eye protection for plasma cutter

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What eye protection do you use for plasma cutting?  I have seen people use the same googles they use for torch cutting.
Reply:I use a shade 6 or 7 for plasma use I have a flip down shield at work to keep splater from hitting me in the face. At my house I have a pair of glasses just because they are easy to get into tight spots.
Reply:Originally Posted by max503What eye protection do you use for plasma cutting?  I have seen people use the same googles they use for torch cutting.
Reply:i use shade 3 cutting safety glasses and dont get any dots in vision. but a 5 would proly be safer.
Reply:I use a pair of shade 5 safety glasses-light weight, comfy, and effective.
Reply:This comes from the Operator's Manual for a CUTMASTER 102.  It references the ASNI spec.                                                Minimum ShadeLess than 300 amps                           8300-400                                                9These are for situations where the arc is clearly visible.  When you drag cut, the workpiece hides most of the arc flash and shade 5 is OK.I have seen guys use sunglasses.  This is very bad.  The proper lens is a specific degree of darkness but it also filters out some of the invisible and harmful light frequencies.  Sunglasses don't do that.
Reply:Here is a .pdf of a suggested eye shade chart for various power levels of plasma cutting. As with welding, the amount of UV glare from plasma is related to the ampperage level. There of course are other factors...as plasma cutting is sometimes done submerged, and often when plasma cutting the arc is down in the metal....not very exposed to the operator. If you have a Hypertherm system, the suggested eye safety information is in the safety section at the beginning of the manual. The attached file is from the Hypertherm literature.Jim Colt Attached Imagesshade chart.pdf (28.9 KB, 1534 views)
Reply:I'm more worried about spatter than light, since I mostly drag cut too.So, I use my auto dark Speedglas hood.  I just don't turn it on.  That leaves me with a constant shade 5 or so, but shade 14 protection to UV and IR.