[averydonovan]

I don't wear safety goggles (no eyeglasses, either), I don't have any power tools so it isn't as urgent for me yet. If I am clipping some leads or cutting wire I arrange everything so if something flies off then it goes away from me, not towards me. But if/when I get a Dremel or a drill I will definately get safety goggles since those throw things everywhere.

 

[myself, aka me]

I have my boards clamped, and I just hold the other end of the lead with my hand so it doesn't go flying...

 

[Demolition]

I wear prescription eyeglasses and my company required that I wear eye protection on the job, so I bought glasses with hardened glass safety lenses. Now, I wear these when I do any kind of DIYing, whether it be soldering, auto repair, woodwork, etc.

I have a pair of prescription glasses with polycarbonate safety lenses, but I don't wear them while soldering for fear that they might melt or scar if solder or flux splashed onto them.

D.

 

[thrice]

I always wear safety glasses.....always.

 

[PinkFloyd]

I solder bareback

 

[mikeliao]

I solder with heavy welder's gloves because I'm afraid I'll burn my tender little fingers. Hmm, having the hardest time picking up small parts though.

 

[andrzejpw]

well, yesterday I had a fun time soldering in my boxers.

Personally, I don't use any type of protection while soldering. When it's time to clip leads, I either close my eyes or hold the lead in my hand.

 

[Gariver]

I wear eyeglasses. So I'm protected!

If you don't need eyeglasses, get safety glasses! They are cheap and necessary!

 

[tkerby]

Polycarbonate eyeglasses with titanium memory rimless frames. They seem totally scratchproof, and a bullet wouldnt go through the things

 

[drewd]

Last night I was finishing up a Pimeta for a customer and for the first time in my amplifier building life, a part actually popped. The TLE2426 blew up right in my face. A hot little plastic part smacked me on my cheek just below my glasses. I guess the moral of the story is that it's not just solder and lead clipping that can hurt you.

The amount of smoke out of a little TO-92 part is pretty darned amazing, too! Plenty of stink to go around as well.

-Drew

 

[the terabyte]

eye glasses are not adequate protection. i was cutting metal with my glasses on and a piece the size of a grain of sand managed to make its way into my eye. after a trip to the ER to have it removed with a drill (not as bad as it sounds) and two subsequent trips to my optometrist, i always wear protection when stuff is flying around. i don't when cutting leads, however, as i typically hold both ends with one hand and cut with the other, so nothing leaves the table.

 

[Paragon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the terabyte eye glasses are not adequate protection.

True that.. especially with the fashon being smaller and smaller lenses. Safety glasses are made large for a reason and they should not be substituted with anything else if you are working on some major stuff[with common sense, cutting leads should not be a problem.. don't aim it at your eye and hold the end with you other hand - they can easily fly across the room with certain cutters].
True OSHA approved safty glasses are marked with 'Z78' somewhere on the lense or frame if one piece deal.
Even with something large like a welder's mask, things find their way inside [Not nice when they glow] so you have to be on watch and use common sense. You would be amazed of the stories that I have from working a few years in a machine shop with engineers.. amazing how many do not have any concept of common sense..

mikeliao, try a welder's leather sleeve cape

 

[Sal]

I always wear safety glasses when drilling and using a Dremel tool, but I have to admit that I don't always wear the glasses when soldering even after having some close calls as I tend to flick excess solder off the tip of my iron. Clipping leads doesn't worry me as much since I hold the clippers away from my face and have yet to see a piece fly out of control.

It's good that you bring up this issue because many kinds of work can put our eyes in jeapoardy and many eye injuries occur when the victim is least expecting it.

So wear your eye protection, DIYers!

 

[Garbz]

i ware protection for everything except soldering and cutting leads. WHen i'm cutting leads i put my finger on the end so they typically feel like a pinprick and then fall to the ground. When soldering i've never had any situation where say solder of flux jumped far enough to reach my eye. My deskhowever was full of burn marks in my old house

Also eye protection is a definate must when using Dremel Cutoff wheels. I don't use any when drilling small things though. it's just important to remember that Guns don't kill people, Dremel Cutoff wheels that snap during use kill people.

 

[Demolition]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the terabyte eye glasses are not adequate protection. i was cutting metal with my glasses on and a piece the size of a grain of sand managed to make its way into my eye.

Reminds me of a former university classmate who was knapping a piece of obsidian (AKA volcanic glass) into a projectile point. He was just finishing it off and needed to knock one last piece off the edge when that tiny bit of detritus bounced off his knee and straight up into his eye.

Being only 1.0-1.5 microns thick and about 4.0 sq. mm in area, it lay flat against his eye, similar to a contact lens. He calmly walked to the bathroom, washed his hands, then removed the flake the same way that you'd removed a contact. He later went to his optometrist who could not detect any damage to the eye.

After that, he always wore protective eyewear when he made stone tools.

He and I spent a lot of time in the school's knapping pit, making tools. The worst thing that ever happened to me was when I was pressure-flaking a microblade off of an obsidian core and it shot like a bullet through a piece of leather, through my jeans, and straight down into my thigh. The microblade was about 2 cm long and razor-sharp, as you might expect glass to be. Luckily, a couple of millimeters of the base was exposed, so I was able to pull it out with pliers. Hurt like a son of a gun.

So, anyway, as mentioned in my earlier post, I tend to wear protective gear whenever I'm working with tools or chemicals. I've learned the hard way.

D.