Hey everyone,
I just got out of the ophthalmologist office after having a metal splinter removed from my eye with a 7 mm needle (ouuuch). But all is better now and the doc released back to continue working on my truck. But more important here is how this happened. i was wearing the full piece eye goggles while using a die grinder attached to 36 grit roloc grinding some weld lines under the truck. I was wearing these goggles when all of a sudden I felt the small pieces creep into the inside of the goggles and immediately started trying to remove the particles but as expected one piece got stuck on my eyeball and thus the visit to the DR. So I started looking at my goggles and noticed on the top part of the goggles there are "VENTS", which prevent them from fogging up CRAP and that'ts how the little bugers got into my goggle and then eyes. I had never noticed that before until it was to late. So my next questions is what the heck type of goggles are you guys using when doing grinding type work on metal or any type of grinding period.

MP

I use a full face shield-

and safety glasses

I use the safety goggles made for chemical use...they have the air vents but the vents are baffled so stuff cannot get to your eyes. The full face shield is nice but grinding debris can ricochet of of things and come in behind the shield and bounce to your eyes.....I was using a full face shield when I got a sliver of metal in my eye and had to go to the Doctor to get it removed. He is the one that reccomended the chemical type safety goggles. I have been using them ever since.

Uvex makes a nice goggle which is called Fury. It has a soft flame resistant foam which seals any gaps between the goggles and your face. Northern Safety sells them for $10.84.
And they sell the Aearo by AO Safety which are made similar to the goggles but they are glasses and they work nice if you just want to wear glasses. Both are great for dusty and dirty environments. My co-worker is the safety rep. for the company I work for so we get to try out the latest cool stuff.

Stupid young me decided i would grind without goggles yesterday and guess what, a spark hit me dead nuts in the eye, pissed me off all day. but no doctor visits, maybe i should've.

the "cheap" goggles i had were the vented style and i thought i was good with them, but i learned diferent the one day also

i dont know if the metal chip was outside of them, or inside via one of the holes, but as i was taking the goggles off i felt a piece of metal run down my forhead, starting at where the top of the goggles were against my face

thats the day that i realized that ANYTIME you finish grinding, close your eyes, remove your glasses / goggles, and give your hair a good shake out and wipe your face with a damp cloth

making sure your face and hair are metal free EVERY TIME is much much much better then getting just one more piece of metal in your eye in your entire life

shaking your hair and wiping your face takes 10 seconds each time, getting your eye worked on can take DAYS to get to the specialist, 2 weeks with an eye path, and YEARS it stop bothering you in the morning or when your eyes are slightly dry

i spent 4 years on eyedrops because a sliver cause enough damage to my eye that it would start acting up and go totaly dry, some days i wound up having to leave work and make an hour+ round trip because my eye drops were at home, or i hadnt refilled my perscription and had to do it in the middle of the work day

its not worth saving 10 seconds after doing a bit of grinding

Lowrollerchevy I have had that exact thing happen with goggles.

I've had to have that procedure done a few times with the little drill thing and the bunson burner to remove the rust ring that forms where the metal gets stuck.

I always have worn some sort of eye protection. I haven't found anything that will absolutely keep fine particles from getting in my eyes. I usually use uvex safety glasses and a full shield for grinding while standing. I use the chemical goggles and a full sheild while working under a car. Use a hood or painters googles with peel of lenses while applying paint.

Thing with metal vs. sawdust or something is that the metal will instantly stick to the moisture in your eye and cause a rust ring if not removed immediately. Metal doesn't generally flush out like a piece of wood will. Also the size of the metal that will get stuck in your eye is so tiny that you would have to have a near perfect seal to keep the particles completely away from your eyes. I just do the best I can with the safety gear and hope nothing happens. Double protection is a must for me. I get very paranoid about getting something in my eyes since I have had it happen so many times when I thought I was doing everything required to not have it happen.

^agree with everything

i consider "safety glasses" to be as good as belting yourself into your car using a length of spare rope

sure will help with the LITTLE stuff here and there, but when stuff REALY hitsthe fan, forget about it

ive had the rustring in my eye like 3 times so far, never had the bunsen burner thing used on me yet, but i know that tiny dremel tool all to well

that bit is the size of a zippo lighter flint !

cool thing to see, but i like to see cool tools from like arms length away, direct eyeball to dremel tool contact isnt realy my idea of cool

now if only EVERYONE would learn to overprotect themselves (but i know thats asking to much)

I remember after he got the small piece out he had this thing that looked like a dremel with the wire kind of whirling around. Kind of reminded me of the toys we'd get the boys at the ice shows where you turn the lever and then that wire spins around. I forgot about that. You know I was looking at the Uvex Safety Safety Glasses that have the foam around them. On ebay there seems to be quite a few full face covering systems I'm looking into. When I cost it all that little spec the size of a pen tip cost me over $220, thats some good parts. But there is nothing like being able to see my loved ones.

Thanks Everyone

In the 35+ years of messing with cars and such, I have made many trips to the DR to have stuff taken out of my eyes. I now wear glasses, and sometimes believe that it is partly from the damaged done in years past. I have found that alot of times, as was pointed out, that the stuff will get there after the safety equipment is removed. I have also worn safety glasses, with the shields, and had stuff come from behind and get in. One day I was walking across my yard, wearing my glasses, and had a bug fly into my eye. I almost always wear a ball cap, to cover the bald spot above my ears. . I have found that many times things will bounce off the bill of the hat and get in my eyes. Now, when grinding, I will either remove the hat, or turn it around. Before removing my safety glasses, I also will lean over and wipe off my face, or using very light air, blow off my head and face. Keep in mind that the eyebrows will hold small pieces, that will get into your eyes also. Another thing to think about is wiping off your face can result in cuts and scratches real quick.

A pair of safety glasses, full face shield, and even a hood, all at the same time, cannot guarantee that nothing will get into your eyes. Always grind so the sparks are not going towards your face. Your best position when grinding or cutting with a disk, is to have eye level above the wheel, where the sparks would be aimed at or below chest level. That is with the disk parallel to your shoulders, so the line of sparks would be going across your body. That will keep them furthest from your eyes. Always wear shirts that are button up, not pull over, as the parts will fall on you when you pull them off. When it is necessary to grind overhead, like while laying under a car, do not just get up like normal. Roll over onto your stomach, so you are facing down, and clean off your face, before standing or sitting up.

If all of this fails, and you do get something in your eye, go to the emergency room right away. Do not be a hero! Your eyes will heal quicker than any other part of your body. It will try to heal right over that particle. If it is metal, it will cause it to rust immediatly. The emergency rooms will likely take you ahead of most everyone else there, because of the adde problems of waiting even a few minutes.

Just some advice from someone that has been there many times, and was on a "first name basis" with the ER people for sometime because of this.

Aaron

i was in laramie wyoming for one year, almost to the day

i was in the hospital for 5 serperate occasions (car wreck, a cut on my hand, a cut on my head, metal in my eye, and once with an injured friend)

rachel was her name, and noone beleived me that laramie wyoming had one of THE hottest nurses anyone has ever seen working an ER, and i was on a first name basis with her

the last time i was in there was for the eye shrapnel, it was the end of the school year and my parents were out to pick me up and drive me the 1500 miles home, instead we get to spend an extra day in town so i can have the metal removed

walk into the ER, rachel notices me in the waiting room, comes out to chit chat with me for a lil while before its my turn

my mom was like "you know her?"
me: yea, ive met her enough times
mom: "the hospital staff knows you by name?, you realy made yourself at home here didnt ya?"

A hat on top will stop a lot too. The full front shield is the
way to go. A wet towel or shoprag, will help keep the airways
clean. And stop every couple minutes and blow off the dust.
(make sure nobody else gets dusted when you do it) My eye's
are all scratched up from using a die grinder. Just be carefull.

Getting the metal piece out is bad enough,, but when they go in there with that rust removal kit, that sucks,, they actually, grind the particles out with a tool simular to a dremal tool, its when the eye drops wear off,that it hurts like hell,

I remember the first time for me. I thought, Hey, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Then the drops stopped working!

Aaron