A TOP QUALITY PASSIVE PROTECTIVE WELD VIEWING SYSTEM HELPS WELDERS STAY ON THE JOB LONGER AND PRODUCE MORE

Although most of the buzz is about auto darkening filter lenses today, most welders still use passive filter plates in their welding helmets. But the actual filter plate is just part of what should be considered as a protective weld viewing package or "system". For the best results, the components of the weld viewing system should come from the manufacturer of the welding helmet being used. Components designed and produced to work together perform better than trying to combine components from different sources.

Like all PPE, weld viewing system components may appear to be alike but there are significant differences in material, workmanship and performance. Moreover, there are many viewing system products that are mislabeled and are not at all what they are claimed to be.

While there are numerous weld viewing system component suppliers, there are very few full system suppliers that can provide a full package. Perhaps the best system available today is the Fibre-Metal brand by Honeywell. Every component in the Fibre-Metal passive protective weld viewing system is unique, top quality, and works together as a system with precision not available in other brands.

The Fibre-Metal brand system begins with their top quality welding helmets made from unique materials in exclusive designs. Their attention to detail in both their front loading stationary and lift-front viewing system holders sets them apart from the others.

The Fibre-Metal by Honeywell brand uses the brand name "High Performance" for their passive weld viewing system components. The illustration above shows the proper component "stack" for a lift-front helmet model. The stack begins with a HIGH PERFORMANCE model CR.39 cover plate. The cover plate performs the very important task of protecting the more expensive filter plate. It must be able to withstand welding sparks and spatter, physical abuse like scratches and abrasions and the contaminants of a welding environment. CR. 39 is the material best suited for those tasks. Other materials, like cheap "all plastics", simply don't hold up. And polycarbonate, while a great impact resistant material for a safety plate, is adversely affected by many substances related to welding and should not be used for a cover plate.

While many cover plate brands are labeled "CR. 39", they vary in terms of the amount of the actual CR. 39 material contained in the product. The Fibre-Metal by Honeywell HIGH PERFORMANCE CR. 39 cover plates contain the highest actual percentage of CR. 39 material of any brand which makes them the top performers with the longest service life.

Next in the stack is the actual passive filter plate. The HIGH PERFORMANCE gold plated filter lenses from Fibre-Metal reflect harmful radiation rather than absorbing it. The high quality gold coating also reflects heat which helps keep a welder cooler and more comfortable. There are other brands of gold coated filter plates but only the HIGH PERFORMANCE brand allows a welder to see his work in pure natural color. A more comfortable, better protected welder with a better view of his work will stay on the job longer and produce more with fewer rejects. An abrasion resistant coating and a unique picture frame buffer are additional quality touches.

If a degree of magnification is required, the Fibre-Metal by Honeywell HIGH PERFORMANCE protective viewing system includes one piece, injection molded magnifiers in a wide range of diopters. The optically correct magnifiers provide the ability to view a magnified work area from a normal 12" welding position. Most lesser brands require a welder to move to within 6" of his work to achieve the magnification. The magnifiers are hard coated to reduce scratching for a longer service life.

The last component of the system is the HIGH PERFORMANCE safety plate. Injection molded, optically correct, lightweight, impact resistant polycarbonate safety plates provide an extra margin of protection. The safety plate is the last line of protection in the welding helmet from flying objects. Of course, protective spectacles are the primary eye protection and should be worn at all times under a welding helmet.

Because all components of the Fibre-Metal by Honeywell HIGH PERFORMANCE weld viewing system are either cast (CR. 39) or injection molded, the optical correctness and optical quality are far superior to products that are cut or stamped from sheets. The optical flaws in lesser products can cause eye irritation, headaches and fatigue.

The reason polycarbonate should be used in a safety plate but not a cover plate is positioning in the stack. The cover plate is the most exposed component to the welding elements while the safety plate is the most protected. The cover plate, filter plate and welding helmet shell all shield the safety plate from the things that can adversely affect it.

Once again, it pays to look beyond the surface, dig a little deeper and get past the "they are all alike" mind set when considering the passive weld viewing package you use or provide your workforce. Think of it as a "system" that should consist of the best components designed together to work together. Upgrading can result in fewer injuries, improved productivity and increased profitability.

ADVANCED, DUAL CHANNEL, PROTECTIVE CAP PEAK MOUNT FACESHIELDS CAN PREVENT EYE INJURIES

When combining a faceshield with a protective cap it is usually better to wear the cap in the reverse position so that the faceshield is positioned as close to the wearers face and eyes as possible. But for some applications it is necessary to mount the faceshield on the peak of the cap to get a better seal from dust, dirt, sparks and debris.

Most face and eye injuries today are not high impact, blow back injuries where a flying object blasts right through a faceshield. The highest frequency of face and eye injuries are caused by high volume small objects filtering through the faceshield deflector/window seal, or between the faceshield crown and a protective cap worn in the reverse position. A peak mount faceshield can protect from those types of hazards.

But not all peak mount faceshields are the same. Early single channel models and a lot of poorly designed models today do not provide the degree and type of protection required. The Fibre-Metal Products Company, now a Honeywell Safety brand, pioneered a dual channel design, with a unique Channel Grip method of attaching a faceshield window in conjunction with a large northeast shipyard that was having heavy eye injuries in their hull grinding operation.

At the time, most, if not all, faceshield windows were attached to the deflector with snaps. No matter how many snaps were used or how heavy duty the snaps, they did not seal the window to the deflector and there were gaps between the snaps where debris from the high speed grinding operation filtered in. The Fibre-Metal sales and engineering team, working with the shipyards safety team, came up with a unique way to mount a window that did not involve snaps and created a leak proof seal between the window and the deflector.

The unique window mounting design stopped dust, dirt, sparks and debris from filtering between the window and the deflector but there was also another problem. When the faceshields were lifted to an overhead rest position, debris that had accumulated on the deflector was dumped into the wearers face and eyes. To protect from that, Fibre-Metal and the shipyard came up with a dual-channel design .

The base channel, designed to the exact curvature of a protective caps peak, forms a perfect seal with the peak and is anchored securely in place by a strong, resilient band. The upper channel can be easily and smoothly moved to a rest position and held there by a self locking friction joint. If any debris is dumped off in the process, it is blocked by the base channel. When the upper channel is returned to the work position, it snaps and locks firmly to the base channel for an extra margin of protection.

The Fibre-Metal brand by Honeywell provides a fully dielectric model molded from NORYL, the same material as their top selling TIGERHOOD welding helmets, which allows it to be used in a wide range of applications where faceshields made from lesser materials would fail. They also provide a rugged, lightweight aluminum model for extreme jobsite environments. The most common applications for this type of faceshield are heavy duty grinding, machining, finishing operations in steel mills, fabricating shops, and similar operations.

In addition to the two cap mount dual channel models, Fibre-Metal by Honeywell also provides a model for full brim protective hats.

This style is popular with construction workers, especially road crews who use jack hammers, cut rebar and guard rails along with many other operations that produce high volume dirt, dust, sparks and debris.

If you are providing face protection for mounting on head protection, and you are still experiencing a high frequency of eye injuries, perhaps you could benefit from an advanced dual channel Channel Grip, peak mounting faceshield system.  If you decide to use that style of faceshield, look at as many brands as you can. Compare them with the Fibre-Metal brand by Honeywell. If another brand better satisfies your needs, use it. But from our experience, the unique design and high quality of the Fibre-Metal by Honeywell dual channel peak mount faceshields make them a good choice.

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This blog post is for information only. It is not an endorsement of any product for any purpose. The information provided is the opinion and experience of the writer and is the latest and best information available at the time of posting. The selection of any PPE product for any purpose is the sole responsibility of on site, competent safety officials. All information presented here should be verified by the manufacturer as part of the evaluation process. Failure to do so could result in injury or death.