Getting old is bad enough without having speckles on your eyeglasses to deal with. I currently wear trifocal glasses with glass lenses. Any time a spark gets behind the hood, you know where it is going to land- - -smackdab in the middle of the lenses. My optician is trying to sell me on some high-dollar plastic lens for my new glasses-says they won't pockmark with the sparklies like glass does. I figure opticians don't weld, they sell glasses, so I'm not buying in to that until I find out from someone who welds and don't sell glasses. What do you guys that wear glasses say? Appreciate the input from you all.
I have plastic prescription safety glasses and they pock mark just like the glass ones. Sounds like a load of BS to me. I don't know how any optic quality material could stand up to that kind of heat.
I put 1.5 cheaters in my hood and when I'm doing fine work that my bifocals mess with I just use plain safety glasses.
Sometimes I use disposable safety glasses with a 1.5 cut into them.
My regular bifocals are also safety glass.. But I hate the snap on side shields..
No real answers for ya tho.. Other than I buy cheap frames so it doesn't hurt so much when I replace the prescriptions.
IMO it is a trade off. I use the polycarbonate lenses not glass because the sparks don't stick like they do to glass lenses. The dust however will scratch the heck out of them. For me I get more life out of the plastic lens. Lately I have been trying the cheap throw away uvex prescription safety glasses... I don't like them so far, I don't think it will be cost effective.
Polycarbonate- -that's what he was trying to sell me. I just didn't think that any plastic would stand up to the sparklies hitting it, but you give me some faith in it. I tried drugstore glasses, but I need at least 3.5 diopter, so the whole world was fuzzy with them (it's hell being near blind). I can see the dust thing being a problem---guess just have to be real careful cleaning them. I've learned in the 59 years I've been wearing these things to run water over them to flush off the dust before even touching the lens. Thanks for the comeback, everyone.
Hi
Glass has a chemical reaction with most high temperature metals and abrasives. That is why even small grinding sparks hitting glass tends to "burn" into the surface. It is not because the glass is melting, but because of this chemical reaction. Plastic does not have this chemical reaction, but it does have a relatively low melting point, so if the heat (energy) contained in the spark/slag particle is high enough, it will melt the plastic, resulting in damage. Mostly the sparks from grinding operations do not contain enough heat to melt into plastic spectacles, but large slag particles, such as when ACA gouging, will generally have enough heat to damage the plastic. These will also have enough energy to burn a hole in your eye, so count yourself lucky when it hits your specs instead!
Bottom line: Glass is MUCH more succeptible to damage from sparks than plastic, but if there is enough heat in the spark, it will damage the plastic also. Plastic scratches easier, so you need to have a good understanding of how to care for them to give them an acceptably long life. Depending on circumstances, this may be the deciding factor for you. Personally I prefer plastic, and have used plastic for many years, but I am an office worker with only the occasional exposure to workshop conditions, so my motivations will be different from yours.
Regards
Niekie
Plastic or poly will not have sparks sticking, but sure to scratch. I get better life from them than the glass lenses. I haven't worn glass for years.
Plastic.
Your clear lens is plastic for a reason. It won't pit like glass. Line up a piece of glass and a clear lens and shoot grinding sparks on both and see which pits up.
Plus plastic is lighter than glass. The down side is that plastic will scratch easier. So plastic lens should be cleaned with a soft cloth. I rinse them off with water first to wash any debris off before wiping them with a cloth.
There are several different types of plastic lens. CR-39 is the old stand by plastic prescription lens. Polycarbonate is lighter, stronger and more expensive. There is another type of plastic lens too I believe.
Your optician is right. He does not weld but he had better know glasses. However, it is shocking what you can spend on a pair of quality glasses.
Floyd
I always have, and still do get 3mm tempered safety glass. In My perscription, they are heavy as all hell, so I don't get relly big lenses, as they get even thicker at the outside edges.
They do pock from sparks, but I need to be able to wipe them off with whatever is at hand. Since I started on chemo [going on 8 years] I perspire with minimal effort, need to wipe the lenses every few minutes. I need the scratch resistance, and coated plastic will not hold up as well.
Lexan is extremely tough, that is what "bullet proof glass" is made of. However it is rather soft, and scratches easily. I am told the coatings do help.
Tell him it sounds like a great product. Ask him if he is willing to replace the lenses at no charge if they do pit up. Thats the easy way to find out how they really feel about there product. If they back it up. Buy it...! If he crawfish's think twice.
possible to use the film screen protecting material that people use for smart phones? Really seems like all you need is something cheap that will take the sparks, I'm sure there's some type of film that could do the trick
Joel The screen on my phone shows that screen protectors might as well not be there. I kept high quality (thick) protectors on my old phone and it has pocks in the screen itself. I dunno if the extra layer helped any at all or was just a soft catchers mit for the sparks. There might be something out there but that "Mylar?" like stuff (motocross tearoffs) or the vinyl is not it. Mig welding is the worst offender I think.
I just use polycarbonate in my work glasses because they are safety lenses and hold up to the sparks best. I always try to immerse them under water/cleaner and gently rub with my fingers then use a clean cloth. The anti scratch coating crap they offer is pretty worthless inmho.
I've been wearing glasses for as long as I've been welding and recently had to start wearing bi-focals. I always get polycarbonate with a scratch resistant coating. They hold up pretty good but I know there is a better type of lens out there but I can't remember what it is called. I used to work for a railcar manufacturer that provided prescription safety glasses and the lenses were indestructible. The place that I get my glasses from now says polycarbonate is my only choice for safety glasses.
I have been wearing plastic pop-bottles for years now and they are treated with a (so called) scratch resistant coating Not even sure if the coating works.
Use lots of liquid to float and flush particles away before using a tissue.
Paper towel, toilet paper and some types of facial tissues can scratch the lens even by themselves. Is best to use the tissues that come with a lens cleaning kit.
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