I have always been a staunch believer in the use of safety glasses when doing anything that presents the potential for eye injury, and today was a perfect reminder of just how important eye protection really is.

I was drilling some holes in the tie-rods for some swinger targets - using a #21 drill. I had drilled about 10 of the 18 rods, and just as I began the 11th rod, the drill grabbed, and for lack of a better term - exploded - sending sharp, hard fragments everywhere !! One of these tiny bits of shrapnel bounced off the right lens of my safety glasses, with enough force to carry on to strike the wall, about 3 feet to my right.

I suspect that had I not been wearing eye protection, I would probably be in hospital right now, in serious danger of losing vision in the right eye, or worse. Thanks to the good sense of wearing eye protection, the broken drill was a non-issue.

Here is a pic of the drill - the point was removed from the workpiece. You can see how much of the drill is actually missing. I have broken drills many times over the years, but I have never seen one fragment so "explosively" upon breaking.


Now - not everyone does machining - but - it is also important to wear eye protection when working on airguns - especially the clamshell type guns, which can unexpectedly send a spring flying as you open the two halves. Some of the tiny torsion springs in these guns would be like having a needle launched into your eye.

Same goes for shooting - a faulty o-ring at the breech could potentially send a blast of air or CO2 straight back into your face.

Be smart - always wear your eye protection when shooting or working.

abso-freaking-lutely. something like that will make you breathe hard and put a cramp in the old sphincter. glad to see you didn't get anything more than a couple of gray hairs. %^)=)

something i've been using for awhile is a really nice pull down face shield. it has heavy duty clear (replaceable) polycarbonate. for me it's more comfortable than goggles in a lot of applications and from the stuff i've had bounce off the shield it certainly will take just about anything short of a bullet.
another thing the shield is really good for is close in work like grinding, etc., when older people (like me) either need to use magnified glasses or no glasses at all.

oh yeah, don't forget that HEARING protection. having been around extreme combat vets all my life, the one thing i've heard them complain about the most is hearing loss. it don't take much to damage dem drums and hearing aids are a bitch.

have fun.

I have to admit that Ive been caught a couple of times in the past, when using a Bench Grinder. Ended up at the A&E to get a particle of Grit removed from my Eye. I use better Common sense these days, Lol. Glad you still have Both eyes to Shoot that New Build of Yours when its Finished.

Grant.