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Safety Glasses
If you work with a kiln, you'll need two kinds of safety glasses.
The first is a pair of clear safety glasses for protection during
grinding and cutting glass. These can be found in most
hardware stores in a variety of inexpensive styles.
The second kind of safety glasses are made for looking in the hot
kiln. These glasses are shaded and are used to block infrared
(IR) radiation. Infrared radiation is given off by the glass
whenever it is glowing red. The hotter the kiln, the more the
glass glows red and the more radiation is given off. Infrared
radiation is absorbed into the eye; long term exposure can cause
cataracts or a painful condition known as "dry eye."
The purpose of shaded glasses is to minimize the amount of
radiation that enters the eye. But there's a tradeoff
involved -- darker glasses block more radiation, but they also make
it harder to see. The ideal eyeglass solution blocks most of
the infrared radiation, yet is light enough to allow for good
visibility.
Click here to continue with
part two -- on picking the right kind of
shaded glasses.
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Copyright 2006 Brad Walker.
All rights reserved.
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