Thread: How many turners wear Face Shields?

I just bought an Amadillo from Blackwoods in dandenong for $34.

I wear the trend air shield it's been the best investment I've made in wood turning

I wear prescription spectacles and am too tight to get prescription safety ones made up. I hate the big safety glasses that go over specs, so I got an Armadillo from Alsafe. When it is clean, it is very clear so I do wear it most of the time turning now. Sometimes the headband can annoy me, but not as much as getting hit in the face and popping my eyes out!

Keeps the chips out of the neck of the shirt and out of the eyes as well. A good investment.

Cheers,
Alister.

Originally Posted by Pagie

I just bought an Amadillo from Blackwoods in dandenong for $34.

If we have encouraged one turner to look out for themselves it has been successful, spread the word.

I've always liked Gordon Ward's comment “Learn from the mistakes of others, rather than making them all by your self,” rather than have some one say "Hindsight is 20/20, son, learn from your mistakes."

I wear a face shield and find it is an improvement on goggles that always fog up from the facemask. Plenty room to wear glasses too. I now also use it at the table saw, grinder and planer for those reasons.
Like a lot of my generation PPE came late to us but it is important. I had an accidient about 30 years ago involving a 15 ton rig anchor. Anyhow due to steel cap boots I still have my right foot allbeit a bit reshaped. That really got me on side with PPE.
A face shield can not prevent you ever being hurt but it will lessen the effect.

Regards
John

I was at a WAWA weekend workshop when Gordon while demonstrating had a piece come off the lathe and hit him square between the eyes.

He had to be taken to hospital, and was lucky to escape serious injury.

Demonstrators were more safety conscious for a while after that, but faceshields are rarely worn now.

I am guilty of this myself. It's setting a bad example for new turners.

It's easy to be distracted while demonstrating, so we need to be more careful.

Originally Posted by mat_au

I don't turn without one.. .

+1

This posting inspired me to upgrade to an Armadillo.$45.49 on Ebay at the moment, including delivery.Arrived a couple hours ago .Looks good.
Ted

I also after reading that blog..armadillo ordered !


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Originally Posted by orraloon

I wear a face shield and find it is an improvement on goggles that always fog up from the facemask. Plenty room to wear glasses too. I now also use it at the table saw, grinder and planer for those reasons.
Like a lot of my generation PPE came late to us but it is important. I had an accidient about 30 years ago involving a 15 ton rig anchor. Anyhow due to steel cap boots I still have my right foot allbeit a bit reshaped. That really got me on side with PPE.
A face shield can not prevent you ever being hurt but it will lessen the effect.

Regards
John

I still have a big toe thanks to steel toe caps. I walked into an 1 1/2" Stanley framing chisel that rolled off a pack of trusses into grass on a building site. The chisel actually pared open the steel toe cap for about 25-30mm and took the brunt of the cut thankfully. I was forced to take a few days off on compo though with a nasty gash to the outside of the big toe.

Originally Posted by turnerted

This posting inspired me to upgrade to an Armadillo.$45.49 on Ebay at the moment, including delivery.Arrived a couple hours ago .Looks good.
Ted

Great news, let us know how you find the Armadillo. I reckon they are probably the best value for money option available for wood turners & the typical hazards they face.

Remember you still have to do all the other things that keep you safe. ;-)

Hi All,
Bought a Racal Helmet, yes, a long time ago.
I suppose I wore it twice & then put it away.
It was the cold air, miles to cold for me, couldn't keep the drip off my nose.
Had a Face Shield, & that has gone as well.
To Dangerous for me, as I already wore Glasses that had coke bottle bottom lenses, very thick, & looking through all of that, uuuuhhh.
Since then have had my Cataracts done,+ Multifocus Lenses, that are Safety Lenses.
Have been hit once, but that was my lack of concentration while I was doing a Demo, as I forgot to recheck the tightening of my chuck. Out came the wood, glanced across my Forehead, & at anytime I'm a good bleeder, so blood was all over the place, people came from all over, very embarrassing, silly twit.
Have not bothered since.
Just because I don't wear one, doesn't mean, its not for you.
Definitely, wear one if you are a younger person, as life without, say 1 eye, wood not be good.

Originally Posted by issatree

Hi All,
Bought a Racal Helmet, yes, a long time ago.
I suppose I wore it twice & then put it away.
It was the cold air, miles to cold for me, couldn't keep the drip off my nose.
Had a Face Shield, & that has gone as well.
To Dangerous for me, as I already wore Glasses that had coke bottle bottom lenses, very thick, & looking through all of that, uuuuhhh.
Since then have had my Cataracts done,+ Multifocus Lenses, that are Safety Lenses.
Have been hit once, but that was my lack of concentration while I was doing a Demo, as I forgot to recheck the tightening of my chuck. Out came the wood, glanced across my Forehead, & at anytime I'm a good bleeder, so blood was all over the place, people came from all over, very embarrassing, silly twit.
Have not bothered since.
Just because I don't wear one, doesn't mean, its not for you.
Definitely, wear one if you are a younger person, as life without, say 1 eye, wood not be good.

Issatree,

I live in the tropics so it is hard for me to comprehend some of the issues you guys in colder climes have with powered air respirators & face shields. There are products to assist with fogging.

"Safety lenses" in your spectacles will not offer you much in the way of protection for the face & eyes unless the lens & frame combination meet the requirements of AS/NZS 1337.6: "Prescription safety eyewear". They may be suitable where low impact protection is required.

Yes you have had issues with face shields but I would urge you to at least test a face shield of similar design to the Armadillo.

Unfortunately what wood turners in general do not do well is assess the hazards & risk associated with the turning projects they are attempting. AS/NZS 1336: "Recommended practices in occupational eye protection" (costs about $200 unfortunately) is an industry document about assessing hazards and managing risk including specifying suitable eye/face personal protective equipment. It is very good guidance for "hobby" turners about what they really should be using for eye & face protection.

I am also inspired by this thread. At present I just use some el-cheapo safety glasses, so am looking at an Armadillo as well.

My question is around wearing 'on top of the head' (as opposed to ones that can be adjusted to wear around the neck) ear-muffs. I have a loud dust extractor so have been wearing big sold ear-muffs (which are easy with safety glasses). I do have an old el-cheapo face shield but I cannot use with my 'on top of the head' ear-muffs. How will I go with the Armadillo?

thanks

Mick