• Beware of Counterfeit Woodturning Tools (click here for details)
  • Johnathan Silwones is starting a new AAW chapter, Southern Alleghenies Woodturners, in Johnstown, PA. (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Paul May for "Checkerboard (ver 3.0)" being selected as Turning of the Week for March 25, 2024 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Eye protection

Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
11
Likes
0
Location
Racine, WI
I've been using a cheap-o HF face shield and I'm looking for suggestions on higher quality protection that accommodates prescription glasses. Specific brand suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Larry

PS: I'm now turning my first bowl and got my first catch ... but wow is this fun!!
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
76
Likes
3
Location
Spokane, WA
Uvex User Review

I will second John's recommendation on the Uvex. I have been using one for a year, now. It is so comfortable that I forget that I am wearing it. I wear safety glasses and a respirator with it, too, with no problems whatsoever. I reluctantly spent the extra money for the anti-fog lense; it actually does NOT fog! In the FWIW category, Al Stirt uses the same shield. Unlike most other demonstrators he wore it continuously during his demo and wears it for big and small turnings, alike. And, yes, we could hear him just fine courtesy of the small microphone that he wore UNDER the shield!

I used to only wear mine for "big stuff" until a bottle stopper split on a hidden crack and hit me directly on my safety glasses. Had it hit anywhere else I would have been cut badly by the jagged edge. My Uvex has taken one direct hit by some heavy purple heart that flew apart on me. It took the blow like a champ and saved my teeth and prevented an expensive trip to the dentist.

GET ONE AND WEAR IT!! It will do you no good hanging on a hook in your shop while you are at the lathe. At the end of a session I hang mine on the banjo. It is impossible to forget to wear it this way!

John
 
Joined
Apr 25, 2004
Messages
165
Likes
3
Location
Milkyway
The Uvex is a good face shield. Safe turning practices are also good. Find a way to turn wood without putting your face shield in the "line of fire".
 

hockenbery

Forum MVP
Beta Tester
TOTW Team
Joined
Apr 27, 2004
Messages
8,591
Likes
4,886
Location
Lakeland, Florida
Website
www.hockenberywoodturning.com
John Altberg said:
I will second John's recommendation on the Uvex. I have been using one for a year, now. It is so comfortable that I forget that I am wearing it. I wear safety glasses and a respirator with it, too, with no problems whatsoever. I reluctantly spent the extra money for the anti-fog lense; it actually does NOT fog! In the FWIW category, Al Stirt uses the same shield. Unlike most other demonstrators he wore it continuously during his demo and wears it for big and small turnings, alike. And, yes, we could hear him just fine courtesy of the small microphone that he wore UNDER the shield!

John

another vote for the Uvex it is comfortable so you won't mind wearing it.
And Al Stirt wore mine for a few days while he was here in central fla.

Al
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
143
Likes
0
Location
The Adirondacks
...GET ONE AND WEAR IT!! It will do you no good hanging on a hook in your shop while you are at the lathe. At the end of a session I hang mine on the banjo. It is impossible to forget to wear it this way!
I got the Uvex because I felt the shape of many other face shields was too open on the bottom, and could expose me to a dangerous shot in the throat if I were leaning over the lathe.
I hang my Uvex from a hook where it hits me in the head when I stand at the lathe. It has saved me from a number of small but nasty objects. I wear a dust mask underneath it, and sometimes, if I am doing something exceptionally dusty, I also wear safety goggles under it as well.
 

john lucas

AAW Forum Expert
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
8,321
Likes
3,576
Location
Cookeville, TN
I'll have to dig a little but I think there are 2 versions. One is more expensive. Can't remember off the top of my head what it is but I remember other turners telling me that you see 2 different prices but often there are 2 models. However I've also heard that they can be purchased less expensive than the place I listed. Hope someone will chime in on the difference. I have to head off to work again today and have to cut my computer time short.
 
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
3,540
Likes
15
I got the Uvex because I felt the shape of many other face shields was too open on the bottom, and could expose me to a dangerous shot in the throat if I were leaning over the lathe.

Only if you were leaning waaaaay over to where the motion was up, not down. Of course, if you're a coward like me, you never put your face or body into the throw zone. You push the tool at arm's length. A whack on the knuckles from some birch bark is about all that can do you then.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
76
Likes
3
Location
Spokane, WA
I'll have to dig a little but I think there are 2 versions. One is more expensive. Can't remember off the top of my head what it is but I remember other turners telling me that you see 2 different prices but often there are 2 models. However I've also heard that they can be purchased less expensive than the place I listed. Hope someone will chime in on the difference. I have to head off to work again today and have to cut my computer time short.

The two versions are a plain lense and the lense with the anti-fog coating. Like many items, it can be had for less on Amazon than at your link.
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
143
Likes
0
Location
The Adirondacks
Only if you were leaning waaaaay over to where the motion was up, not down. Of course, if you're a coward like me, you never put your face or body into the throw zone. You push the tool at arm's length. A whack on the knuckles from some birch bark is about all that can do you then.

I admit the odds are slim, but it makes me more comfortable this way. I don't turn big, green bowls on a 3520B. I turn little things on an LA200, and sometimes I have to get close to see the details. It's actually time for new glasses. I've been resisting trifocals for years, with the predictable consequences of not being able to focus at all distances.
 
Joined
Feb 9, 2011
Messages
46
Likes
19
Location
Palm Harbor, Florida
I have used the UVEX for over a year and have had one BIG hit on it from a wood projectile. It performed as well as any expectations I had. I got the anti-fog lens and have never had any problems seeing through it (at least not from fog). I highly recommend it.
 
Joined
Oct 30, 2008
Messages
42
Likes
14
I'll have to dig a little but I think there are 2 versions. One is more expensive.

John may be thinking of this difference.... the + rating was about $15 more.

MOST shields sold at woodworking stores are Z87 and not the Z87+
ANSI Z87.1 and Z87.1+
Standard: Z87.1
Withstand a 1” Steel Ball dropped from a height of 50 Inches without fracture.

High Impact: Z87.1+ Faceshields must withstand two test.
High VELOCITY Impact Test
Projectile Specification Diameter:-1/4" diameter steel ball. Velocity: 150 feet per second (102 mph) Quess that may be a tiny bit faster than a ball dropped a whole fifty inches?
High MASS Impact Test
A pointed projectile is dropped from a height of 51.2" onto a lens.
Projectile Specifications: Length:-5" Diameter:-1" Weight:-1 pount, 1.6 oz

As additional protection, you can also buy Dewalt saftey glasses (with the + embossed on all frame parts and the lens) for about $10 on line or $25 at the Borg.
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2011
Messages
23
Likes
0
Location
Paragould, AR
I have a Uvex at home, but on this most recent living on the road excursion I found one by sellstrom that I really like. It's got hard plastic both top and bottom, plenty of room under it for glasses or googles and the fresh air respirator when I get back home to use it. I'll have to hunt up a photo, but I picked mine up in Maine at an industrial supply house. The bottom plastic really firms up the shield. has Z87.1+ rating


http://products.sellstrom.com/details_new.asp?seriesID=54
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 22, 2004
Messages
2
Likes
0
Eye and face shield protection

has anyone taken an impact resistant riot helmet face shield and attached it to a light weight baseball helmet for top of the line protection!!!!!!!!!!!!! As technically with the uvex, safety glasses are still required beneath the mask
 

john lucas

AAW Forum Expert
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
8,321
Likes
3,576
Location
Cookeville, TN
A gentleman that I stayed with In Atlanta did just that. He purchased a police type riot shield with the steel grid mask that goes in front. He attached this to a baseball type hard hat ( I think that's what it was) and it worked extremely well. He had taken a massive hit to the face a few months earlier and was still having dizzy spells from it. He decided there was not such thing as overkill for this kind of protection.
 
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
218
Likes
0
Location
Northern Kentucky,U S A
A gentleman that I stayed with In Atlanta did just that. He purchased a police type riot shield with the steel grid mask that goes in front. He attached this to a baseball type hard hat ( I think that's what it was) and it worked extremely well. He had taken a massive hit to the face a few months earlier and was still having dizzy spells from it. He decided there was not such thing as overkill for this kind of protection.

THIS is only a play on words but a hardhat are use by construction workers
bikers and the sport players wear helmets, which are better at protection your face since helmets use a face mask sometime
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2012
Messages
2
Likes
0
Location
UK
It is important to protect your body from all the potential hazards that are harm you. It is especially important to protect the eyes, ears, and the lungs.Wearing of protective eye gears or goggles protect workers from debris flying from using hand tools . Also, these protective eye gears should be worn while applying wood finish because the chemicals might dry the eyes. Wearing clothes that aren’t loose and gloves are recommended to prevent skin irritation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
20
Likes
0
Location
West Allis, Wi
I just bought the UVEX face shield and I am pleased with the fit.
But, pay attention of how your face mask fits underneath it.
My face mask fits but not as well as I would wish it would.
The other issue is noise. Does your ear protection fit?
Jeff
 
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
22
Likes
1
Location
Macomb county Michigan
I too have the bionic UVEX shields I have one for the wood shop and have one for grinding, and drill in the metal shop They are great head gear is better than most on the face shields. I have taken some cut off disks chunks and metal bits and it hasn't been a problem.

So far the best price has been Amazon.
 
Back
Top