Safety specs

[Baldhead]

I wear a pair of ordinary glasses when woodworking, reading about Steve Maskerys accident today has promted me to get safety specs, I'm uncertain as what to buy, I can get some 'over glasses safety specs' or bifocals, does anyone wear bifocals or over glasses safety specs and can offer some advice?
My eyesight prescription is approx 2x for reading glasses.

Stew

 

[Steve Maskery]

Stew
The safety specs I am wearing in the photo are 1.5x safety readers. I bought them last year at the Newark show. I can't remember who the vendor was, but that was all he sold. About 15 quid, IIRC

My eyesight is deteriorating again. I have a history of poor eyesight. I wore my first pair of round NHS specs when I was 5 and have have worn some sort of optical correction ever since. Cornea replacement surgery to both eyes, contact lenses and now reading glasses. All three together! So I wear my specs on a cord around my neck, I cannot read anything without them.

I reckon it was £15 well spent.

S

 

[lurker]

You can get over glasses but they are a bit of a pain to be honest.
You might consider a face mask, as a specs wearer I find these ok
Fortunately I have prescription safety glasses bought for me by my employer. I think the bifocal ones are about £120. There is no VAT on them!
From impact you need at least F grade.

 

[KevM]

I wear protective eyewear all the time in the workshop, and some tinted ones for gardening.

I wear plain ones for most stuff and have a pair of bi-focal style for close work. They're the type with a magnifying half-moon at the bottom of a plain lens. It's easy for folk like me who have a simple, mild, long-sightedness. Personally I can't stand the over-specs style, but anything in a pinch. I prefer the closer 'wrap around' fit of some of the modern styles, Bolle, Uvex etc - they seem to do a better job of keeping general nuisance dust out of my eyes. I've not tried 'proper' prescription safety specs, but I take a pretty weak prescription so it's not a big deal, yet...

I've still got 2 of everything I'm supposed to have 2 of - and I'm keen on keeping it that way!

K.

 

[Baldhead]

Thanks Steve, Axy sell these
http://www.axminster.co.uk/3m-bx-reader ... spectacles
They have them in stock at our new store, guess I'll have to pay them another visit :wink: I may even buy the over glasses ones too.
It's silly really, I preach about hearing protection as mines shot, but I don't wear safety glasses, it's a shame it's taken your mishap today to highlight my stupidity.

Take care

Stew

 

[lurker]

Stew,
They look quite good, the numbers "en166 1F" you might have overlooked, but it does signify they will do the job.

Look here if you are interested in the boring background http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/o ... 03app3.pdf

 

[John15]

I have a pair of bi-focal safety glasses from Axi and to be honest they aren't very clear compared to my regular readers.

John

 

[lurker]

I have a pair of bi-focal safety glasses from Axi and to be honest they aren't very clear compared to my regular readers.

John

If they are these 3M ones they should be top class

 

[Baldhead]

Stew,
They look quite good, the numbers "en166 1F" you might have overlooked, but it does signify they will do the job.

Look here if you are interested in the boring background http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/o ... 03app3.pdf

Lurker am I correct in saying, en166 refers to general safety specs the 1 before the F stands for the optical class (1 being the best) and F means they can withstand high speed particles hitting them? If im right then they seem cheap for the protection they give.

Stew

 

[lurker]

Stew,
Yep you have it
I guess they are cheap because world wide 3M must sell 100s of thousands
Axi are selling these at a decent price
By the way I was wrong about them being vat exempt .... I just checked the tax mans website.

 

[woodpig]

I booked a weekend Blacksmiths course some years back and realised I could'nt keep removing and replacing reading glasses as I worked so I went to optical express and ordered some bifocal safety specs. Not cheap but essential in the workshop.

 

[Hitch]

I recently got some prescription safety glasses for when I am on some sites (gloves/vis/hat/ and safety specs all the time)
Cost about £60 from specsavers.
For me, off the shelf 2x type lenses arn't any use, so had to the prescription route.
I had previously just worn the over-specs type, but these are a pain in the backside for prolonged wear, and the constant rubbing of the lenses against normal glasses does them no goo at all.

Bit of a pain really, because although they are safety specs, they arn't goggles, which is a requirement of using certain powertools (namely angle grinders) So goggles are then a poor fit over the safety glasses.
But the goggles fit fine over my normal prescription glasses.

 

[smoggy49]

+1 for prescription safety specs worked all over the world wouldn't be without them, mandatory on all multinational sights. Have become a bit like car seatbelt now I'm uncomfortable without them. I have them next to the light switch in my workshop, put them on as i switch on the lights. The best £50/60s worth in the workshop and way cheaper than a labrador, I could ramble on about all the stuff thats bounced off them instead of me but you know what they're for.
Chas

 

[dickm]

If you've got your prescription, there's an outfit called Ciliary Blue who have a website and do pretty reasonably priced safety glasses. I'm about +2.5 in both eyes (it's age wot does it) and wear them all the time in the workshop.

 

[DTR]

What's the recommended spec for workshop use? I cannot get on with over-glasses at all, I feel like I'm more likely to have an accident wearing them because I can't see anything.

 

[swb58]

I imagine that anything sold as safety glasses from a reputable outlet will be up to the job. A few years back I mowed over a pair with a rotary lawnmower, I heard the clatter and was amazed when the specs got spat out. The lens part was scratched a little but intact, the legs didn't fair so well though.
I used to have a pair of bifocal safety glasses from ebay which I found very good and easy to wear, not pleased when they got broken in my pocket

 

[lurker]

I imagine that anything sold as safety glasses from a reputable outlet will be up to the job.

Yes and no.
It's all down to the impact grade you buy, for instance a well known high street glasses seller will sell you the lowest grade unless you specify otherwise. These have too low impact resistance for workshop use IMHO. See the attachment I posted earlier.

 

[Rhossydd]

A lot of the issues queried here were covered well last year in the thread post834441.html?hilit=safety%20glasses#p834441

It included some links to good background reference material too

 

[Sawyer]

Specs drive me mad! The moment I want to wear a dust mask, they instantly steam up, so it's a constant choice between clear vision or clean air. Yes, I have a Trend Airshield - which most of the time is more trouble than it's worth. :evil:

I'm told contact lenses react badly to dust, which seems to rule them out for working at our dusty calling? How do others find them?

 

[Baldhead]

What's the recommended spec for workshop use? I cannot get on with over-glasses at all, I feel like I'm more likely to have an accident wearing them because I can't see anything.

If you read the link lurker posted all the info your require is there on the first 2 or 3 pages.

Stew