I have a friend that does glass work. He actually used to sell his work to Disney Land and Knotts Berry Farm when he was younger. He has been away from lampwork for year and just got back into it. He let me give it a try. It was fun, but challenging. I am by no means an artist in any way. I am good at technical things. I have AS in Photography and TIG and MIG weld for a hobby and did some welding for work. I spent 17 years in the construction industry. Now I work for the family business sharpening shears and clipper blades and repairing clippers, animal dryers, and selling product to groomers and hair salons/barbers. Playing with a torch is right up my alley. I am good at sweating copper pipe, have welded with acetylene, and am not bad at soldering.
My friend loaned me a torch and hoses, some tools, and some glass to play with. I made a few marbles at his house and a swan which looked more like an ugly duckling. He gave me some clip on glasses, but it appears they are just a shade 3.0. He has diddy glasses and doesn't use the clip on glasses much. I found that I needed the 3.0, as the glass gets too bright with just his diddys. I need to buy some diddys at minimum.
I wear prescription glasses. I don't have a huge budget for lampwork, and I am not sure how much I will do it, but I would like to have some fun and make some simple items if I can manage it. I saw shields but they are expensive and I don't know if I will like having the shield in front of the torch, as I have not worked that way before. I am not sure if I will use just the diddy glasses much or if I will always want a 3.0 or higher shade. He said the clear glass he uses is pyrex. I don't know any specs or if it is all considered soft glass. He has many colors and gave me some remnants and some rods he made up with scraps, so I could play with it. I know the colored glass gets much brighter than the clear. 3.0 was a bit too bright when I was working on marbles that were around 3/4" diameter.
The torch is setup for propane and oxygen. I think the tips he gave me are a small and a bigger one that is about 3/8" across. It looks like an acetylene cutting tip. The work he does is not huge. The biggest I have seen so far is a humming bird that might be double the size of the average humming birds around my house. His work is usually 6" or less in length. He isn't into real small parts like beads. I will start small. I think marbles and similar sized items will be good, or anything a beginner can manage.
I saw these glasses:
http://www.sundanceglass.com/adjusta...ampworkers.htm
They are adjustable and go over prescription glasses. My glasses are 5 5/8" from the outside of one arm to the outside of the other arm. The frame area is only 4 7/8" wide, but I have to obviously fit the arms under the safety glasses as well. They are 1.5" tall. I wasn't sure if they would fit under these.
I saw a visor style with a diddy lens too.
http://www.phillips-safety.com/glass...sor-gb-pv.html
This is an expensive route, and again I would have to choose a lens. I am thinking I might always use a 3.0.
The shield idea would be good because I don't have to wear anything else. I could make an arm or holder if needed. I just need the ace 202 glass and a 3.0 or 5.0 welding glass, if it is any cheaper to DIY the mount.
I may wear headphones or earmuffs with electronics hooked up to music, as I am sensitive to noise and my hearing is already damaged. The headphones are over the ear so they block some of the noise and the muffs do a much better job, but the audio quality isn't great. Torches aren't extremely noisy, but they are not very quiet if they get cranked up either. Ventilation will just add more noise, unless I work outside. The shields would not weight, heat, or interference with my glasses or headphones.
I saw a number of threads on glasses, but still couldn't come to a conclusion. Are there any good sources for shields that you guys know of? I didn't see many options vs. glasses.
Thanks