[TheForge] didymium glasses?

[Steve Smith]

As has been said, didymium helps you see what is going on in the fire, 
rather than being designed to protect your eyes. As you say, Justin, 
they block the sodium yellow, where UV and IR are the problems.

UV will be blocked by most any kind of safety glasses. Plastic stops UV 
really well.

With coal your eyes are sort of drawn to watch the fire. Don't do it, 
look around the shop while you wait. Another line of defense.

Steve

Justin Fellenz wrote:
> Folks,
>    
>   I asked this question on the knife list (I apologize for the spam, those of you who are on both) but I'm curious to see what y'all think. Everybody knows you always need to wear your safety glasses, but I wonder about the intense light....Here's the q:
>    
>   Folks,
>    
>   I've been doing a little forge welding recently and I'm wondering about the green flare I get after looking at the steel in the fire. It's annoying not to be able to see right away and I understand it leads to catarcts in time. Hrisoulas suggests didymium glasses and Centaur carries them but I understand they're really about sodium flare that comes with glass blowing. Seems that iron and coal (or the inside of a gas forge at temp) would be mostly UV or IR. I obviously need to be able to accurately judge color but I'm in no hurry to get a nice shiny set of cataracts. Question is, are a set of these necessary for good long-term eye care or is there some other better radiation protection, or do you just need to not look into the fire too much? They're not cheap but they're a lot cheaper than blindness.
>    
>   Thanks,
>    
>   JRF
>    
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
> 
> 
>