KCSteve
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Also got mine today! 

Working on guns I like lead for the jaws of my vise gives a good grip on a receiver or any other gun parts while engraving with out any movement. J.J.
well, sir-- safe is always better than sorrow ! i always enjoy hearing how others do their work. one must admit, engravers have found more ways to skin a cat than any other profession.Dakota Doc Martin, You are right and I knew what you are writing about. I am sure your pads work fine and hopefully they do not show nasty effects. I often have had considerable magnetism especially in fresh HSS graver blades. My guess ist that it comes from production, - possibly the gravers were held on magnetic tables during grinding. I found it difficult or even impossible to demagnitize them fully, even when using professional gear. http://greinervibrograf.com/?pageID=36&lng=en
Thus I try to be safe by and ban all magnetic stuff.
Martin
having spent some time in an er-- i can say i've seen this done. flurosceine dye, illuminate the cornea, get the mag and go to work. only good though, if the penetration is not much of a factor. i frequently grind on weld beads ( i'm a lousy weldor), but always wear full face shield and safety glasses as well. just no reason to operate a high speed grinder without all the protection- including proper respirator.Frank, what's the deal with the magnet pulling chips out of your eyes.
While working as an offshore rig Witch Dr., I would illuminate the chips and using a needle pick the embedded steel out of the roughneck's eyes.
These chips came primarily came about from grinders and high winds.
Using a magnet, I would be afraid of additional tearing, if the chip was not embedded straight in,causing it to rip out.
Ditto JJ. I did the same thing many years ago, except I poured mine into a flat cookie sheet and cut them to size. I use them often in my gun work because I have oak jaws mounted on my vise and often need something just a bit stronger and also have a set of leather jaws when working with wood stocks. I have another vise with factory metal jaws that I keep under the bench. I don't think I've used it 5 times in the last 20 years and then it was to change a U joint or press a bearing out/in.monk,A friend gave me some soft lead witch I melted into a square 4''+4'' frying pan 1/4''deep after the lead cools I place one piece in the jaws of my vice and pounded the lead sheet around the one jaw and did the next one,you need soft lead.I learned early on I had to make a lot of my own tools. J.J.