming off leaving strange and annoying swirl marks on the lenses.

As norm say's, "there is no more important safety rule that to wear these, safety glasses"

[Kent Cori]

I have prescription bi-focal safety glasses with the wings. I use these for everything and as Jim says, they are the first thing I put on when I start work in the shop and the last thing I take off. I add a full face shield when working on anything larger than a pen on the lathe. I also use the earmuffs when I have almost any piece of powered equipment running.

[Don Abele]

Byron, try using RainEx No Fog. I have the same problem with my glasses fogging up and this stuff works great for me. I originally started using it on my dive mask (works better than spit) and now use it all the time.

[Terre Hooks]

I use Smith and Wesson safety glasses. Got'em at Walmart in the tool secton for about $8. They are available at other places.

They fit very comfortable and I like them.

[Stan Smith]

Chris, here's what I told some kids in a shop one time: "Everyone close your eyes and keep them shut. Now just imagine what it would be like to go around with your eyes shut for the rest of your life. Okay, open your eyes, put on your eye protection, and never forget it!"

I have to use rx glasses because I'm an old guy. I discovered that you cannot use verilux lenses because they really give a curve to a straight line. Instead I had to get trifocals. My eye doc added some little plastic pieces to the sides for added protection. Putting on the eye protection is the first thing I do when entering the shop and it's a habit now. We were working on some siding and the guy on the ladder dropped a 2x4 hitting me in the head with a glancing blow. The glasses saved my eye.

Stan

[Russell Svenningsen]

For ear protection, I have a large bath towel that I wrap around my head. I find that it affords an extra level of eye protection as well, in that it provides cushioning for the eye itself. True, it does inhibit seeing the work, but I find you can feel your way pretty well.

Okay, I'm kidding, it's been an awful day(high school teacher), the kids are loopy and it's beginning to rub off!

I do take protection seriously. My mother works as a Safety Manager at Suburban Propane in NJ and is ALWAYS sending me goggles, ear plugs, you name it. I must have 20 pairs of safety glasses in my shop. I have a pair hanging on each machine and my ear muffs hang on my bench. I use them all judiciously, when I am not using the towel, that is.

[Rob Littleton]

I wear contact lens for eye protection.

After all the years of being married, I'm deaf.

Thats all.

[Don Wurscher]

Over the years I got fed up with those plastic faceshields fogging up just when you are about to make the most critical cut, or becoming the best darn airborne dust collector in the shop.

A number of years ago I switch to the Elvex HG-20 (Ratchet Heargear) with the SV-75 (Steel Mesh Screen) this eliminated the above problems along with greatly reducing face sweating.

The above mentioned comb can be gotten from www.elvex.com for less the $20.00 +S/H

I am trying to attach a picture of this combination, but just can't seem to get it to work, so if it doesn't show up, just visit the company site.

Cheers----Don W.

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