what shades are you rockin and why?

[Nomad]

It you see a flare when fuming you know it's good. That and the flame changes color.
I never see spots like with a welding mask when welding steel or anything like that.

[Nomad]

I knew someone who didn't wear glasses at all. He doesn't blow glass himself but teaches apprentices with no glasses.
He wears prescription glasses now. I think that is why.

[CheeseNip]

I have split 3/5's. 1 third 3, 2 thirds 5. Not sure of brand, but they are glass lenses, and were a $300 dollar pair of glasses when I got the about 8 years ago. Not Phillips, and I'm pretty sure not Aura's either. Very nice part though. No eye fatigue or anything else bad. Well, some fatigue because I need to get a prescription pair, but not due to the lenses providing inadequate coverage. I wouldn't personally want to go less than 5 one the bottom because I do so much fuming, and the 5 is just perfect for me to see what I'm doing and not cause spots or eye strain. 3 on top is perfect for just about everything else, IMO. Almost never feel the need to look over with the 3's. If I do, it's usually because I don't have my prescriptions on, and my vision is blurry. Even with the added weight, I would not go with poly lenses. Just too easy to scratch up. I have used glass since the beginning though, so I am somewhat accustomed to the added weight. Really wish my normal prescriptions were glass. Luckily Aura uses glass lenses, so when I finally cough up the cash for prescription diddys, his will be what I go with, for that reason, among others.

[ksglass]

I just sold my first pair of safety glasses (Aura split 3/5's) on ebay a few weeks ago. I felt like R2-D2 in those things. A welding helmet would have been more comfortable. I usually wear Oakley sunglasses when I'm outside so I wanted something similar in fit & comfort. I've been fortunate enough to never need eyeglasses so I wasn't used to the weight of the Aura's and my nose would get sore after about 30-45 minutes. I ended up with several pair of Phillips sodium flare, BoroView 3 & BoroView 5's. I love them. Plan to get a pair of their splits for my personal pair soon.

I've only had two guests on my torch. I left the shop while one of them was working and when I came back they had a rod in one hand and the Aura's in their other hand cause they were uncomfortable. Hurting their nose. I called Phillips the next day and their customer service was top-notch and polite. That sealed the deal for me. I've heard the hype about protecting your eyes so I took my purchase seriously but after a lot of research I haven't been able to find anyone with eye damage who wore the right type of safety lenses from any company. No matter if I was getting one pair of glasses or ten pair I'd have ended up with Phillips.

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[BORO]

The o.p. And I talked about glasses in depth when I was visiting Mississippi /his shop.

All my points have been covered in this thread more or less.

All I can add, is I tend to cheat with split lenses, always looking out the top. Strait 5's (or was it 5.5?) did me great. I used the tiny "max" square frames for the auras. Never a weight issue. I have his elite series splits now. I don't mind the weight.

I still can't tell if I think I cheat looking over the 5's (As in looking over the glasses,no filter.)

Either way swim will need new lights in his shop. I have permanent scars from indirect contact > burning flesh for the save. I have issues with that light specifically.

[Swim]

I have been working at nicks, and we discovered my glasses are shade 5 and again I was unaware of what I had on my head because I bought them second hand and they were not advertised correctly. I tried to call you to see what shade yours were on bottom the other day. Trying to get myself in order to buy glass, glasses and a few particular tools..... but i keep pushing further and further into my old materials trying to burn this shit up, get as much money as I can before I buy new, because I will onlyuse the new shit when it gets here and etc and etc and etc. Money is set aside for the baller glasses though, happening in the next few weeks.

[Swim]

thanx for your input man. My main problem with my current glasses is the frames suck nuts, I have to tie them to my head with a bandana and my mustache naturally grows in like hitler..... so basically I look like a nazi samurai while blowing glass.... true story

[BORO]

I think I rock 3/5 splits, on elite frames from mike. (the ones I had when I was visiting.)

[menty666]

I just got a new pair of full coverage shade 5's. I had accidentally scratched up the lenses in my sunglasses, but I liked the frames, so I sent them in for custom lenses.

They were Julbo glacier glasses

[lost nebula]

I knew someone who didn't wear glasses at all.

That reminds me of a teacher I once visited. I figured he knew what he was talking about because his work looked great and then I saw he used didymium glasses for boro and had no ventilation at all . I wanted to learn from him but he was old school and refused to work on anything that didn't have a point handle and made me apply dots with my right hand (i'm a lefty).

Regarding the shades he insisted the wale S and SB series glasses he sold his students had adequate protection for boro, even though my eyes hurt after using them.

Mike Aurelius gave me the best info on glasses I have had so far, look at the transmission charts. His transmission charts clearly show where in the spectrum the harmful light is. For anyone considering wale glasses here are the transmission charts to compare with Aura's.

https://www.waleapparatus.com/upload...08b1cb6786.pdf

I've gone through just about every other option besides Aura trying to find something decent. I tried Phillips shade 5's, wale B3's and SB's, old school didy's with a clip on #5 welding shade and nothing works as well as I would like. The Phillips had way too much sodium flare and the wale glasses mess with the color you see so I often got colors mixed up. The didy's with a clip on shade worked alright but they were pretty bulky.

I have had a certain opinion about Auralens because of things that went down a couple years ago and some of his more vocal opinions on the forums.

As I start to blow glass more full time though, I will soon be switching to Auralens as it's clear he has the superior product when you look at the charts.

[Nomad]

I still use points bro unless it is a really heavy piece. I also only spin with my left hand and tool with my right. I learned that from Cesare.

[lost nebula]

I still use points bro unless it is a really heavy piece. I also only spin with my left hand and tool with my right. I learned that from Cesare.

That does not surprise me, it's classic italian training which a lot of old blowers stick to. You can learn a lot from old blowers but they sometimes lack the openness to learn new techniques. I remember showing this teacher IO frit and blew his mind, he couldn't imagine why someone would put frit on the inside. I had a nice reversal pendant on and he thought the reversal pattern was painted on, he'd never seen anything like it.

I like learning new things from everyone but I don't want to be one of those blowers who only accepts one way of doing things. I don't really care that a certain way is traditional and done that way for hundreds of years, all I care about is how good is your end product. What I appreciate about glass is the american style and technique revolution that pipe culture has brought about. It breathed new life into glass, and without people doing things differently that never would have happened.

[duppy]

I used to use Phillips shade 3s but switched over to Aura AGW 300 didymiums a few months back and would never go back to dark glasses. Being able to see your work/bench/surroundings has stopped me from getting eye strain from struggling to see throught the darker glasses.

Do you use them for color work too?

[snoopdog6502]

I use Philips clip ons , $90 from glasscraft.

I have some aura clip on's. The lenses are great, the clip on frames suck soooo bad.
Iv worn them less then 5 minutes and there is no way in hell can I use them.

[Kovacs Glass]

Do you use them for color work too?

Yes, although i switch to my shade 3s if I'm working a lot of black or silver striking colours. For everything else, my Aura AGW 300s are amazing.

[Aretz]

Will any reputable supplier use safety glass frames you provide? Like, mailing them in to have lenses replaced?
Everyone has different preferences due to prescriptions, different face/Head shape, and comfort, so I’m wary of just buying something someone recommends. I know I like my safety frames I use at work. I’m on my third pair! I gave away a pair to a coworker who needed frames (employer buys us new frames every couple of years but he’s a temp and they won’t buy them for temps) and I have a spare set I’d love to use.
Also, I see a lot of folks have split lenses but only one site seems to offer them. Do you have to call and request them?
(Also I can’t figure out Auralens site, confusing for a newbie).

[Mute]

Can't help but wonder why the fuk u wouldn't just call the company or company's u r wondering about....for fuks sake

About as bad as my wife....

Claims she seen a giant white cat walking through our field the other morning. She decided not to tell me until around noon that day. While I could have been outside playing with our child and possibly getting attacked.

I tried to tell her the importance of telling me in that situation.... She failed to see it.

Then when I told her she needed to contact someone and tell them, she fukkin emailed some lady about it, whom of which has nothing to do with wild animals.

She just doesn't get it.

Seems a lot like thus situation and our current economic crisis.

Just stupidity

[hashmasta-kut]

I totally disagree. My lady has seen a cougar a handful of times in a nearby field on her walk. We don't tell people, we want him to just have his trip.

[Aretz]

Can't help but wonder why the fuk u wouldn't just call the company or company's u r wondering about....for fuks sake

About as bad as my wife....

Claims she seen a giant white cat walking through our field the other morning. She decided not to tell me until around noon that day. While I could have been outside playing with our child and possibly getting attacked.

I tried to tell her the importance of telling me in that situation.... She failed to see it.

Then when I told her she needed to contact someone and tell them, she fukkin emailed some lady about it, whom of which has nothing to do with wild animals.

She just doesn't get it.

Seems a lot like thus situation and our current economic crisis.

Just stupidity

WOW.
My first post here and you’re assholes about a simple question.

I asked because a lot of people here seem to have shades that aren’t offered on a website (if a supplier was willing to use my own frames or do split shades, I would have thought they’d say so on their website).

I’ve been here for a couple weeks, reading up on info and safety (finally going to set up a studio) and simply haven’t bothered to post yet because I’ve found most of the information I need in stickied threads. Heaven forbid I ask ONE QUESTION about an important piece of safety equipment I want to get right the first time around, so I don’t have extra pairs sitting around I paid for but won’t use because they’re uncomfortable, like many of you seem to have.

I was recommended to come here by someone on Twitter. She said I could find a plethora of information to help me get started and that people were helpful.

She was right about one of those, but not the other.

[Subduction]

Aretz, you can ask Mike about this: http://www.auralens.net/en/filter-lens-trade-in-program