The shading refers to the same numbers as the welding glasses. Melting metal produces IR light which causes cataracts- not macular degeneration- and is most closely related to “glass blowers cataracts” which is caused by similar levels of IR from the molten glass. It’s incredibly difficult to find information relating directly to goldsmithing and welding shades, but the best I’ve come up with is much the same as you - 3 for soldering and 5 for melting metal. Sunglasses provide ZERO protection for IR light. It boggles my mind that there is so little education on this in our industry.
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I’m glad I even found this thread to begin with! It never occurred to me that IR could cause cataracts, and I’m glad that we seem to be getting to an agreement on what’s a good level of safety, and sharing with the community. 
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I was an optician for 11 years. We had several lampworkers that were patients. They used Rose Dydimium glasses for blocking the bright light of the torch flame. They are also used by blacksmiths and hot shop workers. I couldn’t find anything specifically for jewelers, but they would likely cover most, if not all of what we do. Rose Dydimium lenses filter UV, blue light and 95% IR. Whoever you buy them from, make sure they are safety rated. Here is an explanation of what I am talking about and why: What Does ANSI Z87.1 Certified Mean?
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Thank you for your response. It is very helpful.
I saw my ophthalmologist today and it turns out that my optometrist misdiagnosed my vision issue. It appears that I do not have macular degeneration, but rather there is a wrinkle in my retina which can be corrected. Needless to say, I’ll be looking for a new optometrist.
Thank you all for your input!
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That’s fantastic news! Very happy for you!
Jeff
Wait til you age more and the optometrist tells you, “You have macular pucker” It does have a fancy medical name for it but this is the one they tell you since you can pronounce it. As you age the tissue surrounding your eye pulls away. nothing to worry about unless it goes way to fast and happens in a matter of months not decades. I laughed so hard when my husband said he had it. He was so serious and worried. He just stood there in the kitchen and said, “I have macular pucker!” In our family as I taught the kids to drive, it was a standard practice to take them over a scary road with drop offs and big twists. It was always known as the butt pucker drive. So Dan saying he had the macular form had us in stitches.
Thank you Vicki for reminding me we all need to laugh.
aggie
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My macular degeneration has progressed. I have no idea if the dark glasses have helped at all.
Are you being treated with a shot in the failing eye? My recent experience with a new drug has been remarkable - nearly all leakage has stopped. Lines are straight again.
Judy
Hello Judy, You may want to read my previous post. My ARMD was misdiagnosed by my (former) optometrist. So, do you have the wet stage of ARMD?
Hello Judy,
My macular has not gone from dry to wet, just worse dry… my brother has the wet kind and yes the shots are helping him.I see a retina specialist every 6 months.
I would love straight lines again.
Bev
Finally, people that like to talk about what my roommate calls my “nerdy jewelry talk”. Lol
although this pertains to a more recent thread, my deepest condolences to all those who are developing macular degeneration or other retinal problems… and anyother retinal processes that cause slow visual loss.
Just FYI: macular degeneration is the leading cause of progresive and irreversible visual loss in older people…with diabetic retinopathy tied… cataracts are the first consequence of UV and strong light exposure but can be corrected by surgery…diabetic retinopathy is another huge problem causing visual loss, especially if it affects the macula…what causes macular degeneraton and how to prevent it is still unknown… the causes are likely to be a combination of multiple factors both genetic and environmental…One general and inclusive theory is that a lifetime of sunlight and UV exposure will first damage the lens, causing cataracts, and also slowly damage the retinal…
.If you personally have retinal issues, my condolences, but you already know how to protect your eyes very well…
I’ve deveped nuclear cataracts from strong sun exposure since childhood gorowing up in Hawaii… I have been offered miinimalist surgery to remove them but am waiting until it’s time… being very near sighted helps we see small things… without my glasses that I need to see distance, I can read better and see small objects better without them…reading lens give you 2X magnification…my nearsightedness gives me 5X… I’ll lose it if I have cataract surgery…so I’m delaying surgery until I have difficulty seeing in the dark…it’s developing slowly at this time and I don’t like nighttime driving, One general theory is that UV in bright sunlight and intense light (arc welders, and hight temperatures do produce UV, especially arcs)…causes cataracts… the lens protects the retina by absorbing some of the UV…but the retinal light sensors (rods an cones) will also get damaged slowly…the damage is cumulative and will manifest as visual loss as we all grow older…I’m in the older age cohort now… the retinal itself is part of the brain…the photoreceptors are on the surface of the retina, with deeper layers of cells that do visual processing as a first step… nerve fibers gather together to form the optic nerve in the back of the eyeball and transmit electrical signals that are transduced, prcessed and sent to the brain’s primary visual centers to be further processed before sending the signals elsewhere in the brain to create images that the brain can analyze further… the whole process is almost instantaneous taking 100 to 200 miliseconds…such is the complexity and miracle of vision… we have to guard against visual loss as well as hearing loss… the latter is a safety topic in and of itself and too much to get into right now… and yes, shortwave IR radiation does cause damage too…heated metal at 1,800 to 2,000 degrees gives off at lot of IR…
From the above discussion, optmotrists have their place… I use them for refractions as they are very good at it and covered by my eye glass insurance… I go to an MD opthalmologist who is also a retinal specialist, as I did have a retinal flap tear that was tacked back into place by cryosurgery in the office…However, an ODs and not MD’s they have serious limitations in diagnosis and treatment…
Optometrists (OD’s) have only half the training years and patient contact training hours that MD or DO opthalmologists do during training… they can’t do eye surgery and in most states can’t prescribe eye drops…which is why they miss things… they don’t have the specialized sophisticated equipement taht othalmologists have eiher.
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retinal puckers are not something to be ignored… a medical eye doctor consultation is necessary.
puckers can be a weak point for a retinal tear to start… retinal tears can be easily treated by a medical eye doctor…I have a far periphery pucker that my optometrist can’t even see… I was warned years ago that if I have certain kind of visual symptoms it could result from the pucker causing a retinal tear of detachment. a retinal fold is someting completely different but if on the macula can cause visual problems and still be a weak point for a tear to start… tears are a medical eye emergency… I’m writing this as a medical specialist that deals with neuroopthalmology also. Eye healh is extremely important to everyone, no matter what they do…DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON OPTOMETRISTS… ODs’
Not all MD oothalmologists are good, some are only mediocre and misdiagnose also…However Ilm writing as an MD specialist with neuroopthalmology training. I’ve collaborated with opthalmologists extensively while practicing. I personally use both… I have small nuclear cataracts, have had a retinal flap tear, that was repaired in office by cryosurgery, and still have a retinal pucker in the far periphery of one eye…I have an OD that I use for refractions as he’s better at it than most… all other eye care is under a retinal specialist MD…
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Thank you for your insight. My particular situation is something different than what was originally diagnosed by an optometrist. Presently, I am under the care of 2 retina specialists & I am so thankful that I didn’t accept that original diagnosis of macular degeneration w/o seeking help from a specialist.
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I don’t think that I said the specifics with my retina issue story. I have four good friends all around my age, (mid-sixties) who have had either partially detached or fully detached retinas. Three of my friends are full time jewelers. One of my friends had things go so badly for him that he had to get a partial cornea transplant.
A few years back, about two weeks after getting an eye exam with my optometrist and being told that my eyes looked good, I woke up with a large floater in one of my eyes. I called up my friend with the cornea transplant and asked what to do. He said hang up the phone and call your doctor. I did and my primary care doctor was zero help. He said to go back to the optometrist and wouldn’t budge. This ended up going around in circles for a few days with my friend calling me every day to check in and me calling my primary care physician’s office to get a referral to an ophthalmologist.
One of my concerns was if insurance would cover it if I saw an ophthalmologist without a referral. I called my insurance company. The person that I spoke with was extremely helpful. She said, don’t worry about, that I needed to see an ophthalmologist right away, and that my insurance plan covered any office visit, even with a specialist. I called our local hospital to make an appointment with an ophthalmologist without a referral. At first, the person at the desk tried to get me to go back to my optometrist. I said, no, I’ve been told that I need to see an ophthalmologist right away. He changed his stance and got me in that day.
The ophthalmologist that I saw, congratulated me for not giving up and getting in, because that’s exactly where I needed to go with these symptoms. During her eye exam, she said that I have thin spots in my retinas and she referred me to a retina specialist the following day.
Obviously, this is a long story, so I’m going to end it here. The retina specialist said that my condition is very common with older near sighted folks. I ended up being super lucky. My retinas have thin spots, but so far have held. I haven’t needed any further treatment, but now I have to get an annual exam by an ophthalmologist. I’ve been trained to know the signs of when I have to immediately go to the emergency room for a torn retina.
One of the reasons that I’m telling my story is that I have chosen the profession of being a jeweler, because up until my mid-forties I had almost super human close up vision (meaning that I’m near sighted). Virtually all of my jewelry artist friends are also near sighted. Older near sighted folks need to be aware that retina issues are common.
I also have relatives with macular degeneration.
Take care of your eyes folks! It’s super important.
Jeff
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This discussion came from an active recent thread about having someone with a central blindspot due to macular degeneration who wanted to take a jewerly class. I had to pitch the same advice… medical clearance by an MD opthamologist was imperative not only for liabilit but because an ancident that injured her good eye could have been catastrophic. I’m just letting everyone know that optometrists are great for eyeglasses… I think they all do better refractions that opthalmologists or the opthalmology techs that they delegate them to…but these people are eyeglass docs for the most part…they refer to MD’s when they it goes beyond that… for diseases of the eyes and retinal problems you have to seek out an MD otpthalmologist…I’m also qualified to say what I did… that’s all… glad that everything turned out well for you.
thanks for sharing… I can’t stress the importance of going to an MD eye doctor for anyone who has visual problems. People like Jeff and myelf, who are high myopes (very near sighted) from a young age have longer eyeballs front to back, than those who have normal vision… I had -10 diopters, which made me extremely nearsighted, however, the great advantage of being so nearsighted is that you have 10X magnification just by taking your eye glasses off…as we age, our eye balls start to shrink… I’ve gone from -10 to -5…I still can see better with taking my glasses off than by using reading glasses. I have 5X magnification versus a maximum of 2X that reading glasses usually give you…However, it comes at a price… as we age, our eyeballs shrink… The jelly like substance (vitreous) that fill most of the eyeball except for where the lens is, slowly dries out also and pulls away from the inside of the eyeball where the retina is attached… This makes older people prone to having retinal detachments and tears that can be a medical emergency, if it affects central vision. Peripheral tears can go unnoticed until they propagate and cause visual symptoms. anyone who suddenly sees flashes of light that occurr spontaneous should immediately have an eye exam done by an othalmologist. Even if an optometrist finds a tear or detachment, they cannot fix it, as they are not trained to do eye surgery…
The training requirements for an optometrist (OD) are a bachelor’s degree and 4 years of optometry school. Upon graduation from optometry school they can enter practice. Training requirements for an MD or DO opthalmologist are a bachelor’s degree, 4 years of medical school and 5 to 7 years of opthalmology residency, which includes a year of general surgery, and 12,000 to 16,000 hours of direct patient care…becoming a othalmology specialist, such as a retinal specialist will require an additonal 1 to 2 years of fellowship training…otometrists are not licenced to prescribe medications and in most states not even to use eyedrops… older people have small (meiotic) pupils which limits what an optometrist can see of the periperal retina;, while an opthalmologist can dilate your pupils to get a far bigger look at the retinal periphery which is where a lot of retinal tears start…the difference in training for an MD eye doctor is twice or more than an OD eye doctor.
That being said, I have nothing against optometrists for getting refractions and eye glasses. Opthalmologist offices often use a technician or even hire optometrists to do that…I use them myself, for my eyeglasses, as they usually do a better job with refractions and getting you the right lenses, which is their focus and mostly all theya re trained for, than MD othalmologists who are more concerned with eye diseases. There will be optometrists aong the audience that will object to my comments, but that is the gist of the matter…
To make things even worse, various health insurance plans try to save themselves money by delaying or not wanting referals to an opthalmologist…paraprofessionals are cheaper than seeing an MD or DO… navigating health plan systems is byzantine…I have difficulties with it even being an “insider”…
Very informative. Thank you.