glasses for boro: Phillips boroscopes or Aura Lens??
Hi,
I am looking for the best protection for my eyes to work boro. Aura lens site says Phillips are not as good... but that is in their interest. Please any advice on the best protection (could be another brand to) to work boro would really be appreciated. Only one pair of eyes and I want to make sure they are safe! I want to make some marbles up to 2 inches and some small sculptures on a GTT lynx and 2 EX-15 oxygen concentrators. thanks! |
I love my Auralens.
I've got the biker split lens (5 on the bottom). It rocks for boro. |
Of course aura is going to say that.
Wonder where both companies get their lenses from? :-\" |
i say split lens rocks.
i do not personally own a pair but i was lucky to wear my friend's pair once. i hearted them. doing shade 5 for the bottom is going to be the best for your eyes but decreases visibility, which is what makes the split lens so handy-dandy. |
I love the idea of split lenses.
Aura lens says Phillips are poorlymade, and Phillips says Aura lens are heavy. So go figure! sounds like a kindergarten battle! So I wanted to ask the real people! (hope no one works for any of the 2 companies (lol!)) thanks! |
I've had my phillips 6 years and haven't had any problems with them.
My earlier comment was about who really makes the lenses for both companies. There's a lot involved to make lenses (not the cutting of the lenses, the actual making of the lense). |
I understood it the way you meant it. Maybe we would be surprised finding out!
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If you get Phillips, plan on replacing them every 6 months as the filters wear out. I have a pair that is a couple years old. They were originally shade 5, but they are now lighter than a pair of shade 3 glasses I have.
My Aura Lens glasses, however, are still going strong after two straight years of heavy use. Aura Lens glasses are a little more expensive, but I guess it's a question of how much your eyesight is worth to you... |
Thank you so much Cosmo!
This is greatly appreciated, exactly the kind of info I was looking for and from an objective source. I will go for the Aura Lens. My eyesight is priceless! I prefer to cut down on glass colors and gizmos for now and get better glasses. On the long run they end up beeing cheaper than the Phillips (if you do replace them). |
I went on Aura Lens site...
I think I would get the googles... but I am not sure wich lenses. Taking 3-5 is great but a bit expensive, ( I never worked boro and want to try it when I get my new GTT lynx). Is there another one that is as safe for my eyes but maybe one shade and a little less expensive? I want to make marbles up to 2 inches, more if possible, and small sculptures (anything the lynx will allow!) I would like your recommendations. If 3/5 is really the best... well other things will wait... but I want to be sure (and I hope I will really like boro!!) |
It may seem expensive, but the downtime (and the deductible) for
cataract surgery is MUCH higher than 400$. I'm not affiliated with Aura lens in any way, shape or form. But besides ordering my first pair of soft glass glasses from them before - what really made me decide to spend the big bucks with them vs Phillips was the lawsuit. I actually read the whole thing, and as noted - Auralens WON the suit. They do make much better quality glasses than Phillips (I've worn both), so even if theirs are a tad heavier - I'll gladly bear that burden. Get the best, top of the line, highest quality glasses you can afford. Your eyes are the only eyes you will get. If you screw them up, you can pretty much kiss glassmaking goodbye. I'd get better glasses before I got the kiln, torch or more glass. Top priority. |
Check out my thread in Safety about a REASONABLY Priced Lampworking glasses. This vendor sell lots of styles including those for BORO too! (No i am not affiliated with them either). Just really pleased with my purchase!!
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I wish the new aura lens frames were as good as the old rec spec frames they use to have.
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Thanks for the info, Brent! I wasn't aware of that. (I still love my glasses, though!) |
I think I have to go with higher level than the minimum for Boro from Aura lens.
I know myself and I probably will need more in no time if I do like Boro. I will not work any boro before I have the proper glasses. My eyesight is just to important to take any chances. Thank you all for helping through this decision process... I still do wonder tough wich Aura Lens glasses to get... I tend to be tempte by the gogle frame but the main issue is not the frame but the lenses themselves... either the 3/5 shade or the AGW®-250 4 shade as they don't seem to have a shade 3 only... any toughts? |
I think if you read around, you will find the glass that the two companies that have been discussed here buy their bulk lens material from the same company. Reading between the lines for several years there is only one company that makes the glass that is the replacement for the original didyumium that we all started out with...
Seems to me the manufacturer was SHOTT... I could be wrong here and maybe Shott was the people who used to make the discontinued didymium... Anyway if both company use the same material from a "single supplier", then its lens grind and frame weight and design that is what separates the two companies. Dale |
Dale hit the nail on the head... all the ACE blanks come from the same company and I'll bet the green lens material comes from Schott too. I know Phillips had Schott batch the green welding glass with ACE for what they call their GreenACE. No laminating and no patent intrusion there... it's all in one blank. ;)
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hum... good food for tought and google!
Now I am not sure anymore... but reading some Philips lenses get lighter with time doesn't make me feel very safe... |
I've had my Phillips for 6 years and they don't seem any lighter. If they are, it can't be all that much.
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I'm not sure what Chad is talking about with them getting lighter. If you get Phillips with all glass lenses, they won't fade. I don't know if maybe Phillips made some versions with a plastic green welding filter over the glass ACE filter to make them lighter... maybe they did. I really dunno, but Chad wouldn't be anything but truthful about his experience, so I've got to take it at face value. I'd look into what the lenses are made of and feel totally confident if they are in fact all glass. If I had the time, I'd call Phillips and check into it. Maybe that would be a good thing... call and ask them yourself. ;)
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Granted, we probably were working on larger pieces than the average person on here works on (and using larger flames, of course), but still, that shouldn't happen. Zero problems with either of the pairs of Aura Lens glasses that we have. |
Any body interested may wnat to look in on this link...
http://www.thegldg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22669 Dale |
I just want to chime in here on this as someone that has used both companies glasses and have sold both companies glasses.
Aura Lens and Phillips both currently make great glasses. While both do make great glasses, each have their advantages and disadvantages. In regards to borosilicate protection: Aura Lens continues to laminate multiple lens together to get the needed protection. While effective it makes the glasses very heavy. It also makes it so that they are able to produce a better split lens version. Phillips on the other hand use ACE glass batched with IR absorbing green glass. They are able to make their glasses with a one piece lens which makes them lighter in weight. This link is to the Phillips graphs of the Green ACE material http://www.phillips-safety.com/Tech-...eenAceIR_5.gif Now a little history... Phillips original Boroscopes (First Generation) were a laminated lens. They used the Schott ACE lens with a Green IR absorbing lens laminated in front of the ACE. Soon after the release of these glasses Aura Lens was granted a patent (I won't go into the details of this) and Phillips was not allowed to make the laminated Boroscopes any more. Phillips "Second Generation Boroscopes" used a lens that did not offer as good of protection as Aura Lens. It did offer better protection than the standard ACE lens but not as good as the laminated lenses or the Green ACE. There were independent tests done on this lens that showed the difference in IR protection. When these tests were released Phillips pulled the lens and went back to the drawing board. Phillips worked with Schott to develop the Green ACE lens that is in their current glasses for borosilicate work. As shown in the graph above, these lenses offer excellent IR protection, filter sodium flare and are shaded to protect against the brighter flare emitted when working with borosilicate colors. |
Thanks all of you!
that sure sheds lots of light on the matter. I ordered shade 4 Aura Lens. I hope I will find them ok. I wanted to be sure I got the best protection for my eyes. Seems maybe Phillips was just as good and I could have saved some money. Anyways, the order is placed and I don,t think I am making a mistake. thanks for all the help! |
oh my! I just read the post about Aura lens not shipping and not refunding. Sight!
I am so disapointed... wished I read this before I would have ordered the boroscopes... I asked for them to be shipped to my friend in the US so she could bring them for Christmass... I am quite worried. The site said 1 week wait... and what is worse. I ordered the google!!! Oh well I hope I can ear from them... |
I have ordered many pairs of glasses from Aura Lens and never had a problem getting them. Just remember they make them all to order, so it will take a couple weeks. One time they sent the wrong thing, but I just called them and they fixed it. You'll be fine.
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Thanks Cosmo!
I got a reply from them saying the googles came in today and they should ship Friday or Monday. So all seems well! |
Hi,
the googles arrived at my friend's place in the US today. I will have them Thursday when she arrives in Canada! so I am happy with the Aura Lens service very much!! |
I'd like to pop in here real quick and back cosmo on boroscopes becoming lighter. My shade five boroscopes after two years of use were not even as dark as a pair of sunglasses. Even fresh out the box i would constantly have head aches and eye fatigue. I currently use aura split goggles Di/shade 4 and have none of the aforementioned problems. I am in no way affiliated with either company just stating my personal experience with both products. If I had known then what i know now I would have spent more money and bought the auras in the first place.
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