DIY Eclipse Glasses: A Safe and Fun Guide to Making Your Own Solar Eclipse Viewers
Did you know that if you’re standing on the Earth, a total solar eclipse can only be seen from a specific area—often along a narrow path. This makes these eclipses pretty rare, and therefore a captivating event for skywatchers. That said, being in the right place at the right time is far less important than ensuring that you see a solar eclipse without risk of suffering serious and permanent sight loss. If you’re going to look directly into the sun, then what you should be looking out for are some handy eclipse glasses with ISO certified lenses.
The glasses that you need to cover your eyes when it’s covering the sky are specially-designed eclipse glasses. These are helpful cardboard constructions that can be made at home or can be bought with a small number of necessary resources. Use cardboard, scissors, pliers, and five-centimeter squares of ISO certified solar viewing film to make your own handheld spectacles and save on energy resources and money in the process.
The sun can be viewed safely when you “make” your own sunglasses. Regular sunglasses are in every respect not safe. Looking directly at a solar eclipse without suitable protective glasses will very likely result in serious and permanent sight loss. Standard sunglasses only let through 10-20% of light, and ISO maximum 0.01%.
Understanding Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse is a phenomenon that occurs when the Moon gets between the Earth and the Sun, and the Sun appears to be blocked, or hidden, for a while. There are three main types of solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse is an event in which the Moon entirely covers up the bright face of the Sun, and that Sun’s tenuous outer atmosphere is revealed—a view that is usually hidden. If you are in a place called the path of totality, where the effect is at its greatest, then, amazingly, the day goes dark for a few minutes. If, however, only part of the Sun is covered by the Moon, that’s known as a partial solar eclipse. During a partial solar eclipse, the Sun appears to have had a bite taken out of it. If the Moon gets directly in front of the Sun, but the Moon is too far away from the Earth to entirely cover the Sun, an annular solar eclipse happens. At that point, a ring of the Sun’s surface, or photosphere, is still visible. This effect is called the classic “ring of fire” image.
One of the most important things to learn about an eclipse is that you can blind yourself if you look at one. Yes, seriously, don’t look at the Sun during a solar eclipse—or anytime! Sunlight is extremely bright, as you’ve probably noticed. The extreme light is focused on to a very small spot at the back of the eye on a part of the light-sensitive retina. Too much light can effectively cook the retina, a part of the eye that is very important for eyesight. There’s a medical condition called solar retinopathy that can result. The retina is very sensitive, but there aren’t any pain receptors to protect it, so unless you are told, it’s unlikely you’ll know that it can suffer any harm. If there’s a full eclipse, then the danger may be less, but most solar eclipses are partial, or the Moon is too far away from the Earth to fully cover the Sun, so the effect of the light can actually be worse.
Materials Needed to Make Your Own Eclipse Glasses
Having the right materials will make it easier for you to work this project.
You will need:
Certified solar filters: This material is created to protect your eyes from harmful solar radiation. ISO 12312-2 international safety standard, to be exact. This pair of viewing glasses can filter out harmful ultraviolet and infrared while providing a clear image of the sun. I recommend getting solar filters from trusted companies or those who have a good affiliate marketing program. With these products, you can rest assured that you are getting the genuine item.
Cardboard or thick paper: After you acquired the lens, you can start building a protective device around it. The goal here is to eliminate body movements so that you do not need to worry about handshakes when watching solar behavior. Cardboard is easily accessible and soft enough for you to customize the structure quickly. Having the width of a cardboard box minimizes the chance of an unfortunate accident. It would be bad if the filter film would detach from the frame due to the fragile structure. If you set the foundation strong enough, the solar filter lens should not fall out in the first place.
Scissors and tape: Building a removable structure using cardboard or thick paper allows for easy transportation. You can remove and adjust the parts size anytime. The two pieces of paper with very different sizes are constructed to spring out as soon as being unmounted tolerably. The optical parts also need to be hand-carry so I would recommend not taping the solar filter to avoid direct contact in advance.
A ruler will come in handy.
Baader Planetarium, Thousand Oaks Optical, and SolarScope are trustworthy to work with. Recognized products will last for quite a long time and there is a high chance you will ruin the protective film before you run out of glasses pack. Ask someone who knows or reads the review to check, count paper boxes by the thumb, estimate the thickness, and divide it by three again, just to be safe.
Step-by-Step Guide to Make Your Own Eclipse Glasses
Creating your own solar viewing glasses can be a fun way to prepare for an eclipse or other solar events. First, measure your head. Then, cut out two cardboard pieces (the front and the back) that will be the front and rear of the glasses. The front part should be slightly bigger, to hold the solar viewing film. The back part is mostly for structure, so it should fit comfortably on your head.
The next step is to attach the viewing film. It’s essential for this project, for obvious reasons. It will keep your eyeballs from frying (looking directly at the sun and all). As you make these glasses, it will be a good idea to keep fitting them to your face to see how they feel. If they’re too small, the sides will dig into your face. If the frame is too big, they will just fall off your face. To keep that from happening, either reduce the size of the sides or size them up a bit.
Testing Your DIY Eclipse Glasses
What you want with sunglasses is to make sure they are blocking out those bad UV rays. How can you tell? There are a few simple tests to find out. You can perform an ultraviolet flashlight test, where you shine a UV light on the lens. If the lenses block UV light, the lens will not allow any light to come through, proving that those lenses stand between you and harmful rays. This test can be done at home or in store, so you can check before you buy.
Another useful test to check for is whether or not your glasses are polarized. Polarized glasses work to reduce glare from a surface which has a large concentration of light, like pointing at roads or bodies of water. A pair of glasses is polarized if you look at an LCD screen up close or another polarized surface while rotating them. If the lenses appear to darken in color or change when looked at from a certain angle, then odds are good that you have a pair of polarized glasses. This is one way to show that your glasses are good quality and are likely offering you protection. Although, polarization doesn’t have anything to do with blocking out those hated UV rays.
Next, look for any labels or markings on your glasses. You’ll want to see a marking that says 100% UV, or UV 400. After seeing this marking, you can rest assured that your lenses will block out the sun’s UVA and UVB rays which ruin so many people’s vision. This designation refers to the lens’s ability to block out UV light. It does not, however, refer to other areas of seeing eyewear. Often, you will find this marking right on the hangtag at the store, or etched into the glasses themselves. When your glasses meet the ANSI or the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) testing standards, you may feel even more comfortable, as they have done more than one type of testing to make sure they deem them safe and comfortable for you to wear.
What most sunglasses companies do in order to meet the basic standards is giving other people the risk of putting it all on the line and calling it a good product, is to test the pair of safety glasses to meet the ANSI Z87.1 standard of high mass and high-velocity impact resistance, and to meet the ISO 12312-1:2013, the section only regarding UV. When you buy a pair of sunglasses, make sure you find etchings with the names of these two certifications, written somewhere on the inside of the glasses.
Finally, the condition that sunglasses are in can also determine if the protective layers of the glasses work, so remember to check the surface of the glasses, once in a while, for whether or not they are scratched or damaged. Do you often find that your glasses are scratched? Do you often squint when you have your sunglasses on? If they are discolored or significantly scratched, then you have probably uncovered your eyes to the UV, and it’s time to get a new pair!
All you need to do when to verify whether or not sunglass lenses are polarized, or if they block out harmful rays, is to perform some simple tests and to look for markings and certifications. We have to remember to be very careful and proactive in order to satisfy our best interests. Protect your eyes from UV damage with the right pair of sunglasses, so that you can enjoy bright blue skies just a little while longer. After all, in exchange for boosting everyday comfort while taking your afternoon walk, or for running a more competitive race, we all deserve to lose our eyesight a little bit later.
Personalizing Your Eclipse Glasses
Decorating glasses sounds like a great craft for aesthetics, but it is also an educational craft for children, too. Children can use markers, stickers, and paint to think about how they want to design their personal glass. This is perfect for using creativity because there are endless possibilities to create designs. Children can create designs for any age, to create a family who will want to join in the fun.
First, the materials, glass markers, adhesive stickers, or glass paint, are all allowed. The three types of materials bring a different aesthetic. Glass markers are great for first-time parents and young children, especially those five and under because the marker can create precise designs and can be easily removed if a mistake is made. The markers are also great because children can use the marker to create diverse designs. Stickers will work well for children who enjoy more simply designed crafts (children do not need to wait for results over time; full application results can be seen within two minutes upon first crafting). Also fun for layering, stickers can be added to create a “3D-effect,” too. Lastly, paint would be a fun option for children who want to dive deep into art.
Paint has many complex steps; brushes of different sizes (like thick or thin brushes) can be used to paint and can also better help with painting children’s imaginations of their designs’ final result—like the inspiration they have prepared to use for their design. Next, let me explain how a project like this one can be educational for children. The first discussion children can learn from is colors. Young children, especially children aged two years and older, can have fun with color theory. When children see different colors, they know which colors to use after seeing the glasses, and make them decide personally which color they will paint with.
For glass marker owners with everyday basic primary colors (those who purchase markers with only the colors red, blue, and yellow), one “draw-back” can turn into an amazing positive for this project. Parents can encourage children to understand that the other colors they want can be created with the color they have, and they can have fun “doing the craft” of making colors as well. Otherwise, if they have the color they want, will the color they want make others feel happy or sad? (How will others react to those colors?) Stickers’—and paint’s—color theory can be the same with that of glasses, but an added step/color this discussion can bring would be a discussion of race, too. Also, some shapes and sizes discussions can be fun, too. Stickers and paint can make children brainstorm their final design result based on the shape of the glass.
Paint can create both three-dimensional and two-dimensional glasses opportunities for glasses because the painted texture can be used to take great designs. Also, if children are having trouble thinking about what two-dimensional and three-dimensional designs look like, explain the difference so they can both create a two-dimensional and a three-dimensional design. The last design opportunity children should learn is exactly how they want to design their plan: let children brainstorm and plan what they want rather than give them what they should do. “Are you going to design with all three products? Maybe you leave the interior and edges of the project unfinished. Or do you want to design inside what shape you want, an ornament or glasses to drink from?” If children are in, parental figures should be attentive to your child using these materials.
First, of course, these materials are all glass product materials, and parents should be nearby just in case these break, and children step on the glass. If parents would rather not glass break, think about having children use plastic (even though there are not many plastic items for sale in stores) or tempered glass in your home because they have a higher “material” heat/product temperature. Young parents who are new at crafts may be worried about children playing with these crafts—especially the marker or paint. Some paint/markers do have toxic ingredients. If parents are uncomfortable with toxic markers/paint, you can make sure, after looking at the packaging, that the paint is non-toxic, or you can make sure to research the paint’s SDS sheet—how “flammable” is the product? Next, when parents do realize their paint product is non-toxic, they should still be wary of the children who do not have careful hands—children who are 12 and under.
Parents do find that children will also not want to get their hands dirty with paint, and if children are careful with paint, they may just get some paint in between their nails (the most common area toddlers may put their fingers). Spilled paint may be harder to clean off shelves, especially when parents do not finish cleaning up immediately before the paint is left on the floor for an extended period of time—or the stained paint area. Make your life easier by laying down a plastic sheet/tarp everywhere in the craft table area so your toddler and floor are 100% clean. Last, this project will also create fun gathering opportunities between family members.
Family members can have a little “craft-extension ceremony” where they can show off the designs with other family members. Not only will it brighten your children’s face, because they get to show how much fun they had, but they will have fun talking about and reflecting on the project, too. The family craft opportunity would be such a cute story if your family and you had a tradition where you got together to have “Christmas ornaments” or “drink nights” in the area with family, and afterward the children get to decorate the glasses they would use that night. Overall, decorating these glasses with markers, stickers, or paint is an awesome project you get to do with family. Where installed:
Decorating glasses with markers, stickers, or paint is a different, unique take. The product selected can be as big or as individual because everyone is different, and lots of great parents can enjoy an educational space to do something with their kids. This “do it yourself,” or DIY, project will hold fun opportunities both in the process and the final result, because most family members and children will enjoy the final opportunity side, and they will make memories-installed with the talk of the process. Designs I chose for “keepsake” would be fun.
Making your own eclipse glasses is a fun DIY project that’s also practical — they keep your eyes safe during a solar eclipse. Also, when you see a stand selling eclipse glasses for twenty bucks, you won’t be under so much pressure because, “Hey, I can always make my own!”
Becoming an eclipse spectator is as easy as cardboard and clever shading; just collect any old boxes that might be lying around, along with solar viewing film (the technology that makes eclipse glasses possible). The odds are high that you can find an online retailer or even a local science store selling that power film.
From there, make a hole big enough for your two eyes to see out of, and then carefully stick the solar viewing film to the front of the boxy contraption. Maybe if you tape down a loop of string on one side, you can work in an adjustable strap, too.
This could actually be a fun, easy DIY project to do with otaku friends that you have over for a weekend, a few days, or even just an evening after school. How fun would it be to get together with your nerdiest friends and hold a Washi tape decorating party… not to mention, if you tag pictures of your most handsome startup glasses on Twitter, then I can RT the most worthy ones and share with everyone what great ideas you had. Start blogging, guys…
When the world makes its way to your pictures, people will come back to you saying, “Hey, man, that’s a good idea,” and then they’ll tell their buds where they found the money-saving idea and where they got the template from — this blog? And then your mad scientist glasses will start a chain reaction of ultimate DIY opticians, and all of us will summon our glasses-wearing alter-ego other selves to shed light on our (subsequently envious) nemeses!
Eclipses are always fun to witness, but they’re also a fun opportunity to band together and do cute little “crafty things” as a squad, a.k.a. your local yarn-bombers.
