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What kind of glasses for babysitting the plasma table?

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4.4K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  jimcolt  
J
#1 ·
Hey all, my plasma table build is coming along really well, but I still do need to keep an eye on it almost constantly. What glasses do you guys use for that? A 5 shade like the Hypertherm recommends for hand cutting is too dark, I'll trip on stuff. The arc is further away than arm's length also, so less protection is required. Has anyone tried a shaded safety glass like this:

http://www.amazon.com/DPG52-2C-Contractor-Performance-Lightweight-Protective/dp/B000RKS046/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1425825431&sr=8-5&keywords=dewalt+eye+protection+smoke

I'm wondering if this will be dark enough to make any difference? The clear ones I'm using right now block UV, so that's good, but I can still see the arc in my vision when I turn away, so I think it's still doing damage. I know the easy answer is "don't look at it", and it's not like I'm staring at it for minutes at a time, but there are times when you need to see what's going on to make sure the cut is clean, etc.
 
I
#4 ·
I bought a pair of those Nemesis glasses recently for plasma cutting and really like them. I just cut with a hand torch and put them on underneath my full face shield. Sounds like they'd be perfect for your needs, too.
 
J
#6 · (Edited)
AWS shade 5 is adequate for plasma cutting at 40 amps or less.....more amperage requires a higher shade number. Here is the chart out of the Hypertherm manuals. When cutting...the arc is often shielded by the material, and you generally get only a small amount of the UV light from the small gap between the torch and the material. Cutting near edges or gouging allows for a lot more exposure. Good idea to cover your skin if you are doing a lot of cutting...or are cutting at higher amperage.

In over 37 years of plasma cutting I have never gotten arc flash to my eyes....a lot of the cutting I was exposed to was in the 260 to 1000 amp range....an AWS #14 shield is necessary at 1000 amps......and you want 100% of your skin protected, trust me!

Hypertherm has a nice face shield with both clear and tinted flip up shields....good for grinding and many cutting needs.

Jim Colt

 
I
#7 ·
jimcolt said:
Hypertherm has a nice face shield with both clear and tinted flip up shields....good for grinding and many cutting needs.
Click to expand...
Is the Hypertherm shield just a rebranded Sellstrom DP4? They look identical.

I have the DP4 and used to use the flip-down shade 5 shield all the time when I was welding with O/A. It worked great for this purpose, but when I tried using it for cutting I found that the tinted shade didn't give me enough coverage. I'd often find myself trying to look straight down at what I was cutting, and since the lowered position of the tinted shield is fixed relative to the clear one, the clear shield would be hitting my chest and preventing me from lowering the tinted shield any more. The other annoyance with the flip down tinted shield was that it just got in the way a lot. I'd forget about it being there (when lifted) and I'd end up hitting things with it. I'd still use it for gas welding since it's faster to flip up and down, but for my occasional plasma cuts I prefer the glasses under the shield.
 
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