[TheForge] Eye protection/filters while forge welding

[Saint Phlip]

On 12/5/06, Dan Tull <dantull at numail.org> wrote:
> Key word:
> staring
>
>
> Don't

Dan, you're a man of few words, which is rather refreshing on this
List, but I suspect the man could use a bit more explanation ;-)

Paul- when you're bringing steel up to welding heat, you don't want to
stare at the fire, but rather glance at it and then glance away.
Staring at the fire, as you have observed, will cause spots before
your eyes. Those spots are indicative that your eyes are doing
something to defend your eyes from the glare. Part of that defense
involves changing your color vision, so you're seeing colors in a
different way. This will lead to inconsistancy in your judgement of
the colors by which you determine how hot something is, thus leading
to misjudgement of welding heat, and habitual inconsistancy with
welding. My preference, after looking into the fire, is to look at
something green (easy enough to do since I usually smith outdoors)
because it seems to help reset my eyes to normal color vision.

Do yourself a favor. Start learning the signs OTHER than the color as
observed by looking directly into the fire. If you pay attention, you
will discover that the sound of the fire changes, as well as the type
and shape of the smoke, and any spattering of ashes. I have amazed my
students by having a conversation with someone else, with my back to
the fire, by telling them to take their piece out NOW before it
burned, simply by being aware of the sound- similarly, with several
students' pieces in the fire, glancing over, seeing the shape of the
smoke and ash, and telling them someone's piece is about to burn up.
It's not genius, and it's not being psychic- it's simply being
experienced enough (I tend not to mention the pieces I've burned up
;-) to use every bit of information available to tell me what my fire
is doing. Learn this, and you'll have taken your smithing to the next
step ;-)

-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

Psalm 146
King James Bible