Didium glasses---where do you find good ones???

[Donald Feser]

my glasses are dying- i would like to find a pair w/ the nose rests, like normal glasses- as I have chubby cheeks and they fit better. where does everyone find good glasses? and happy dads day to all you dads out there!

[Randy Kaltenbach]

Not sure about didymium, but Aura makes a wide variety of eye protection. (They don't make didymium any more because they have developed new, better filters) Here's their comparison page:

http://www.auralens.net/e_gwrecommend.cfm

(scroll down to: Decision Tree for Glassworker Eye Protection)

[Sky Campbell]

Didymium does not filter IR radiation. A welders shade 2.5 will and is what I believe Mike from Aura Lens recommends.


That brings up a good question for everyone.. What type of glasses do you wear and where did you buy them?

I wear a glass welders lens 2.5 and have shade 3 plastic for visitors and students. Glass ones from Aura Lens and plastic from ebay.

[David Patchen]

I've got glasses from Aura and love them. Biker frame.

[Jane Greer]

I use Aura's flip ups so that I'm not fighting two pairs of glasses. Plus it works for my lampworking too.

[Mark Halva]

Mine are prescription safety glasses #2 green lens. Purchased from my eyeglass doctor.

[Ray Laubs]

I use AUR92 = good in front of the glory hole and good for on the torch.

[Donald Feser]

I only do soft glass- hot shop, so from what I've read- didiyum (worst speller on the planet) works fine-? thanks for all the info guys!

[Randy Kaltenbach]

I only do soft glass- hot shop, so from what I've read- didiyum (worst speller on the planet) works fine-?Uhhh, that is not my understanding. Didymium works for (reading from the link posted previously) "any operation requiring occasional viewing of heat sources in excess of 1000". Mostly lampwork of soft glass. Does not filter heat (IR), as mentioned earlier.

The Aura lenses are a reasonably priced bit of protection that I now consider indispensable.

[Mike Aurelius]

I use AUR92 = good in front of the glory hole and good for on the torch.

Uh......NOPE. AUR-92 should never be used in front of the glory hole. It does not block IR (heat energy) -- in fact it passes around 85% of it. 2300 F right into your eyes.

[Mike Aurelius]

Didymium is called the "glassblower filter", but that is a huge misnomer. It was developed originally for making vacuum tubes in mass production plants when they needed a way to cut the sodium flare so the assembly workers could see the tube to seal it. It was never designed to block IR, only the sodium flare.

Didymium is also mostly extinct as an eyewear filter, it has been replaced with ACE/AUR-92, a second generation didymium filter.

The only time it is safe to use didymium/ACE/AUR-92 in front of the furnace/glory hole is when it is used in combination with an existing welders filter. We also provide a variant of the AUR-92 with a laminated IR filter called the AGW-300, it is very pricey (because of the clear IR filter we use) but it filters out 99% of the hazardous IR.

[Donald Feser]

thanks- i think my eyes are worth the price!

[Pete VanderLaan]

Mike, isn't it the case that just regular glasses will absorb most of the IR anyway?

[Mike Aurelius]

Nope. Regular eyewear absorbs UV (ultraviolet), but not IR. Most non-filter eyewear (and this includes sunglasses!!!) are pretty much transparent to IR.

A big deal is made about UV protection -- and that's as it should be for street wear and sunglasses and the like, but the optical industry is pretty much ignorant about the hazards of IR (which is why I have my little personal crusade on the subject). "We" don't work hot enough to generate UV -- UV starts somewhere around 4,500 F.

The basic rule of thumb is: if you can feel the heat on your face, your eyes need protection. The eye has no pain receptors for heat energy, so they can't tell you that you are being exposed to it. You know the next day when your eyes are dry, grainy, scratchy, but not at the time of the exposure.

Additionally IR damage to the eye is cumulative. It builds up over time and does not heal. At some point the eye is going to reach its critical exposure point and then problems develop, such as burns, cataracts etc. Unfortunately, the problem is that everyones critical exposure point is different. Blonde/blue eyed (Northern European) people have a lower exposure point, Dark hair/dark eyed (Mediterranian/African/Asian) people have a much higher exposure point. That's what makes it difficult -- people try to compare themselves to others in the industry without taking into account the genetics, the type of work being done etc.

There's a ton of info on my blog about it.

[Jud Scott]

I have several pairs of glasses from auralens - and they are GREAT!!! I would highly recommend them. good price, excellent options for every aspect of glass working, and they protect the only eyes you have. buy a pair, buy several pairs. keep your eyes working, or you wont be :-)

[Mike Aurelius]

Buy a dozen. I have a house payment to make ;)