The discussion on Ganoksin regarding protective eyewear is not current. So, I want to raise the issue again. I have just been diagnosed with macular degeneration in one eye. What is the best choice for protective eyewear while soldering and melting ingots? I work only with silver and gold. I do have a pair of sunglasses with polarized lenses, are those sufficient?
A quick answer. No, sunglasses are not proper eye protection with melting silver and gold. You need eye protection designed for gas welding. (gas welding, not arc welding) Thereās lots of information out there about gas welding eye protection.
If youāve got macular degeneration, then you definitely donāt want to mess around. I think you should address what you do for a living with your doctor and get a recommendation about whatās best for you from your doctor.
Shade IR #3 to IR #8 is what is often used with gas welding. When I took welding classes, Shade IR #5 was most common. That level of darkness is too dark for some with jewelry soldering and ingot making. Sometimes when I cast ingots with a shade #5 welding glasses Iāll put a bench light above the ingot mold to help me better see the ingot hole better. Those kind of glasses are available from any jewelry equipment vendor or welding equipment vendor.
But again, sunglasses are not the right choice for soldering and melting silver & gold and I strongly suggest that you talk to your doctor about your profession for a recommendation about the best eye protection for you.
I have retina issues, so I take this question very seriously.
All the best!
Jeff
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I protect my eyes in any way that I can with face shields when polishing, grinding and melting, safety eye glass in my glasses and a protective lens in my pulse arc welder. I just learned another way today that I should be doing and havenāt. I was cleaning the shop floor with a vacuum cleaner. I banged into a rolling cart that two of my saw frames hang off of. The blades were installed and under tension. One of the frames hit the floor directly on the end of the handle. Apparently the frame flexed from hitting the floor and the blade broke in such a way that a piece of it flew up and hit me right below my left eye. All is well with the exception of a small mark, but the potential doesnāt elude me. From now on they will be stored not under tension. It is always good to talk shop safety. Thanksā¦Rob
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Thank you for responding so promptly. Yes, I will talk with my Optometrist but Iāve had a feeling that she may be clueless about soldering for the purposes of jewelry making. But, you are right, I do need to have that discussion. Also, my sunglasses are polarized so they arenāt your typical sunglasses, but again, that is a discussion I need to have with my optometrist. Thank you.
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Thank you for your response. Iām glad the saw blade missed your eye!
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VickiStone,
To truly answer your question one has to be a doctor or a scientist who understands scientifically how torch light affects eyes and then how torch light relates to macular degeneration. Iām an artist/jeweler, not a scientist, thatās why I said to make sure that your doctor is part of this conversation.
All I can do is repeat what Iāve been taught. Hereās what Iāve been taught is the difference between Osha approved welding lenses and sunglasses. Sunglasses, even polarized sunglasses, arenāt designed to filter out the kind of damaging light created by a torch metal melting. In fact, they do the opposite which is to set up more potential damage because they ātrickā the eye into dilating the pupil and let in more potentially damaging light.
Now whatās the difference between soldering and pouring ingots? Potentially a lot. Torch melting metal is similar to gas welding, which is why I suggested to research gas welding protective lenses. The torch when melting silver and gold is hotter and brighter. The melted metal is also hotter and much brighter.
Torch soldering doesnāt reach those temperatures and bright light levels. From what Iāve been told is that itās debatable whether you need welding glasses for jewelry soldering. Iāve found that opinions within the jewelry community differ wildly about this.
For you though, I have no idea what the right answer is? Maybe you should wear a shade #3 welding lens while soldering and a shade #5 welding lens while making ingots. It sure wouldnāt hurt. The #3 lens is light enough where you should be able to see what youāre doing while soldering and the #5 lens is probably dark enough to protect while ingot making. But again, this is not medical advice. Honestly, for me personally, if I was diagnosed with macular degeneration, I would probably stop torch melting metal completely.
One other thing to suggest that you consider is that an optometrist prescribes corrective vision glasses and has some abilities to diagnose medical eye issues. An ophthalmologist is an eye specialist medical doctor. If you havenāt done it yet, Iād highly recommend that you see an ophthalmologist who specializes in macular degeneration as soon as you can. Thatās where youāre going to get the best advice on how to move forward.
One thing that you are totally correct about though is that most doctors donāt really understand medical issues surrounding our profession. Sometimes we have to help educate them to get the best treatment.
With that in mind, Iām attaching the OSHA handout for welding eye protection. As far as I know, there isnāt anything similar within OSHA for the jewelry industry.
I very much wish you the best of luck in figuring it all out and hope that this has been of some help!
Jeff
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Easy for your optometrist to see what you do is to have a clip of someone soldering from off the internet to show her. Use your phone to load the clip on, so she can see what it is. Soldering that we do is different from say a broad term, welding. Not to say she is clueless, she may do welding? You never know what people know.
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Again, thank you for your response. I appreciate your advice and I hear you! I am going to search out an ophthalmologist that specializes in macular degeneration.
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Good idea! Iāll do that. Thank you.
May I suggest a visit to your local welding supplier. In much of NYS it is Haun Welding Supply. AIRGAS is another. Tell them what you are doing and with what gases. I imagine they will recommend something with an H-4 darkened lens. When I was building steel boats I had an old style flip helmet with an H-4 lens in the open position and a H-6 in the closed position. The combined H-4 and H-6 lenses were fine for arc welding. Flipped up the H-4 was excellent for torch work. This was 45+ years ago and I am sure the technology has changed a bit. Thereās may even be darkening glasses now the will automatically darken down to the filter strength you need.
Don Meixner.
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Thank you. Thatās good advice.
I had a similar conversation with my ophthalmologist. I had two sets of glasses made for the studio, with safety glass. One set is for close up work and the other for longer distances. And I purchased a pair of casting glasses from Rio Grande but any welding shop will have supplies. I also have macular degeneration, as do most people over 50, getting older sucks! I was advised to use Systane Balance multiple times per day. I keep a bottle on my bench, right where I can see it when I look up. I always use it after a long soldering, or polishing session. And before driving. Great at bedtime too. Deb
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Hello debh, I use Systane Balance but not as frequently as I should. Iāve made an appt. with a retinologist but it will be mid-April before I see him. Thank your input.
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Hi Deb, yep eye degeneration, have the same problem being over eighty. On heart pills too and that means that I need a hat outside because of the ultraviolet light problem. Jewellery torch work is about the same problem. Your chemist might be one to speak with regard to what other medication you are on. You might see them (pharmacists) more often. Polaroid lenses can alter your perspective depth! Top-of-the-range sunglasses are often available without the the Polaroid coating but do have Alpha and Beta UV filtering whereas normal plastic glasses do filter ultraviolet
but not all of it. Please donāt take this answer as gospel.
VickiStone
I have macular degeneration as well, both eyes. I have asked both my ophthalmologist and my retina specialist because I feel sure that soldering and alloying etc canāt be good for my old eyes. Neither one of them had a clue. I wear the very dark glasses from a welding shop that flip up to reveal clear lenses over the top of my reading glasses. I have a good light over the top of my soldering bench. Thatās the best I have been able to come up with. Of course what you do outside matters too, always sunglasses, even on overcast days.
We need our eyes! Thanks for the saw tip above too!
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Thank you for your response. So, has your macular degeneration progressed, or has it stabilized? Iām wondering if your dark welding glasses have effectively allowed you to continue to use the torch w/o further damage to your retina.
Also, I donāt remember posting any āsaw tipā.
A good pair of āreadingā glasses, but without magnification, Get clip on shades with ultraviolet protection. Get your eyes checked for a Macular hole, which can sometimes be repaired, restoring vision, good luck, and best wishes.
Hi. Iām a scientist and Iām going to look this up. What I can say right now is that molten silver and gold donāt emit UV, so itās not the same as arc welding. They do emit infrared, which has its own hazards. Also, polarized lenses are great for reducing glare, but other than that, they are like regular shades. More to come. With documentation.
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OK, here goes:
Black body radiation shows minimal to no emission in the UV at the melting temp. of silver and gold (around 1,300 Kelvin). There is significant IR, which can cause cataracts.
Green lenses can absorb a certain amount of UV, visible, and IR light, and these types of lenses are often used in welding operations. The lenses are marked with a shade number that shows the level of protection against hazardous light. For gas welding applications, lenses marked with a shade from 4 to 7 are commonly used, whereas in arc welding, the darker shade range of 10 to 14 is generally preferred. Green lenses are often also worn in metal foundries, or in other hot environments where IR light is a hazard. From Light and Infrared Radiation
And now for temperatures more in keeping with melting and casting silver and gold:
For soldering and torch brazing, from 1910.252 - General requirements. | Occupational Safety and Health Administration use a 3 or 4 shading mask.
What a 3 or 4 shading mask means, I donāt know.
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Hi,
Thank you for your post! A long while ago I purchased a pair of āgreen lensā glasses from Rio Grandeā¦and never knew the āshade numberāā¦Rio Grande has since started selling a different model of green lens glassesā¦
I just looked closely at my glasses for the first time and saw that they are marked ā+3ā haha!
julie
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