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Old 08-28-2012, 08:29 PM
weldtoride weldtoride is offline
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Northern Illinois
Posts: 896
Default Cobalt blue lenses

A lot of people mentioned cobalt blue lenses for aluminum in this thread.

The old shop teacher in me needs to interject something here:

Cobalt lenses were taken off the market many years ago here in the US as they had no UV protection and led to cataracts, a consequence of long-term UV exposure. They did really well on aluminum as far as cutting out the flux flare, and when you looked around at your surroundings with them on, life was a gas, to borrow a 60's term. They really do shed a "new light" on your surroundings.

That cataract bit is old info, and it may have been debunked, like coffee being bad for you, but it was the byline of the day.

Cobalt also became a pricey and rare commoditty in the late 70's, as familiar Bromo-Seltzer blue glass bottles went off the market and became blue plastic as international politics played with many mineral markets, including cobalt (not available on every continent). Remember, students: we were at Cold War heights with the Soviets back then and that meant war in the marketplace as well. Elements and industry ingredients not found on this continent or our sister continent to the south became "defense" essentials and were priced or available accordingly.

I have a couple of pairs, but I use one of Tinman's lenses for welding instead. I am particularly fond of my eyesight these days.

Some things have changed for the better from the "good ole days". Actually, many things if you take the time to look around.
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Mark from Illinois

Last edited by weldtoride; 08-28-2012 at 08:37 PM.
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