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Is it generally agreed that safety glasses are a must on the lathe and mill?

Trboatworks

Diamond
Joined
Oct 23, 2010
Location
Maryland- USA
I was speaking with a young guy in a shop near mine who is just starting out on the lathe.
I stopped by the shop and he was busy making a part and no safety glasses.
I know his dad works in machining so just asked sort of offhand if his dad had talked to him about safety.
He said yes his dad had squared him away with dos and don’t practice.

I’m surprised- I never go anywhere near a lathe or mill without safety glasses.

One hit chip in the eye and that’s it- you might not get past the damage.
This guy isn’t my employee but I hate to see people putting themselves at risk.
But- I’m not real experienced with how things roll in manufacturing.
I am just rolling along with what I figured out in my own shop.

What’s the deal- everyone think safety glasses are required in the lathe?
Not management putting stickers on machines- what really happens.
Safety glasses or not so much.

One thing the kid did say- in his last job management made everyone wear gloves when using the drill press- weird.
 
They were using them in WW2 in factories. If they did it that far back they knew it mattered. Not just some modern crazy lawsuit happy lawyers complaining.
Bil lD
 
If they can stop a .22 cal shot with their eyeball there is no problem. Safety glasses not needed.
Just step over here and this Saturday Night Special will certify you. Try not to blink cuz it will make a hole in the eyelid, makes it hard to sleep.
 
I have worn safety glasses all my waking hours since 1954, when I got my first lathe. The large company I worked for (1963 -2003) paid for them as part of their company-wide policy. Side shields came with the glasses, but they were optional in my area. I toured another company where side shields were required and had to wear their clear plastic safety glasses over my glasses. My company always publicized in the factory newspaper any incident where a worker had his glasses cracked by a flying fragment. It was a rare thing, but we all knew it could happen. They also sold discounted safety shoes in all the factories' safety stores and I bought a few pairs.

Larry
 
Squirming while you watch a close up of a doctor trying to fish a chip out of an eyeball will clench you right up - and ought to tighten your opinion about the benefit of safety glasses.
 
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Nah, they make very realistic fake eyes these days.

We were regularly visited by a Caterpillar engine sales engineer. I was told, during a strike at their Peoria factory, that non-union employees were put to work in the factory. But that engineer had a glass eye and was not allowed to work in the factory. I had never noticed that the eye was glass, though I had not had a lot of personal contact.

Larry
 
Nah, they make very realistic fake eyes these days.


I had a friend that worked in one of the prosthetics place once. Interesting technology. It was actually a two piece deal with a front and back part. At the back was a half sphere with four bumps on it. Doctors tied the eye muscles across the front so they moved it with the good eye. The front part had depressions to match the back and a realistic iris was hand made from photos of the other eye. I can understand how it might be hard to detect.

And straying off into the weeds. That might give a user some options. If you could switch out the front piece you could have an alternate made to match the bloodshot eye so you don't give yourself away at the bar.
 
Squirming while you watch a close up of a doctor trying to fish a chip out of an eyeball will clench you right it - and ought to tighten your opinion about the benefit of safety glasses.

Steel chips in the eye apparently get a special treatment - they need to be certain all iron-bearing material is removed so they use a sort of electric pencil eraser to abrade away the portion of the cornea which could be contaminated.

My case was a visit to the ER because I got a particle of cement dust embeded in my cornea - it actually managed to get *behind* the safety glasses I had on. Being highly hydroscopic it was glued in there good and would not flush out.

The nurse sat me down and looked at it, and said "yep, hang on here" and then took out a single sterile hypodermic needle. "Doctor will be right here in a moment."

And he was, and clamped my head in a frame, put in a dye and an anasthetic. And applied the tip of the needle to flick the bit out.
 
I worked at a sand blasting place in another life, and we had a shot blasting room for steel grit. Full German made helmets and suits plus breathing gear. That night , had a headache, looked in the mirror and noticed three tiny black dots on my cornea. I freaked, next day they sent me to the optometrist, and he dug them out with a needle. Not pleasant. Still a mystery how the grit found its way on my eyeball.
 
In my old work place there was a bench grinder,

There was a bright colored sign next to it literally about 3ft by 3ft on the wall.

“PPE required no exceptions.
Insubordination is means for dismissal”

The old man training me said he personally seen a guy get fired on spot for not wearing safety glasses while using the grinder.

Grinder, lathe, ehh it’s all the same to your eyeball
 
My Mom graduated from nurse's training in 1938. After a few years working ER and surgery during the war she got a job as an industrial plant nurse. She was the only girl in a farm/coal miner family with 7 brothers. Growing up she did not worry about me, figured boys have to learn some things the hard way - I have scars to prove it. But there were two things that were non negotiable - wearing safety glasses when using power tools was one. Her stories of digging out the metal chips in the eye from guys and gals who would not wear the safety glasses convinced me. Plus had an aunt who only had one eye - reinforcement. To this day this retired engineer wears safety glasses with side shields almost constantly during the day working around the place. Now I'm training the grandkids the same way when in the shop. Her other total no was motorcycles. Have never been on one and I'm still scared that if I did lightning would strike.

Dale
 
Saw a sign that read "God may love you, but he still won't give you another set of eyes!"

Each of the half dozen trips through the MRI, I ended up being sent out for a X Ray of my head, when I answered their questionnaire regarding what I did for work or hobbies.

They REALLY wanted to be sure that there were no metal particles about to be yanked hither and yon, inside my eyes!
 
Saw a sign that read "God may love you, but he still won't give you another set of eyes!"

Each of the half dozen trips through the MRI, I ended up being sent out for a X Ray of my head, when I answered their questionnaire regarding what I did for work or hobbies.

They REALLY wanted to be sure that there were no metal particles about to be yanked hither and yon, inside my eyes!

I once saw a video frog being levitated by the iron in his blood using one of those magnets.
 
Used to wear safety glasses at the lathe. Stopped that nonsense when a screaming hot chip flew up over the top of my glasses and landed on my upper eyelid fusing itself to me. I may have done a funny little dance. Now wear glasses and a sturdy full face shield.
 
As I get older I scare myself as I realize I am looking over the top of my subscription glasses to see the tool cutting.
My father had a sign in the home basement shop. You can get used to safety glasses. You can never get used to a glass eye.
Bil lD
 








 
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