It blocks out the bright yellow, leaving a pale orange-yellow,
almost a tangerine color, easy to see through, but present enough
so you can see when the rod tip is warming. Geo.
I’m trying to sort out all the offerings of didymium glasses. A
few of you have praised the gold coated glasses, but I wonder if
the coating affects the perception of the colors of the glass. I
also wonder about the glasses that are green or cobalt blue. I
also can’t figure out what is meant by the measurements that are
given, e.g. 45mm. What are they measuring. I’m looking for
glasses to go over my own glasses, and, no, I don’t want the
clip-ons, they are too expensive. Maybe that was too many
questions at one shot, sorry. Frances
Hi, The folks at Auralens sell lens plates that can be mounted on
an old Optivisor frame. You don’t have to buy the headband/visor.
I bought just an AUR-92 lens plate for $75.00, mounted it behind
a safety plate to protect it and over a #5 magnifying plate, a
3-layer sandwich. I used longer bolts than the ones that came
with the Optivisor. Like a lot of people who wear glasses, I
needed something to fit over my prescription glasses. The
clip-on types didn’t fit my frames and they made my glasses so
heavy they slid down my nose. Hope this solves your problem.
Contact Auralens at http://www. auralens.com
Donna
About these funny kinds of glasses:
“Didymium” glasses are made with glass which is colored by a
combination of neodymium and praseodymium, which are rare earth
elements. Together in glass they partially filter the wavelength
which sodium gives off when molten (the yellow orange), and which
is very damaging to the eyes. Since sodium is a major component
of glass, this is why glassworkers use them.
Glassworkers who do furnace work, where they are staring at the
stuff at very high temperatures for very long periods of time, or
who work in borosilicate which melts at a much higher temp than
regular glass, usually add extra filters/darkening lenses/gold
coatings, etc. to their glasses. Also, some glassworkers work in
quartz, which is pure silica, and which melts at even higher
temps (and often using hydrogen torches). The hotter you go, the
more eye protection that’s required.
The Aur-92’s you’ve seen mentioned here are made by Aura Lens
Products. Theses are not didymiums but use a laminate of some
kind which filters much more harmful stuff than do the didymiums.
Most torch glassworkers I know have switched to them becuase
they’re so superior to didymiums, gold coated or not. They’re not
cheap, however. Aura Lens offers several lenses for a number of
different heat applications, including (I think) lenses which
are gold coated. These of course, are even more expensive. These
often have better absortion in the infrared and UV. You can ask
for a spectral analysis from Aura Lens, or access this info from
their webswite.
If you are working glass in a torch, didymiums are fine, but you
will find much less eye fatigue with the Aur-92’s. Unless you are
working borosilicate, and for hours at a time, you don’t need to
spend the extra money on any other coatings.
If you are a jeweler and are doing primarily gold and silver
soldering, the Aur-92’s will probably be more than adequate. The
temperature of most soft glass torch work is about 2000 degrees,
so you’re still way under that at solder temperatures, or even
occasional casting. If you do platinum work, or a lot of casting
then you might consider investigating a different lens coating
that will give you more protection at these higher temperatures.
The best way to do this is call the manufacturer. This is a very
user-friendly small company, and the tech person you will likely
talk to is the one who helped invent the glasses.
I stare at the torchflame doing glasswork for sometimes hours at
a stretch, and experience very little eye fatigue with the
Aur-92’s. The great thing about these lenses is that they aren’t
dark! You can still see everything about your work, and all the
annoying bright yellow-orange flare is gone.
Rene Roberts
Francis, I get my gasses from a welding supply and when I was
there picking up some oxygen the sales guy pulled out a gold
coated rectangular welding lens.It is made to be sanwiched
between two pieces of glass in a welding hood.I use it for
platinum minus the hood and glass.I can clip it to my third
hand and and keep it in place while my other third hand holds the
platinum piece Iam working on or just mount it in an old
optivisor if you have one.The gold film is rather fragile that is
why it should be sandwiched between glass and if the gold film is
scratched your eyes are not protected from the torch.The lens
cost me $5.00 .
J Morley
Coyote Ridge Studio
The gold film is rather fragile that is
why it should be sandwiched between glass and if the gold film is
scratched your eyes are not protected from the torch.The lens
cost me $5.00 .
I too, recently purchased a #7 goldplated welding plate. I
drilled and sawed out lenses for each eye on my optivisor. By
twisting them down I can use them alone below the magnifiers. By
twisting them up I can use them in combination with magnifiers.
They only cover half of the magnifier when in the up position so
I can look over them. This is saving me a lot of moves in my
platinum work. When I don’t need them I can just twist them out
of the way.
Does anyone know where to find gold didimum lenses to fit the
optivisor? I sure could use them in this configuration.
Steve Klepinger
Steve, I modified 4 lens sets for the optivisor. Plastics can be
drilled easily, glass can be drilled with diamond bits.
Surround the area on the lense with a clay reservoir. This
holds water for cooling & dampens vibration to prevent
shattering. I use mine for casting and platinum work(these have
the didimum lenses inside of the regular magnifying lense.) Also
w/o optivisor lenses.
Marcus Amshoff
Steve, Once again, try Aura Lens Products, Inc. Mike Aurelius is
very helpful over the phone or on the web. He makes lens for
Optivisor frames. If you don’t find what you want listed at his
website, call him or email him. He’s very responsive.
email: mike@auralens.com sales@auralens.com
phone:(800)281-2872 fax: (320) 253-1239
address: Aura Lens Products, Inc. 51 8th St. North, Sauk
Rapids, MN 56379
Donna
Donna:
Until now, I had not seen a reference to a source of gold
didiyum lenses to fit the optivisor. Thanks very much.
Steve Klepinger