[Rockhounds] No Magic?!? Welder's eye

[Axel Emmermann]

> Axel,

[Axel] Awake and listening ;-)
 
> I took a welding class once, I bet you've got UV lamp eye, not nearly as
bad as from a real
> arc!  

[Axel] UV-eyes come from the 253.7  (UV-C) nm and 312 nm (UV-B) radiation of
mercury lamps. Welders eyes are caused by the strong iron-lines in the 190
nm region of the spectrum. That would make it what... UV-D? 

I was really careful about using the hood, and still got caught a little
once in a while.

[Axel] Reflections from aside, no doubt. Some substances are excellent
UV-reflectors: aluminium, dolomite (cement and concrete)... I use aluminium
reflectors when photographing fluorescent minerals. Sometimes I catch a
reflection over my glasses when looking through the camera. Feels like fine
sand in you eyes...

> 
> And even longer ago, I worked in a photo engraving shop, making line
negatives and etching
> zinc plates with nitric acid.  We used a photo-sensitive emulsion that
worked to setup when
> exposed to UV, and back in the day we used really really bright carbon arc
lamps to expose
> the plates.

[Axel] That's enough ozone, acid fumes and dry heat to develop a cough or
two ;-)))

> The photo engravings were usually of ladies at social events, but there
was the occasional
> train wreck too.  The news stories were cast in molten lead; there were a
couple of dozen
> pots full of liquid lead, one for each linotype.  Every once in a while I
got a lapful of molten
> lead, and spent the rest of the shift picking bits of lead foil off my
pants!  Exciting but
> mostly harmless, I think.  Ancient crafts and skills, casting letterpress
newspapers for fun
> and profit!

[Axel] The dementing effects of lead can't be that bad since you remember
all this ;-)))
Those crafts and skills sometimes make me a bit nostalgic. I the lab where I
work  you really need to look hard to find a piece of glass. That was quite
different 20 years ago...
 
> What would OSHA think!

[Axel] If they are anything like their Belgian counterpart, "thinking" is
the last thing  I would accuse them of (LOL)
 
> Keep on fluorescing!

[Axel] Ya bet!
Axel