Questions on eye protection gear

C Craft

Well-Known Member
So here is my quandary. These old eyes have gotten where I can't see fine work with out my readers. Yesterday I am in the shop and grinding at a small radius and the grit from the wheel I was using more or less explodes into my face. My glasses had slid down a bit and the grit gets under or over my glasses. My intent was to remove my glasses and try and brush the grit from my face. However I blinked about that time and ...................... the grit was then in my left eye!

First let me say that no matter the time of year I am one of those people who can fog up anything that encloses my face. Sometimes it causes me problems welding!!!:31:

I have tried the safety glasses that seal against your face and it is a constant battle with them fogging up and I can't see what I am doing!!!

I used to use a full face shield but, in no time it seemed they get so scratched, plus sometimes I have to fight the fog up battle, and then I can't see through them!

I have spent today with a miserable eye and unable to get back to the shop! I think I got all the grit out but not before it has scratched my eye!!

So here is the questions how do those of you need glasses to see, manage the eye protection with them??? If you are one of those with the fogging problem then you have an idea of what I am going thru. I would love to hear how you are handling this problem. You can't grind what you can't see but, I don't need anymore damage to my eyes. I am open to all suggestions and information you might have on the subject!!
 
Eye protection has been a bit challenging as I've gotten older. When I was 41, my Eye Doc told me "You have old eyes", which meant I needed "readers". At first I only used them when I was doing very detailed work at the finish bench. In the last few years, I have to use them for any task that's arm's length away or less.

What I've done is by these.... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KSJQC8W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (those are 1.5 that I use for general shop use)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KSJRHJA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (those are 2.0 that I use for detail work like hand sanding and assembling folders)

They are cheap enough that you can replace them as often as needed. A pair will last me about a month in the shop before the lens are so scratched up that they become hazy. I don't wear a face full face shield, for a number of reasons, so these are the only thing that stands between my eyes and whatever is flying/floating around in the shop. I've had good success with them.

I also have a number of those lighted magnifier arm lamps located at a few stations in the finish shop.
 
Thanks for the tip Ed, and as for the lights in the shop, they get brighter and multiply every so often!!! :les: I went back and looked at those glasses again, I think I will definitely try a pair. I have a pair of sunglass/saftey glasses like them, with the rubber nose pieces and they are nearly not as bad to slide down like my regular glasses!!


Come to think of it, I have been thinking of installing a few more lights in the house as well!!! :34:
 
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Since I need bifocals to see, I wear old fashion prescription safety glasses with side shields..i never have any fear of anything getting in my eyes.
 
Calvin I have tried bifocals in my safety glasses and never had much success! Just can't get use to them. I misjudge distances and can't get use to the bifocal itself! Gives me a headache and after a while it begins to make me nauseated!

I have learned to take my readers off when I am walking! Keeps me from tripping over everything.LOL

I remember as kid helping my Dad do things after he was going thru the same thing! He would fuss about glasses, and I remember saying oh they can't be that bad.
Now that has come back to haunt me. Readers are good at a given distance, any closer and it gets blurry. Light sometimes reflects in the lens and I can't see what I am working at, they slide down all the time, I sweat across the lens and they are covered in dust, etc etc.............!

Oh yeah they are that bad and worse! Guess in a way I was lucky I didn't start having problems till about 45. At 48, I kept asking the wife why all the lights were turned off and (they were on). I began to have problems of I couldn't read the newspaper anymore as, my arms were not long enough to get it where I could get it in focus!! :noway:
Denial is not just a river in Egypt!!! :s12137:
 
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When it became necessary for me to wear glasses full time, I had a pair of safety glasses made to my prescription (bifocals)
.... that didn't work out well for me. I had issues with distances, especially when at the grinder. After jamming a knuckle into a fresh 50 grit belt, I made the change to the full lens magnifiers I listed the links to. I really wish the bifocal safety glasses had worked out....I dumped a couple hundred bucks into them, and now they just sit on a shelf gathering dust.

I had to smile about the light thing too...... I'm running out of room above my grinders to install more lights. At present there is an 8' florescent, and TWO sets track lights, each with 8 heads on them. It's not bad in the winter months, but during the summer heat, grinding is like standing in an oven. :) I even mounted a small fan to the ceiling in an attempt to keep things cool in summer, but it's only marginally effective. :)

Youth is so wasted on the young!
 
I guess I was blessed. took me about an hour to get used to progressive no-line bifocals, I have been wearing them for over 15 years. my safety glasses are made to my prescription.
 
UPDATE: Got up this morning eye felt pretty decent, and then I sneezed and all hell broke loose. My eye began to water and nose ran. Had to leave the shop! So back to irrigating the eye. All day the eye bothered me. This afternoon decided I had to have some relief! I called an ophthalmologist's office I have used before.

Sir, we are not in your network with your current insurance. So I go to the urgent care. Three of them said they couldn't do anything for me!!

I am driving down the road barely able to see and on the phone with my insurance telling them if they will OK this action, (removal of a foreign body from eye) as an emergency I can go to the first ophthalmologist I spoke of.

Sir,............ we can only approve of emergency care as that provided by an urgent care facility or a hospital ER. Now can you please give me your ID # again.

No, I can not. I am already having trouble seeing and the only way I can read print is too put on my reading glasses and I can't see to drive with them!.................I gave it too you when I got you on the phone............ Never mind I have to get off the phone and concentrate on my driving!!!!!

Finally ended up at the ER and spent an hour or so, with a Dr. picking at my eye and finally telling me he can't get it all and I will have to be referred to an.................(wait for it) an ophthalmologist. In the morning. One of the urgent care facilities I tried today was next door to the ophthalmologist, I called earlier in the day!

Eye is killing me, since they screwed with it at the ER. Can't wait for morning!!!

Fix health care in America they don't have a clue because they don't use what the average American uses!!!! Shame on all of them!!!!!:no:
 
The doctor the ER told me to contact this morning, is no available today. Sooooo they give me four names. Three do not do foreign body removal and the other one, had to take a message and never called back. So back to the insurance company and can I go to the one that I asked about yesterday. I know they can do the foreign body removal but they are not in my network. You can go but you will have to pay an out of network co-pay. Really you can not find me an in network doctor that can do the foreign body removal and yet you can't wave the out of network copay, really!!!!!!!

By this time I am tired of arguing and told them I was going to the out of network doctor, ten minutes away from my house!!! So $70.00 co-pay and an hour to get worked in the Dr. goes to work and "Wa-lah"[FONT=Source Sans Pro, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]!

[/FONT]The eye is sore but better, now I have got to find a better safety glass set-up so I don't have to go thru this again! Got to go rest the eye some more, later guys!!
 
best eye protection I ever used was the old fashioned looking 'Rommel' goggles, like you see in the old WW2 movies. I even managed to find a set that was big enough to fit over my prescription glasses.
an aside, I bought some rare earth magnets for knife hanger. I have kept one wrapped up in my tool box. was drilling steel overhead and got some chips in my eye. got the magnet, found 1st aid guy, convinced him to put magnet into finger of sterile glove then go over my eye. 3 passes per eye and all chips were gone, no lost time, no ER visit, no report for safety lady
 
I've had my share of getting stuff in the eye's, but here's one hard to top.
about ten years ago I woke up one morning feeling like something was in my eye, I couldn't see anything in there but it was driving me crazy,
this went on for three days, rubbing my eye, driving me crazy, finally, looking in the mirror I saw something all goobered up. I got a hold of it and pulled out what was a piece of hair about 5" long..it kept pulling out, covered with goober stuff the whole way...Bleah!!! everything good after that. pretty disgusting story but thought I'd tell it since were on the subject of getting bad things in our eyes.
 
Eye feels better but vision is not right. Will try to go back to doctor in morning!! I can't seem to win for loosing on this one. Had safety glasses on and still end up with eye problems!!!
 
Bummer on the eye - been following the thread for last few days, and wanted to say "Hang in there" - glad to hear it's doing a bit better anyway. With wearing safety glasses - Trying to be safe and still getting hurt - that's a real bummer!
 
I took care of my eye protection and lung protection at the same time. It was expensive, but the 3m fan powered mask covers the entire face, will not fog and totally protects two very important parts of my anatomy. The powered fan keeps the face mask from fogging. The outside of the mask has replaceable lens covers or guards so if you scratch the face you just peel it off and apply another. The flowing air also keeps the face cool.
If you can find a way to afford it, IMO it is a great way to go.
 
Thanks to everyone on the thread. Went to the eye doctor again today and they said that there was noting in either eye. However the one I got the steel in is swelled and that is what is causing the discomfort and blurry vision. He gave me another kind of antibiotic to put in my eye and said to take it easy. It should be better in about 5-7 days! So no shop time and probably need to stay off the PC as it hurts my eyes!!
 
How does one battle the fogging up.... I have TREMENDOUS issues with this... 100% humidity all the time sucks but there has to be something that I can do


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5-7 days, man that sucks. whatever was in there must of scratched your eye good, you better go get them checked by an optometrist after this is all over, and hope they didn't leave anything in there.
 
I can feel for you Kwzito, I too have that same issue. One thing I have done is too have a fan running blowing on my work area. Of course this also can create problems, papers going everywhere, dust being blown around, etc. etc.!

They do have rigs that are fully enclosed, they tend to be on the expensive side but that is an option! Also on another forum in another thread I asked this question and a young new maker gave me an answer. I also do quite of metal fabrication and often in the cool of the fall and winter here in Fl. I would drop the mask to weld and before I could get a bead running with my arc welder I would experience fog-up. So I was trying to run a bead without being able to see what I was welding!!!
Any way back to the young makers advice. Turns out he did a lot of paint balling, you know where they suit up and shoot each other! LOL Anyway he clued me in to a product they use in their goggles when paint-balling! The product is called FogDoc, I have never tried it in my safety glasses but, have used it in my welding helmet and it works. In fact I had forgotten I had it till your question jarred my brain. Now I will have to try it on my safety glasses!! LOL

Anyway here is a link to their site! https://www.ansgear.com/FogDoc_Jar_Anti_Fog_Lens_Coating_p/fogdocjar.htm
The eye is still bothering and I can't read the small print on the jar, but as best as I can remember you rub it on the inside of the lens, it goes on like a wax coating and in a minute it dries and it will stop fog-up. You do have to re-apply every so often but, hey it works. I am glad you asked, that question as now I have got to try this on my safety-glasses!!
 
I can feel for you Kwzito, I too have that same issue. One thing I have done is too have a fan running blowing on my work area. Of course this also can create problems, papers going everywhere, dust being blown around, etc. etc.!

They do have rigs that are fully enclosed, they tend to be on the expensive side but that is an option! Also on another forum in another thread I asked this question and a young new maker gave me an answer. I also do quite of metal fabrication and often in the cool of the fall and winter here in Fl. I would drop the mask to weld and before I could get a bead running with my arc welder I would experience fog-up. So I was trying to run a bead without being able to see what I was welding!!!
Any way back to the young makers advice. Turns out he did a lot of paint balling, you know where they suit up and shoot each other! LOL Anyway he clued me in to a product they use in their goggles when paint-balling! The product is called FogDoc, I have never tried it in my safety glasses but, have used it in my welding helmet and it works. In fact I had forgotten I had it till your question jarred my brain. Now I will have to try it on my safety glasses!! LOL

Anyway here is a link to their site! https://www.ansgear.com/FogDoc_Jar_Anti_Fog_Lens_Coating_p/fogdocjar.htm
The eye is still bothering and I can't read the small print on the jar, but as best as I can remember you rub it on the inside of the lens, it goes on like a wax coating and in a minute it dries and it will stop fog-up. You do have to re-apply every so often but, hey it works. I am glad you asked, that question as now I have got to try this on my safety-glasses!!

Awesome!! I will try this out asap!


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