Popular Woodworking 2006-04 № 154, страница 63

You'll Poke Your Eye Out!

Mom was right to worry about your eyes - and you should too, especially as a woodworker.

Every day there are an estimated 1,000 eye injuries reported in the American workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that three out of every five workers injured were not wearing eye protection at the time of the accident. While these statistics are for industry, it's not too far a stretch of the imagination to assume that similar laxness also occurs in many home workshops.

So why aren't we wearing safety glasses? In my informal focus group (I talked to a bunch of woodworkers), I gleaned that: "they're ugly and uncomfortable"; "they fog up"; "I wear glasses and they don't fit over them"; "I wear glasses, so I don't need them"; and my favorite, "I can blink fast enough to avoid getting hit!"

Let me tackle that last one first. While you might be able to blink fast enough to avoid something hitting your eyeball, I'm pretty sure your eyelid isn't made of Kevlar and it isn't going to stop a ricocheting brad nail like the one shown here. In all honesty, it was pretty difficult to get that brad nail to puncture the safety glasses. I had to get within 1" of the lens to produce a puncture. Everything else just bounced off. That's protection that appeals to me.

Now, for those of you who wear prescription glasses and feel you're protected, think again. Safety glasses almost universally include lenses made of polycarbonate materials. As is also shown in the photo on this page, a severe puncture doesn't shatter the lens. What will your glasses do? (You can find out from the video at www.aosafetysrx.com, which shows glass, plastic and polycarbonate lenses under impact.) Even more important, it's not just the lenses that are tested to withstand impact. The frames of safety glasses have to stand up to the impact as well (see "Testing Standards" on page 63). Prescription frames are not designed to hold up to

by David Thiel

David has reviewed tools for Popular Woodworking for 10 years and also hosts DIY's Tools & Techniques on the DIYChannel. He's also just completed his first book, "David Thiel's Power Tool Maintenance" (Popular Woodworking Books). You can contact David at 513-531-2690 ext. 1255 or david.thiel@fwpubs.com.

63 Popular Woodworking April 2006