The Bernzomatic website says to use safety glasses when torch
soldering. The lenses should have a “shade number” of 4 or 5.
Ordinary tinted glasses won’t do because they don’t screen out the
harmful wavelengths.
Do you know any mail-order sources for simple (read: cheap) “shade
4” glasses? They don’t have to be impact-resistant.
The jewelry-making books I’ve read say you can determine metal
temperature by its color. If you wear the shaded glasses, can you
still detect different color stages of metal?
Check out the local gas / plumber store where you get your tanks
refilled. They will have all different styles of glasses for you to
choose and varying shades. They deal with mostly welders so glasses
for platinum should be easily obtained too. Mark
spend the money on the glasses. you only get one set of eyes. in my
experience most jewelers "free solder " i.e. no lenses, but all
welders i know use glasses. oxygen enhanced flames do harm your eyes
over time. when you must look at the flame directly to see what’s
going on .but use the glasses most of the time .the only problem i
had with goggles was getting used to the difference in the way the
metal and flux looks just before it flows. hope this helps
If you’re looking for shaded “welding goggles” (that’s what they
call them), try a local welding/gas shop or even Home Depot or Lowes.
They should have them and save you the time and trouble of mail
order.