Hi I'm Mike with Craft Supplies USA and
today we're going to take an in-depth
look at face shields.
A face shield may be the single most important piece of safety
gear for woodturners.
It provides protection for the crown of your head
and your entire face
This is particularly important for
woodturners because we need to protect
ourselves from the work piece itself, not
just the dust and shavings.
We offer several different face shields,
all of which means the ANSI Z87
standard for safety.
And they all feature adjustable headbands and replaceable visors.
First up is the Apprentice Face Shield.
This is our least expensive face shield,
but don't let the price fool you. This is a good face shield.
It has a ratcheting headband and crown height loop that are very easy to adjust.
The fabric lined foam pad is extremely comfortable
and it absorbs sweat better than the others,
but it isn't as easy to clean.
On the sides are friction adjusters for the visor.
You don't want them so loose that the
visor wobbles around and you don't want it too tight that you can't lower it one-handed.
The fricion adjusters tend to loosen over time, but they're very easy
to re-tighten.
One other adjustment that's unique to the Apprentice Face Shield is that it has a
stop when lowering the visor.
And there are four stop positions to choose from, so you can adjust where it bottoms out and that's a nice touch.
On the business end is a 1 millimeter thick polycarbonate visor
that is very easy to attach.
First align the button hole in the center,
then slide it sideways.
Wrap the visor around the headgear and pivot
the finger up to hold it in place.
The Apprentice Face Shield is the
lightest of the three, weighing in at
only 7.9 ounces.
It's light enough to wear for long
periods of time and it's great for kids too.
Up next is a 3M Tuffmaster.
It's a very high-quality industrial-grade strength
face shield and it's made in the USA.
it has a ratcheting headband with nice
positive clicks,
but the crown height loop is a little hare to snap into place.
The headband pad is soft neoprene foam
that can be easily removed and wiped clean.
The visor friction is factory set and
we've found over time, it stays put.
if it's too stiff for your liking, you
can adjust it, but the knob is hard to
turn may require pliers.
The polycarbonate Tuffmaster visor is the
thickest of the three shields, measuring
in at a whopping 1.75 millimeters thick.
it also wraps farther around the sides
and farther down than the Apprentice Face Shield.
This really helps keep shavings
from going down your collar.
The visor installs by aligning the keyed holes on
each side of the shield,
then pivoting it forward until it snaps closed.
The think polycarbonate lens and
industrial build quality do come with weight gain.
The Tuffmaster weighs in at 12.6 ounces.
The last face shield we'll discuss is the most unique. It's the Bubble Visor.
It's made in the USA using
very high-quality components,
the ratcheting headband and crown loop are easy
to adjust and have a nice fit and finish.
It has a comfortable foam headband pad that
can be removed and wiped clean.
The visor friction is very easy to adjust using the
large, easy to adjust knobs.
The unique shape of the bubble visor, kind of like a space helmet,
provides significantly more
space between your face and the visor.
It's perfect when wearing a dust mask
while turning, which we always recommend.
The visor is easy to put on. Simply rotate
the fingers horizontally, align the holes in the visor
and rotate the fingers
vertically to lock it in place.
The Lexan visor measures 1.6 millimeters thick
and provides great face protection
without feeling huge.
It has an anti-fog coating that really works, but it does require care.
Don't clean the visor with
glass cleaners or you'll ruin the anti-fog coating.
The Bubble Visor weighs in at 10.7 ounces, right in between the
Apprentice and the 3M Tuffmaster.
The next step up is a face shield
respirator like the Trend Airshield.
These have a lot of nice features that
we'll cover in a separate video.
I hope this helps you better understand the
features to look for in a quality face shield.
All three of these face shields are
great choices and provide the protection needed for woodturning.
Safety glasses may keep shavings out of your eyes,
but they are no replacement for a face shield,
should a piece  come off the lathe.
Always wear a face shield when turning.
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Also, check out our entire selection of
woodturning supplies at www.woodturnerscatalog.com.
