Lenses available for Glass Working Applications

VS Eyewear carries lens types for every glassblowing, lampworking and glass working application as well as quartz and welding applications. Deciding on a lens type for lampworking, glassblowing safety glasses or glass working safety glasses

usually requires you to element in how dark you need the lens and what forms of noticeable or invisible lighting you have to protect against for the glass working application.

Glass Working Lenses and Glasses

In general, the forms of light that glass workers have to protect are sodium flare, ultraviolet (UV) lighting, and infrared (IR) lighting. We have filters to safeguard against various combinations of the harmful waves.

Here are the normal methods our lenses for glassblowing safety eyeglasses are used:

• Light green lenses are employed by people doing hand glassblowing typically, glory hole work, and furnace work.
• Dark green lenses are employed for quartz functioning typically.  The lenses normally used are shade #6 or #8 with the latter being darker.
• ACE 202 lenses are called didymium lenses furthermore. They are typically useful for torch work connected with bead producing and silver soldering. They come in regular glasses or plastic clip-on flip-ups for attaching to your current eyewear.  They are also available in over prescription eyewear and prescription glasses.  These glasses are still the preferred glassworking material for our scientific glassblowers.
• Green ACE lenses are used for working with borosilicate glass. They are often called “Boro” lenses and are available in shade 3 and a darker shade 5. Shade 3 is typically used for smaller work such as marbles, while shade 5 is more often used for larger work such as candlesticks, figures, or big scientific pieces.  The Green Ace glasses should be used when you are fuming or working with certain borosilicate colors. 
• Any of our lenses can be augmented by our plastic clip-on welders shades. They offer UV and IR safety and also added darkness to protect from bright torches.  They are available from a shade #2 up to a shade #8.

The aforementioned glass working basic safety lenses offer specific defense from certain rays. They’re:

• Light green lenses certainly are a light welding lens. They drive back IR and UV, plus they block some quantity of visible light (similar to sunglasses).
• Dark green lenses are dark welding lenses. We usually offer you these in split-lens glasses, where there is a lighter lens on top and a dark green lens on the bottom of the glasses.
• ACE 202 lenses block sodium flare and UV. Most types of glass give off sodium flare during torch work.
• Green ACE, or “Boro” lenses, protect from sodium flare, UV, and IR. They are available in colors 3 and 5. They are made by combining our ACE 202 lens material and green lens material during the glass melting process

If you still have questions about what’s best for your specific glassblowing or glass working application, you can contact us or check out the web page to see our selection. Glass blowing safety glasses are essential for most glass work, especially if you plan on doing it regularly. IR and UV are not visible to the naked eye, but they are certainly harmful and should be protected against. Sodium flare is very bright, so most people realize right away that they’re going to need safety glasses for sodium flare. We can also do some amount of customization with split lenses, so call us if you need a specific application addressed, and we’ll find the perfect glass working safety glasses for you.

We stock a broad array of our glasses in the highest quality wrap around, plastic, metal, clip on, fitover, prescription and much more.  No matter what type of lampworking with soft glass, borosilicate hard glass, quartzworking and glassblowing you do, we have the right protective eyewear for you.

A very special thank you to Artist and Scientific Glassblower Tim Drier
for allowing me to use his photos and display a small portion of his work!