I’m severly near sighted and have to wear eye glasses to be able to see. Which makes wearing a dust mask really difficult, as it fogs my eye glasses. I sometimes use a face shield, but it tends to not work well if I’m working over head and have to tilt my head back.
I just can’t figure out what the bigger risk is, breathing dust that I hack up in the shower, or cutting my hand off because I can’t see without my glasses.
So, what do the rest of you four eyes do?
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Do you have bifocals for close up work and that's why you tilt your head back when working overhead? I got glasses with the "bi's" cut in on top too. The focus distance was set at extended arm reach (important when they figure the cut so you have the focus where you want it).
As to dust masks, I don't usually have a problem if I pinch the nose metal tight. Of course you could buy the better breathing apparatus that fit tighter on the nose so your expelled air doesn't go up onto the glass.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
I don't have bi-focals, though I did last year - they don't work too well for me. The head tilting is that I'm doing a bunch of ceiling plaster repairs right now. At least, I'm trying to. One patch I think I'm going to start over.
Not exactly what you're looking for, but (thanks to folks here) I found a pair of safety glasses with screens for the side shields, vs the usual sweat-inducing poly shields. Got them fitted with prescription lenses. They work a lot better than anything else I've tried (though still far from perfect).
Best of all they were cheap! Good quality frames for something like $16 plus postage.
It is a big problem for me both to keep my lenses from fogging and to keep sweat from running all over everything. For example, I can't use any sort of wintertime face mask since my glasses fog within seconds. Regular lab-type goggles will fill with sweat (even in cold weather) in ten minutes.
More back to the topic, I try to figure out how to do dusty jobs in a way that will keep me cool and out of the dust. A thoughtfully placed fan helps a lot. Spending extra time positioning a ladder (so that you can reach the work area without being totally under it) also helps. And sometimes I do in fact work "blind", after carefully studying the motions I need to make.
Thankfully, none of this is my day job.
The Dust-B-Gone Mask is a fabric dust mast that doesn't fog glasses. After that comes respirators and the full face masks with blowers.
I'm going to have to hunt me down some of these. Do you get them via mail order?
http://www.dustbeegone.com/I get them at woodworking shows. The are also available at Rockler.Kirk
I have the same trouble when I wear my glasses with a dust mask. Masks with an exhalation valve help some. They are more expensive than the plain type, but less expensive than having you hand re-attached.
The mere thought of how much I was hacking up at the end of a mask-less day was enough to make me wonder how much I wasn't able able to hack up. So now I always wear a mask.
I find that wearing a cartridge-type mask rather than a paper-type mask works best for me, and I also try to use site-appropriate dust control, such as a dust extractor and an ambient air cleaner (in addition to the respirator). Outside I go low-tech and just try to stand upwind (still with the mask).
The mask can be fitted comfortably, is easy enough to unbuckle at the neck strap to cool off when not sawing, and of course you get that funky Darth-Vader-like breathing thing going. Costs about $20-30 at a big box, as I recall.
And it's a nice look, too, I find. :^)
sojourner
bi-focal contacts
next step...get lasik surgery
If having a low wage work force was good for a country's economy then why hasn't Mexico built a fence?
I don't do contacts, and I can't get full correction from lasix.Long story, but I think it is related to an accident with a can of spray paint when I was about 5 or so. I can't even get eye drops in my eyes!
Contacts aren't generally a good idea in a dusty environment anyway.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Dang. Sorry to hear that. Good luck finding a pair of glasses and a mask.
I use the contacts now but my cousin had the surgey and said it was the only way to go.
If having a low wage work force was good for a country's economy then why hasn't Mexico built a fence?
My sister had the surgery too, at the place Tiger Woods had his done. She loves it also, but I'm too far gone. I forget what the limit is for surgery to be fully correcting, but I'm just past it. 20/800 maybe?
I work in an Iron foundry and have used four different types of disposable masks....a mask are required all day long in the plant,
there are about 8 choices, but these are the ones I wear
Moldex 2730 is easy to to use and remove because it has only one continuous strap that you clip together
Moldex 2400 has a charcoal element to help remove fumes
3M 8212 which is adjustable and traps fumes and is also the biggest of these
3M 9211 is the most comfortable of allof these but is only for dust....I wear this one 99% of the time ..........
the dust begone is what I use at home though, since it is comfortable and is washable
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