How do you guys keep sawdust from getting in your eyes?

[PA. Woodsman]

I ALWAYS get little pieces of sawdust in my eyes on windy days like today and have to use an eye wash cup to rinse them out and it's a pain. My wife who works for eye doctors thinks just a pair of prescription safety glasses would do it (I wear contacts but wear my regular glasses when working with wood) but I don't know. What do you guys do? I get it in my eyes when cutting and also when splitting with the logsplitter.

Thanks.....

 

[Poindexter]

The flip down visor on my Husqvarna forestry helmet, together with my regular prescription glasses is plenty for me when using the chainsaw. I don't generally have to rinse a piece of saw dust out of my eyes more than once or twice a year.

My youngest uses the same helmet when splitting with a maul, helps her keep her eyes open while she is swinging.

 

[DougA]

Yup, sawdust visor on helmet gets almost everything and on windy days or when looking up best with safety glasses also.

 

[Ashful]

Safety glasses. Used to use prescription glasses, but did the laser gig a few years back. Wish I had done it 20 years ago.

I don't like wearing my helmet, except when felling.

 

[Highbeam]

Use a sharper chain. It will make chips too big to stick to your eyeballs. It's like somebody throwing pea gravel into your eyes instead of sand.

 

[toddnic]

Wear safety glasses with your helmet. Works great.

 

[Mag Craft]

On bad windy days I bought a cheap pair of goggles. I have had wood in my eyes before from the wind and it was no fun. On more calm days I just wear safety sun glasses.

 

[DoubleB]

I also stand upwind when I can.

 

[Woody Stover]

Never cut wood or pee with your tool upwind.

 

[warno]

I can help but to get dust in my eyes. I used to help my dad cut wood all the time, and it seemed I would have dust in my eye before the chain ever hit the tree.

 

[OldLumberKid]

I use a pair of these

ESS Crossbow

just in case anything else worse than chips comes in their direction

 

[Woody Stover]

My wife got a wood chip in her eye one time, and got a corneal abrasion from it. The pain was so bad, she had to wear sunglasses to drive at night.

 

[Fred Wright]

I wear safety prescription glasses anyway, the company I work for requires 'em. They came with a pair of removable side shields. I use the side shields when sawing. They work.

A set of full wrap safety glasses will serve.

 

[DoubleB]

Never cut wood or pee with your tool upwind.

Indeed! I should have elaborated... A few times recently when I got a little irritant in my eye, I realized I was standing downwind each time. I don't ever recall getting something in my eye standing upwind. The problem is that I always remember the brilliance of staying upwind after I got an irritant while standing downwind. It's harder than I would imagine to remember beforehand!

Of course, that's all with proper eyewear. A tailwind is no substitute.

 

[DougA]

The problem is when you are upwind but the sun is right in your eyes. Tough call but I'll take a chance of sawdust over not being able to see while cutting.

I've had a sawdust visor on my helmet for 5 yrs. now. Working on the second one as the connectors are pretty flimsy. Helmet, visor, ear muffs - all one package that is $25. on sale or buy a good one if you can afford it.

 

[CTYank]

Bugz wire-mesh goggles over safety glasses work well for me. IME, they're even better than wire-mesh helmet visor at keeping chips & dust out.

Said goggles can be had from Bailey's for ~$9.

 

[Ashful]

I use a pair of these

ESS Crossbow

just in case anything else worse than chips comes in their direction

Yikes. And when you inevitably scratch your new lenses five minutes out of the box, then how do you feel?

 

[Soundchasm]

I caught a dog claw across my left eye. It was an accident, and the dog felt pretty bad about it, but not as bad as I felt. Had to go to the hospital ER and it's the kind of pain where I was ready to start kicking down doors until I found some numbing drops. Then I found out it'll never heal due to a genetic predisposition towards cruddy non-healing eyeballs. So if I really sleep and that eye dries out, it'll rip back open again when I open my eyes. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.

Short story is that eye is immediately aware of smoke, temperature changes, wind and the like. God forbid something really gets in there. My solution when I have to saw and let the chips fly where they will is ski goggles. I don't even care anymore how stupid it looks. It ain't worth having to deal with such a special type of pain.

And just an FYI, the docs told me that the eye can do "referred pain". I swore the scratch was around the top of the pupil, but he said it was dead center.

If you're very clever you can break the ordering code for Zenni Optical and find all kinds of prescription ski goggles and motorcycle goggles and that kind of thing for affordable prices. But nothing has more value than an uninjured eye!!

 

[Applesister]

Chemical spill safety goggles

They look like clear snorkeling masks.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Mascara works great, elongates the eyelashes and has a sticky film to catch the dust. Don't knock it till you try it.

 

[Mag Craft]

Mascara works great, elongates the eyelashes and has a sticky film to catch the dust. Don't knock it till you try it.

I will not knock it but I am going to have to pass on that one. Just a simple pair of goggles will be just fine thank you.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

What, you scared of looking Purdy while working with wood.

 

[Mag Craft]

What, you scared of looking Purdy while working with wood.

Yea I can see it now. I am looking in the mirror putting on my wife's mascara and she comes and says " what in the heck are you doing" and I explain to her some guy on the forum says it will keep dust out of your eyes. Then she says to me " trust me it does not work, now leave my mascara alone". Then I get that look like I have gone off the deep end.

 

[Highbeam]

Yea I can see it now. I am looking in the mirror putting on my wife's mascara and she comes and says " what in the heck are you doing" and I explain to her some guy on the forum says it will keep dust out of your eyes. Then she says to me " trust me it does not work, now leave my mascara alone". Then I get that look like I have gone off the deep end.

And as you cry it will run down your cheeks like some sort of romance movie.

 

[Mag Craft]

And as you cry it will run down your cheeks like some sort of romance movie.

I think I have had enouph of this line of thinking. You mascara lovers have at it.