Comments on: The Eyes Have It

By: Tom in SA

Tom in SA — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:46:21 +0000

Good story on the aluminum chip, Tom. My dad, an opthalmologist, kept a little box of microscope slides, a “rogues’ gallery” of steel, iron, and aluminum chips he had removed from people’s eyes over 40 years of practice. He consulted with the industrial plants around Corpus Christi, Texas, and persuaded them (in the 1940s) that everybody on the plant grounds – including the office workers – must wear safety glasses. It worked, and cut down on the eye injuries dramatically.
I have a rule similar to the eyeglasses rule – don’t take your eye off a cutting edge while it’s under power.
One more comment – I wear continuous-vision eyeglasses outside the shop, but I have found that quality safety glasses with 1.5 diopter bifocals work great (your mileage may vary), and are ridiculously inexpensive ($7 or so).

By: Tampa Tom

Tampa Tom — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:10:08 +0000

Well, Tom, After my latest eye checkup, I think I’m not much longer before I have to start looking for those safety ‘cheaters’ too…

This getting old thing is the PITS!

By: tms

tms — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:29:13 +0000

Hey Tom,

Well said buddy. Nowadays, I use safety glasses not just for safety, but because all my safety glasses have bifocal lenses in them, and I can’t see without them!

Tom

By: Drew Armstrong

Drew Armstrong — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:30:21 +0000

scott… I had never thought of that… Scairy! I have not in the past been very careful with this but then again I was young and foolish and never wore glasses or contacts and hated the feel of them on my face (sunglasses as well.) One thing that really got me useing eye protection (aside from safety) was in the past I just framed and the cuts did not have to be hyper accurate… these days I have traded in the circular saw and sawzall for a jig saw/mitre saw/table saw and I started getting really comfortable wearing eye protection as my eye has to stay open… closer to the blade to make sure I am cutting accurately. Now that I am in the habit there will be no turning back.

Drew

By: scott

scott — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:55:20 +0000

Another thing to consider: if ever you need an MRI, be sure to tell the docs ahead of time that you’re a handyman-type. This is especially true if you work with metal often and/or don’t wear the proper eye protection all the time.

Before the MRI, they should x-ray your head to be sure you don’t have tiny metal slivers embedded in your eyes from sparks as those would be pulled back out quite rapidly by the MRI machine! Needless to say this would be pretty uncomfortable.

That never occurred to me before I had an MRI a few years back. Fortunately, my eyes are still free of metals (the head x-ray proved so).

By: Ace HoleInOne

Ace HoleInOne — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:12:58 +0000

Over the past few years I wear eyeglasses and have used the rubber safety goggles. At first I hated them due to the narrowing of your field of vision. Now, I feel naked if I don’t wear them and I think they offer more protection than regular safety glasses. I don’t care for the face shields due to the sawdust that constantly sticks all over them from static electricity.

It’s just not flying chunks of wood or a table saw detonating in your face that you have to worry about. What about plain old sawdust. It can come from anywhere! Most recently, sawdust found its way into my eye from my hair when I was removing my safety glasses goggles. Go figure!

By: Gail

Gail — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 12:20:22 +0000

Tom, this is a great article. I have safety glasses everywhere. Just a tip for the woman woodworker – I order youth size glasses and they fit perfect, stay close to my face and protect my eyes nicely.