Thread: Glasses prescription strictly for welding, or those in-helmet "magnifiers"?

I really need a more recent prescription, but before I submit to "is this better......or this?", I really want one of the results to be a pair of glasses optimized for welding.

I don't care if everything past 30 inches is a blur, I am beginning to think my ability to control a welding puddle would be greatly improved if I could truly see the puddle.

I will most likely leave the store with a pair of glasses typical for a person with my prescription, but I wouldn't mind having a pair of glasses focused (pardon the pun) on the act of welding.

Any experiences, any suggestions? I doubt the value of those magnifiers, perhaps knowing my prescription would aid in selecting the correct diopter?

Thanks
Steve


There's a charming story about Zora Arkus Duntov taking a new engineer at speed on a GM test track, in a Corvette.

Then he returns to the break room, and the engineer watches him press his face up against the vending machine to make a choice.

take your hood to the welding store and try the cheaters with your glasses on and the filter removed.

When you get the one that looks the best buy it and two up and two down go home and weld the right one will be obvious.

I took my welding helmet to my optometrist with the cheater lens installed. We tried different focal distances using different sizes of printed text to represent the various weld puddle sizes. She made me a prescription for single vision glasses which I use primarily for welding but also use for reading.

When I go tho the optometrist I get the prescriptions for the distance for regular glasses and one for close up (6").
I also get one for computer distance. Usually for no extra charge.

The regular and close up prescriptions are made into bifocal safety glasses and the others are purchased on the internet.
You can get glasses on the internet for about $20/pr.

Steve,

Not being a smart butt here, but what about just taking $10 to the local Dollar Tree store and get several pairs of magnifying glasses for the welding?

That's what this old fart has done. Ended up using 2.5 for MIG and up to 3.5 for TIG. At a buck a pair, you don't even have to be careful with them.

I've never had satisfaction from the in helmet cheater lenses. There well may be the perfect one out there but I've never found it.

We can't weld what we can't see....

Gus

Originally Posted by gusmadison

Steve,

Not being a smart butt here, but what about just taking $10 to the local Dollar Tree store and get several pairs of magnifying glasses for the welding?

That's what this old fart has done. Ended up using 2.5 for MIG and up to 3.5 for TIG. At a buck a pair, you don't even have to be careful with them.

I've never had satisfaction from the in helmet cheater lenses. There well may be the perfect one out there but I've never found it.

We can't weld what we can't see....

Gus

I've tried, I never saw an improvement. And some of the displays don't allow a test drive, and some of the prices are exhorbitant.

I (desperately) need reading glasses these days, but I don't like wearing glasses under a helmet. I use standard cheater inserts inside Johnson helmets, and they've worked well for me.

It really does make a difference, too. I had to go to cheaters when welding long before I was compelled (finally) to carry reading glasses with me everywhere I go.

I had the a smiilar issue with my computer. I need reading glasses and the drug store ones sort of work at +2.5 but they don't correct for any astigmatism. Reading glasses are usually set for a distance of 14 to 16 inches so they didn't work reall well reading my two computer screens back at 30 to 38". I went and got my eyes checked and asked for 3 different prescriptions for reading with distances from 16 to 38". Then I figured out how to read the prescription and do the calculations to make my own prescription values.

I found out that glasses are only built in .25 diopter incriments so I figured I would just order one of every diopter between the 16" normal distance and my maximum distance of 38" At the time I could get good quality glasses on line from Zenni Optical for about $8 so the cost was minimal. Now i have a pair for any distance. Sort of like having my own Optometrists lense kit. I believe the astigmatism correction is the same and doesn't change with distance, so it was only one parameter, the diopter to order against.

I would like to have a pair of those binocular telecope lenses the surgeons and and dentist use, would keep the face away from the lathe chuck and the end mill chips. They allow a more distant focal point with added magnification. For normal glasses if you wanted magnificaiton the focal point would move closer -- not what one wants around machines or welding.

Craig