I can not even count how many times I have said under my breath “hmm wow thank god I was wearing my safty glasses”
common guys its just a good habbit to get into…
Go to your local hardware store. Get a decent pair. Keep them from getting dirty by washing them (soap and warm water, then dry with a towel). Get a case to protect them when they aren’t on your eyes. You should be able to wear them comfortably all day.
Safety glasses are good anti-robot protection. I’ve had a corner of the robot from this year smack point first into my safety glasses, saved alot of hurt to my eye and probably the cost of buying new normal glasses as well, since they were under the safety ones.
I personally think that safety glasses are a bit overdone. I totally agree with wearing safety glasses when cutting/drilling/grinding, but it just bothers me that I have to wear them when I do such dangerous tasks as putting stickers on the robot or sorting through my pocket change. This is mainly because I have prescription glasses and those huge goggles annoy the heck out of me.
I’ve worked on things for long enough to realize what is the safe way to do something and what is dangerous. I work on bikes and cars and other mechanical things at home without wearing safety glasses because I know how to work on things carefully so that they don’t explode and fly across the room.
I do take the necessary precautions when working with powertools just like everybody should, but I think the danger of a bolt is greatly overexagerated.
OK, first off, you wear prescription glasses normally. IF they are polycarbonate, you only need side shields. That shouldn’t be too hard, should it? I know of at least one person who has prescription safety glasses.
Second, just because all you are doing is, say, looking at the robot, that doesn’t mean that someone else in your pit, or the neighboring pit, or the pit across the aisle is not doing something that could throw bits of material into your pit, and quite possibly into your eyes.For argument’s sake, let’s assume they are drilling plastic, say PVC. Now, PVC has a tendency to form a plastic mass on the drill bit, made up of “strings” of PVC, and these occaisionally fly off. (Metal does the same under certain conditions, and tends to fly off even farther.) One of those “strings” leaves a drill bit in the pit next door, and flies into your eyes at high speed before you can stop it. You are not wearing safety glasses, and it has enough momentum/energy/force to shatter your normal glasses. Now you have bits of glass in your eyes, as well as plastic. You could lose your sight.
Admittedly, this is a bit far fetched. I use it to make a point–and it could potentially happen with metal.
[size=2]So, even if you don’t understand the reason behind the rule, follow it. Would you rather put up with discomfort for three days, or suffer discomfort for the rest of your life?
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Now that someone has agreed with this, I will respond: If you encountered a no cutting rule, a no drilling rule, or a no using power tools rule, you need to speak with the person who told you about said rule. No Grinding and No Welding are in the manual, and a place (usually the machine shop) has been designated for those (as well as any other activity that intentionally produces sparks). But to my knowledge, the only time you can’t cut, drill, or use power tools is when you can’t be in the pit. If you were told to remove your power tools, you should have politely pointed out that power tool use was allowed (unless it was a venue-specific rule, in which case, agitate for a different venue).
We bought really cool red-framed safety glasses in bulk for the 2006 season (found good selection and prices at www.safetyglassesusa.com). They really can become part of your team’s uniform.
Safety glasses are indeed available with a wide variety of presecription strengths (e.g. www.duluthtrading.com) for contractors, etc. They may not be exotic presecriptions, but basic 2X cheater magnifiers.
Safety glasses are like seat belts. yes, they’re REQUIRED by a FIRST rule, but after a while they become automatic just like seat belts in cars. There are so many things going on that it’s just stupid to risk even one accident in the pits without safety glasses.
I can’t even go to my factory at work without safety glasses even though I’m 20 feet away from anything walking the aisles.
At FIRST, we also need to be good and teach this lesson to the younger FLL kids that come and visit our pits…it sets a good GP example.
You have worked on things for several years, and have accumulated several man-years of experience on what is potentially dangerous.
The industrial standards imposed for the use of safety glasses and other protection equipment is based on millions of people working in industrial environments for over a hundred years. By contrast your personal experience is 0.0000000000001% of the knowledge accumulated by the people who impose these rules.
I also sense a bit of protective ego in your post, the part of us that says “I know what Im doing, and Im carefull when I need to be carefull”. This is not a bad thing, self confidence is necessary or we would never venture into a shop and use dangerous tools. But being carefull, being intelligent, and depending on your own experience is the same path that many other good people also followed, right up to the instant when they lost an eye or a hand.
Its the stuff you dont know about, the things you dont expect to shatter, the thing you never knew had a coiled spring inside that blows open in your face and gets you. Thats why many shops have signs at all the entrances: Safey glasses required beyond this point, because with all the variables that are out of your control, if you are present in that area, you are in harms way.
even if you’re not cutting, welding, or anything like that, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Because there’s not just one team working, there’s a lot more and anything’s possible. Like when cutting the excess off the zip ties, those things can really fly. Plusto add in the chaos FIRST gives everyone. (I can’t wait for 2007 
)
I know exactly where you guys are coming from, I’m usually way safer than I need to be. But I still stand by my original post, and I will continue to tinker on my own time without wearing safety glasses unless I see fit.
I thought it also might be worth mentioning that I have always worn my goggles when in the pits at a competition, and I wore them when working on the robot at our teams shop. Just because I don’t completely agree with the rules doesn’t mean I don’t follow them.
Actually, I would much rather wear real goggles than those things. In the cases when I’m working on something where there is a significant chance of getting something in my eye (grinding, using the drill press, etc.) I want to have my eyes safe. Metal shards have no problem flying in over your glasses.
Sorry if I came off as some rebelious punk earlier, I didn’t mean it.
Safety glasses are a must not only in the pit, but anytime you are near a robot.
I do have one question though…why do you not like safety glasses that much? If you are so against them in the pits…I can only assume that you do not wear them during the build season.
I can understand where you may see a cheap pair as uncomfortable and causing messed up vision. However, If you have been involved in FIRST for any time then you would definately have a set of you own safety glasses that you could forget you were wearing.
Why do I wear safety glasses? Because I enjoy being able to see. I have had numerous peices of metal thrown/shot/rubber-banded into my eyes, by robots, power-tools, and teammates. My safety glasses are the only reason my eyeballs is still in my head.
safety glasses on my team thats the first thing we stress being we started out at a trade school it was what we learned walking in the door so it was beat in our heads and the NASA engineers never let us for get that. but safety glasses have save me in other ways like grinding disks flying at me, but my favorite was when i put my glasses on my head cause i couldn’t see and was under our tongue for our flipping arm in 2005 and the engineer manually pressed the button on the solenoid and 25 pounds of pressure came flying down on my head it luckily hit my safety glasses
We were doing some milling with a bad rotary table, and the endmill shattered… Sending very hot pieces of Carbide into my glasses, arms, and chest. Come by 114’s pit some regional and I’ll show you the scars.
Had I not been wearing my glasses, I probably would’ve lost my eyesight.
(as a second note, NEVER use a rotary table unless you know it’s in perfect condition… it was scary to have that endmill fly apart.)
Please do not assume such things…It makes an bleep out of you and me . Eye safety was our number one priority when we were working in the shop. I am very strict about safety, I’m sure that s_forbes will agree with this statement.
Although I have never personally had anything fly at me or seen anything flying at somebody (other than poof balls) in FIRST, I still wear my safety goggles.
I recently bought a $6 pair of safety goggles which fit over my glasses at a local hardware store, I can see perfectly out of them, and they don’t fog up.
I see no reason not to wear a pair of safety goggles. If the only ones you have access to are scratched up and dirty, then get your own.
I would completely agree with that statement! 
i was the same way i didnt like saftey goggles… them i dropped a can of aircraft remover and it sprayed my face … now aircraft remover takes paint off of metal … it was on my face and in my eyes… now i awalys wear satey goggles… one time i was wearign them and a drill bit broke and hit the goggles…just wear them… $@#$@#$@#$@# happens
why wouldn’t you? I LOVE my safety glasses (i painted them our team colors–which makes it even more fun). I’m a chairman’s kid, so I don’t have to worry too much about flying things, but when your rushing around regionals trying to find your mentors to give them scouting before your next match and your not paying attention, bad things can happen. safety glasses prevent the badness from taking away your vision.
plus, they come in especially handy when eating pineapple with steak knives at the steak & ale reseaurant (story by PM request…)