Uvex Bionic face shield

[bubba]

Hey all

What do you think of this face shield? Does it provide enough protection for wood turning?

Thanks!

This is the one.

[iclark]

I tried one after asking around. I liked it enough that I bought 3 more for the shop (one for each of the turners in the family).

Be sure to get the high-impact version. Your link seems to be to the right one. When you eventually replace the transparent part (CA glue doesn't come off and they do get scratched up), be sure to get the high-impact replacement then, too.

Also, Windex is not a good cleanser for it. The Windex gets in behind the clear plastic in the mount at the bottom and takes a long time to evaporate. The clear part of my first one cracked (embrittled from the ammonia is my guess) after a lot of Windex cleanings.

The Uvex shield is very adjustable and seems to be less prone to fogging for many of us. Mine is set up for maximum distance away from the face for prescription eye glass clearance. That seems to help with the fogging as well.

The rest of the family seem to find them comfortable as well.

[badwhiskey]

Always wear safety glasses AND a shield. I'm pretty sure that's the shield I wear, and I like it quite a bit.

[fredhargis]

When I asked for recommendations for a face shield, that is the one most often mentioned. I bought one and like it a hell of a lot better than the one it replaced.

[Steve K]

bubba said:

---

Hey all

What do you think of this face shield? Does it provide enough protection for wood turning?

Thanks!

This is the one.

---

That is the one I use. With that said, don't believe it will protect you from a major blowup or make you invulnerable. There is an article in the June 2014 issue of American Woodturner that bears reading. The name of the article is "Safety Matters, from the eye of a survivor."
According to the author a piece blew up and a 2.2lb piece hit her face mask. Again, according to the article, ansi standards in the US specify a face shield should withstand an impact of about four joules of kinetic energy and about six joules of penetrating impact energy.
The author states the 2.2lb piece of wood hit with about 127 joules of energy. I won't go into detail about the damage to her face but it was significant.
Since recovering, the author now wears a riot helmet, uses the lathe safety guard and takes several more elaborate precautions.
If you happen to be an AAW member the article is available online at their website AAW

[Wipedout]

As Steve K said no shield is going protect you from everything but the Uvex is comfortable and light and does a good job. Obviously use other precautions. For anyone that doesn't know some of them are proper speed, Don't stand in the line of fire, use a tailstock as long as possible etc ...

As for the Uvex. They do make a clear plastic film that you can peel off and replace so that the actual shield stays clean longer.

[chips ahoy]

I use compressed air to blow the dust off mine.

Mel

[Arlin Eastman]

I had one and like how it fit but gave it away because I did not like how the dust always came inside the shield.

Arlin

[AHill]

That's what I use, plus my eyeglasses are also safety glasses. I now have a dust collector set up when I turn (both for turning and sanding), and that has cut the dust problems down immensely. The shield has protected me a couple of times, but mostly small items impacting. I've not had a blowout for bowl turning that caused an issue.

[bubba]

Thanks everyone for your posts. I had been using one of the cheapo face shields from Rockler, but one of the head straps broke. I never felt quite safe with it either. I seems a bit too flimsy. Better than nothing, I suppose.

I will continue to wear safety glasses underneath the new 'Bionic' face shield.

Happy Turning!