Lampworking Safety Glasses

Lampworking Safety Glasses

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What are Lampworking Safety Glasses?

Lampworking (also called flameworking or torchworking) is a type of glasswork in which the primary heat source for working the glass is a torch flame. When the flame is applied to glass, a small amount of elemental sodium sublimates from the surface of the glass and is burned in the flame. This burning causes an intense bright yellow light called a "sodium flare". The use of lampworking safety glasses is essential to filter out the yellow light, enabling the glassworker to see the glass material as it is being worked.

Soft glass becomes pliable at approximately 560 degrees C (1000 degrees F), while borosilicate glass (also called "hard glass") has a softening point as high as 820 degrees C (approx. 1500 degrees F).

Due to the high temperatures that glass is heated to, the filtering of infrared light (heat) is also a concern. Infrared light may damage the eyes and cause a "glassblower's cataract". Furthermore, burning hydrocarbons present in the torch flame emit ultraviolet (UV) and high-energy blue light, which may also cause injury to the eyes and retina over time.

Due to the optical radiation hazards, when performing lampworking, a minimum Shade #3 lens (blocking at least 90% of average infrared light) should be used at all times. However, many didymium glasses sold for lampworking are unrated lenses that do not meet the strict ANSI Z87.1 standards for a Shade #3 lens.

Built from the ground up for safety and performance

VETROSAFE is an independent brand created by an eyewear industry veteran with over 10 years of experience in technical eyewear design. Our mission is to provide the best possible eye protection for hard (borosilicate) and soft (soda-lime) glass lampworking, torchworking and glassblowing/flameworking hybrid techniques with all-purpose safety eyewear product that exceeds ANSI/ISEA Z87.1-2020 standards for industrial eye protection

  • Welding Shade #3

    The VETROSAFE U6L3R4-rated lens exceeds minimum standards for ANSI/ISEA Z87.-2020 Welding Shade #3 with R4 95% average infrared light blocking to enable use over a wide range of temperatures.

  • True Color Vision

    Optimized color-corrected lens design with chromaticity white-point less than 0.01 xy units from neutral enables accurate color checking without interrupting workflow.

  • Sodium Flare Blocking

    Precision wavelength-selective OD5+ sodium flare filter removes yellow light in torch flare for a clear view of the work piece during flameworking.

  • Blue-Light Filter

    Industry-leading 420nm HEV blue-light filter reduces eye exposure to harmful high-energy blue-light emitted by burning hydrocarbons in the flameworking torch.

  • Z87+ Impact-Rated

    Prepare for the unexpected with lens and frame made with industrial-strength high-impact plastic for maximum eye protection from every angle.

  • Multi-Coated Optics

    Ophthalmic grade anti-reflection, super-hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings provide maximum visual clarity and an ultra low friction, easy-to-clean lens surface.

Eliminate Sodium Flare

Didymium glass has long been used by glass flameworkers to remove the veiling yellow light caused by super-heated sodium content in glass. VetroSafe's proprietary lens design takes eye protection to the next level by adding R4 infrared light blocking, UV blocking and HEV blue-light filtering for reduced eye strain and best-in-class ophthalmic safety.

Infrared Light Blocking

Traditional didymium glass lenses do not block infrared light in the 780-2000nm spectral band, requiring users to layer on additional welding filters for protection, resulting in added weight and darkened vision. VETROSAFE is designed from the ground up with 95% infrared blocking in a lighter, brighter and color-corrected lens design, enabling seamless worry-free use regardless of torch intensity.

Blue-Light Filtering

Harmful blue-light between 400nm to 420nm has been shown to damage sensitive structures deep in the eye, causing eye strain and diseases such as macular degeneration. These blue-light wavelengths are emitted by electronic transition bands called Swan Bands that are created by burning hydrocarbons in a flameworking torch. VETROSAFE delivers comprehensive >99% blue-light filtering up to 420 nanometers to guard against consequences of long term exposure to high-energy blue-light radiation.

True Neutral Color

VETROSAFE lenses are created using a mathematical design process to achieve unrivaled white-point color accuracy less than 0.01 xy units from neutral, enabling clear, natural color vision and an uninterrupted color creation workflow.

Founder's Note

Unlike glass artifacts whose inert characteristics enable preservation of the legacy of centuries of glass work, our eyes are among the most vulnerable of the sensory systems - the sensitive tissues of the eye can be easily damaged from over-exposure to light and often cannot be regenerated, resulting in diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration. Unfortunately, due to the intense exposure to heat and light, glass flameworkers experience vision problems at rates much higher than the general population.

As a serial entrepreneur and inventor of functional eyewear products, I was disappointed by the continued use of outdated lens technologies for glassworkers’ eye protection, the confusing array of lens options suggesting a lack of coherent design thinking, and the use of escalating price schedules to gain access to protective features that should be standard. I created VETROSAFE to make a better option. With a single, fully optimized lens design, all of our glasses provide comprehensive protection from UV, sodium flare and infrared blocking combined with advanced blue-light filtering in an impact-rated frame, while simultaneously delivering a new standard for visible light transmission and color accuracy enabling the eyewear to be used in both soft and hard glasswork.

I hope this product will help to take your work to the next level. I would love to hear your feedback.

-- Andrew, Creator of VetroSafe