I wear corrective bifocal glasses. I can't find a good solution that allows me to see well when brazing. Any suggestions?
Printable View
I wear corrective bifocal glasses. I can't find a good solution that allows me to see well when brazing. Any suggestions?
Two options come to mind. RX brazing glasses (I like the flip up UVEX "Horizon" with an RX clear lens and a standard brazing lens):
https://images.uline.com/is/image//c...1&icc=AdobeRGB
Or or over-the top shields or goggles.
Jackson goggles with headgear:
http://ancdn-0-9.shopletcdn.com/prod...6-0315.EPS.JPG
Typical shield:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...HiZEpJ_9YOpYRC
Thanks Eric for the ideas. Taking you suggestion I might try using these with clip on brazing lenses.
Shop 3M Readers Safety Glasses at Lowes.com
I have had really good luck with these didymium lenses:
Lampworking Glassblowing Glass The #1 Choice Among Professional Glassworkers
Scoll down about 2/3rds of the way down the page and there are magnification lenses or clip-ons.
I'm not suggesting you are a newbie brazer but, these lenses were one of the things that helped my newbie brazing skills (with aging eyes) the most. The didymium lenses really helped me see through the flare and get a good view of what was going on. They aren't cheap and they are real glass so, they are a bit heavier. If you drop them, they break. The clip-ons might be a good option to go over RX glasses.
I just installed new LED lighting (from fluorescent tubes) and that seems to have made seeing the temp of a joint more difficult.
I've used these glasses for a while and really like them. Magshot IR Torch Welding Full Magnifying Safety Glasses - Safety Glasses
They're good if all you need is a magnifier lens and not a prescription lens. It's a two piece design so the lens can pop out if you want to add in a different magnification lens. Some glasses I've tried have a very small magnifier lens and force you to look downward through the glasses. These have a full coverage lens that I like a lot. You might have other needs, but they work great for me.
Attachment 103396
Reminds me of riding glasses with the prescription insert. Nice solution.
Russ Kanz
I have been an eye surgeon for 38 years as well as a part time bicycle frame builder for rather less than that. I think all the suggestions above are good ones. One solution which has worked well for me is to take ordinary brazing glasses and fit stick on bifocal lenses (search "stick on bifocal" on eBay to see what I mean). This will not work if you need strong corrective lenses for distance as well as additional correction for near, as I think was meant in the original question. In that case I would go with any of Eric's suggestions used over prescription bifocals or varifocal lenses.
While not used for my brazing, the application of hydrostatically secured reader lenses to my Oakley M frames helps me see a cue sheet and up the road nearly equally well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Jacobs
For brazing I just got "Uptown Glassworking Safety Reading Glasses - Phillips 202, #GB-P2-RG Frame Color Tortoise Magnification Strength +2.50" These work well and are similar in effect to my older didymium glasses. Andy.
I have some in my shop for students to use that have not been described here that slip over regular glasses. In other words wearing 2 sets (one over the other) at the same time. They are designed to do that. They are handy when those with prescription glasses are watching a brazing demonstration. They are similar to what old folks used to use for driving after they got cataract surgery. They can be bought at welding supply stores or websites and come in different shades like a #3 or #5.
I think these lenses are great for purposes as you describe. A trick I sometimes use is to fit just one hydrostatically secured reader lens. On my fishing glasses I wear one bifocal lens on my non-dominant (left) eye. This gives me enough near vision to tie on a fishing fly but completely uninterrupted distance vision with my right eye. When I look into the distance I am unaware of the near lens in the left eye.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart
I use reading glasses (cheap magnifiers) that fit under a pair of rose didymium glasses to which a clip on brazing filter is added on the outside. The readers could just as easily be your bifocals. It works well for me and the readers stay on for all my work in the shop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rkanz
Phillips safety Ace fit-overs. Just enough green filter and a little better spectrum filter than didymium. Sometimes I wear readers, but I usually just wear my regular glasses underneath
Hey Y'all,
For what it is worth I would like to offer my thoughts on this subject. As we all age our lenses get harder and don't respond well to the pull of the cilliary muscles that deform it in order to see objects that are near. This is called accommodation. Mainly this happens because the tissue itself which is from the neuroectoderm (includes skin, hair, teeth, nails and nerves) is quite avascular.
Avascular tissue has very slow turnover of nutrients and wast products and so it is vulnerable to atrophic hardening. Most of the cells of the lens (the innermost) depend upon diffusion to get nutrients in and waste out.
There are many methods/exercises that claim to help put off the effects of this avascular aging effect. None are well regarded to help at all. If you ask almost any ophthalmologist they will tell you the same. Their solution was always to get the prescription glasses.
This never sat well with me. We know that prescription glasses have the effect of relaxing the cilliary muscles (degrading their range over time) of the lens so that they find a new equilibrium. In other words once you go down the road of corrective lenses your vision will deteriorate at a faster rate than if you did nothing.
Of course, sometimes we need to do something about our vision as it sits. This is not a value judgement, just an attempt at understanding.
Given all of this my mind has been toiling on the issue for some time. As I approach middle age and the time when my accommodation is due to change I began doing my own eye exercises based on basic medical principles laid down by the founder of my medical school. You can look him up and his philosophies regarding health and well being. His name is Andrew Taylor Still and he founded the school of Osteopathic medicine.
A.T. Still said, "The rule of the artery is supreme". What this means is that in order to maintain health/equilibrium, a cell or tissue must have adequate circulation. Many of his teachings are centered on this core tenet. He also said, "Edema surely begins with the first tardy atom." while this doesn't accurately describe the conditions of the eye lens it does beg the question regarding the subtle delicacies surrounding the fragile ecosystem of the relatively avascular lens tissue.
Wrapping this up...Massage and range of motion are the two main ways that we can increase circulation to a given tissue. So multiple times a day I do accommodation exercises which consist of looking at my finger and drawing it closer and straining to keep it in focus. Back and forth several times. I also massage my eyes. I close my eyelids and use my fingers to literally apply pressure to the lens itself and move back and forth across the front of the eye.
The results, I don't know. My accommodation is definitely not what it was 10 years ago. 10 years ago it was approx 7-8". Today it is 10-11. odd that is fluctuates depending on the time of day and the day itself. I can say that my sister who is 1 year younger wears reading glasses, and my brother who is 2 years older has been wearing reading glasses for 4 years or so.
I also am a true believer in "use it or lose it". Keep doing things like working up close and using your near vision. Take walks at night and let your eyes relax in the dark, read books with great light etc.
Most importantly in our line of work, Use proper shaded eyewear when welding or brazing...always.