Safety Glass vs Full Face Shield

[383bigblock]

I want to get some feedback on the face (particularly) eye protection that you guys use. I wear safety glasses but unfortunately they let me down during some heavy overhead grinding. 2 weeks ago I got a piece of steel stuck in my eye. The ER doctor looked and told me that the piece was gone and also told my on-call Ophthmalogist that nothing was in my eye. So I went to the Ophth guy then next day to have the rust ring removed when he told me the steel was still in my eye. Now it rusted itself pretty deep in the "optical zone" and had to be ground out. Bottom line is its over 2 weeks later, I'm still in pain and my vision in that eye has gone to hell because of all of the scar tissue.

I've heard good and bad about the full face shields and was wondering if they are used by you guys on a regular basis and if not, what brand or style of eye protection do you use that keeps you safe.

Thanks in advance.

Michael

[1911Man]

I use a full face shield and glasses when grinding etc. also wear glasses under welding hood. I recommend you do the same.

[Joker11]

I feel for ya!
My eyes are really sensitive. Even more so since I had Laser Eye Surgery. Every little bit of dust really bothers me. I have struggled with the right selection of safety eyewear for years for both metal work and woodwork. I wear safety glasses all day long, not just at work. I find myself more and more putting the full face shield on in addition to my safety glasses because I hate taking hits to my face as well. The problem is that even with both on, the dust still gets in my eyes. Sure the shrapnel and sparks and stuff get deflected, but the dust still gets in. I get black eye boogies for a while.
I tried using a pair of swim goggles under my face shield, but they fog up quickly because they seal so well.
I am currently looking at something that probably would have completely prevented your injury.
while I was sandblasting my whole truck, I bought a leather hood with a welding lens fitment. I took the number 10 shade out and put in a clear glass with the safety plastic behind it. That worked great! I stopped getting crap in my eyes and ears. But I want to take that a little further. If the hood had longer leather i could have tucked it into my leather jacket. Perfect. Ok, now I want to hook up a positive pressure breathing air supply to it. That would keep out sparks, shrapnel, dust and humidity.
I know someone makes this already, but I probably can't afford it right now.
Ok, sorry for the long post, but you hit me where it hurts, my eyes.

[pilebuck]

Try The Fibermetal Lift Front Hoods

[tanglediver]

I'm real sorry to hear of it, man.
Many welding hoods have flip up lenses. The plain truth is that even having safety glasses under a face shield does not guarantee freedom from foreign objects lodging in your eyes, but they generally won't be travelling at high speed! Ricochet's will land in an eye, seemingly by magic, been there done that.
The time I took one high speed from a grinder I only had on safety glasses, it ricocheted into the "colored" part of the eye, narrowly missing the lense area.

[David R]

I am blessed with poor vision. I wear glasses all the time. When grinding, I use a face shield too. I get lots of crap in my eyes, even battery acid once with a face shield and glasses on.

I hope things heal up.

David

[383bigblock]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think its going to have to be safety glasses and a face shield. I think they make face shields that wrap around the side of your face just a little. The shard that I took came in from the side it was a ricochet off of a beam.

Thanks for the tips and again I am looking for brand name recommendations. I don't mind spending good money on safety equipment.

Michael

[enlpck]

The style of glasses makes a BIG difference, as well. For grinding, I often use wraparounds with foam edging I picked up at the LWS (one pair is burner style-shade 5, the other is 'clear') nothing gets past them, but they can be a little uncomfortable when it is real hot. Usually wear a shield when called for over whatever glasses.

[ronnielyons]

Anykind of overhead work would have me doing one of two things: #1 using the cutting torch style goggles that seal around your face with an elastic strap around yuor head. Put a clear lense in it. #2 a cheap clear lense scuba mask.

Bottom line it may look funny but there's nothing funny about steel flakes in your eyes...as you well know. Safety glasses will fail you most of the time. Two layers of eye protection are always a better bet than one.

[Rick Moran]

Sorry to hear about your accident and hope things get back to normal soon. I had Laser Eye Surgery about 7 years ago and so I'm pretty deligent abut protecting my investment. I wear good quality, large view, wrap type safety glasses under a full face shield when grinding. One of the problems with FFS's is most people have a tendency to not keep them tucked down to their chest. When they are not kept down, a lot of sutff can sneak around them. They're good at deflecting the big stuff but not keeping the dust out.

[zapster]

Sorry to read about that Mike..

I too wear glasses all day every day..

Yeah I'm stupid in the fact that only my glasses are my protection..

My dad back in the '50S had a piece of wire from a wire wheel go THRU his eye..
It was about 1" long and was sticking out of his eye only about 1/8"..

Hospital etc..
To this day he says it gives him grief on occasion but he still don't need glasses or anything..

You'll heal.


It takes time..

...zap!

[pulser]

So I went to the Ophth guy then next day to have the rust ring removed when he told me the steel was still in my eye. Now it rusted itself pretty deep in the "optical zone" and had to be ground out. Bottom line is its over 2 weeks later, I'm still in pain and my vision in that eye has gone to hell because of all of the scar tissue.Michael

I also had rust rings removed after getting grinding particles in my eye, pretty freaky cause the doctor did it with some kind of huge needle, well it looked huge coming directly at my eye ball.

Not as painful as getting battery corrosion crude in my eye though, that took a couple of hours of IV type drip wash through a cup stuck under my eye lid.

I still catch myself, going to do something around the house without safety glasses.

[HT55]

While in school, in addition to double eye protection they gave students a firefighters flash hood to put over the face shield. It really helped keeping dust from getting inside but, didn't prevent it completely. I don't know if the LWS would have them or where you could get them. You could even use an old T-shirt and duct tape I guess. Get well soon.

[hotrodder]

for those that suffer from dust irritating their eyes...

what about some clear motorcross googles- decent ones are double glazed so no fogging. i've resorted to this when crud got past both the full face and safety specs while working on my back under a car

obviously they would need to be worn under a full face shield as protection from flying metal shards probably wasn't in their design brief :laugh:

Michael (383bigblock) i wouldn't go by brand name recommendations- everyones a different shape/size. try on many pairs and go with those that fit the best

[SonyMobile]

I also recently had a peice of steel removed from my eye, this is my second time. The first, it was just sittin on the surface on my eye, a quick freeze and it was swiped off with a q-tip. The second and most recent, i discovered while brushing my teeth, my eye had become extremely bloodshot, I took a closer look and saw a black fleck. Tried to flush it out myself but.. no luck, so off to the hospital and a visit with a doctor shoving a needle in my eye.

I ALWAYS wear safety glasses, when I grind I try as much as possible to remember to put on a clear face shield aswell, and when doing any torch work I wear my safety glasses under my welding shield and use the "grind" feature.

[lewray]

Yeah I've had the ole grind in the eye from the Othp..Dr. twice and always acuse me of not wearing eye protection...hahah what do they know lol.

I was curious too on the face shields. I need to quit being a cheep azz and buy one to wear with my safety glasses.

[383bigblock]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger today and bought a UVEX Bionic face shield and some safety glasses that wrap around with the foam siding. I am hoping this will make the difference. The price wasn't bad for what you get and the shields are replaceable. I included the link below.

http://www.coopersafety.com/item/100896/Uvex-Bionic-Faceshield-with-Clear-anti-fog-Lens.aspx

I was getting a little worried about the eye last week since my dad lost his eye years ago working on an old Kearney & Trecker Horizontal mill. Cutting fluid dripped into his eye and when he sat up quickly he smashed his head on the table. The doctor said the combination of fluid and trauma from smashing his head caused him to lose his eye. He lost his left eye and I was afraid I could lose my left eye as well.....what a pair we'd make....well not even a pair.

Thanks for all the comments and help. I don't think I will be second guessing my eye safety anymore. Unfortunatley I just recently got my glasses prescription filled now I get to do it all over again.

Michael

[Rick Moran]

Nice shield BB and a very reasonable price too. Let us know how it works out while wearing safety glasses, I may have to get one of those.

[Bobcatter]

Good luck healing.

Here are some more supplies for goggles, face shields, ventilation, etc.
Always think of the balance between benefit vs. risk.

http://www.labsafety.com/

[TozziWelding]

I got a piece of grinding wheel stuck in my eye, what a suck thing that was, the ER fuc&^% it up worse than it was, but the eye doctor fixed it up good. If I hadent had the saftey glasses on, it would'nt have bounced up off my face, hit the inside of the glasses, and bounce in to my eye. It took a good few days to heal up, but no ill effects. When I am grinding I try to wear glasses, and use a faceshield.

[OzarkCNC]

What do you guys recommend for someone that sweats ALOT!

I've tried safety glasses. I have at least 6 pair ranging from those trendy ones that look like sunglasses to the full scuba type. It seems as though they all fog up so badly that I can't see anything.

In frustration, I usually end up pitching them half way across the shop and squinting to minimize intrusion by foreign material. So far I have been lucky.

I know it is a matter of time before my luck runs out, but the FOG P'O's me to no end.

I finally found a ventilator that I liked. The 3M 5300 series. They fit my large face and are pretty comfortable. They come in different kinds for particulates and vapors.

Thanks.
Mark

Thanks!
Mark

[Rich59]

I have been using the Uvex bionic face shield for about six months. It is the best one I have ever used. It isn't cheap but I feel it was worth the price.

I don't want to have to have anymore metal removed from my eyes so I wear glasses and the face shield. If you are unlucky and get something in your eye you might try a magnet to lift it out.

[WANNAWELD]

what about using goggles? they seal your eyes so nothing can get in. There is so many out there im sure you can get a design you like

[WANNAWELD]

http://store.cyberweld.com/jasagowian.html

[Jeep07]

Safety glasses and shield normally. Hope the eye gets better.

[wannabe_welder]

On any of the job sites we have, it's mandatory that a face shield be worn over safety glasses for all grinding type operations. Safety glasses are a condition of employment.

[Rick Moran]

How do you like the new sheild BBlock?

[aczeller]

i got some of these glasses and have never used any others since...

http://www.jlindustrial.com/CGI/JISRCH?ns=1&oldNtt=&oldNtk=&oldURLVar=&scrNtt=crews+tremor&Ntk=Keyword+Search

they are all plastic frame (rubber ends) and a poly-carb lense... different colors and lenses... the only thing that i don't like about them is that they do not have hinges... but that doesnt matter since i usually am either wearing them, or have them stored in my toolbox in their own drawer to prevent scratches... they are available at different locations, but J&L Industrial is where i usually get them... MSC Industiral Supply (owner of J & L) has a little larger selection of colors, but J & L is what i use... $5 shipping no matter what on small orders like this... last order i think i spent a total of about $70 on about a dozen or so glasses in different frames and lenses for school. the smoked lenses work great as sunglasses (darker than most sun glasses) and the clear have very rarely been scratched. i've dropped 'em, threw 'em, and have had the same pair for the last 6 or 7 months. they are a tight fit with a very good wrap-around design for complete eye shield protection...when ever i sand blast and sometimes when i grind, i will also wear a full face shield / hood that covers my entire head. i always wear these glasses tho. i woudl (obviously) reccomend them to anyone looking for a good pair... i woudl say get a couple tho... reletively cheap price and that way, if and when one breaks, (no matter how much you spend, they will always get damaged or break in one way or another) you have a second pair as back-up untill you can order another set.

later,
Andy

[jamlit]

I use a full face shield and glasses when grinding etc. also wear glasses under welding hood. I recommend you do the same.

I agree fully.

I started wearing full face Shields so I could wear a dust mask or respirator. I found my safety glasses were fogging up to much. I also wear safety glasses under my welding shield.

[William McCormick Jr]

I agree fully.

I started wearing full face Shields so I could wear a dust mask or respirator. I found my safety glasses were fogging up to much. I also wear safety glasses under my welding shield.


Don't you put the polycarbonate plate inside?



Sincerely,



William McCormick

[383bigblock]

Sorry guys for not posting earlier but I've been real busy at work. I love the bionic shield it doesn't interfere with your line of site and I'm also wearing a pair of Uvex safety glasses underneath it. As far as the eye goes its healed about as much as its going to get. I lost a bit of sight and now have a permanent floater just off center in my vision. It affects my real job more than my hobby welding since I spend 90% of my time in front of computers.

Anyway, I highly recommend the bionic shield it works great for me.


Michael

[scott brunsdon]

I probably look like a dill, but I sometimes wear swimming goggles when I'm grinding.
Scott

[Rick Moran]

Glad to hear you're happy with the shield BBlock. I just ordered one too and some nice safety glasses to go under it. Looks like Xmas is coming early for me. :)