Hot Rods Welding Helmet Vision

I have decades of welding with a large front face shield. A subtle nod and away I go. Do wear those skull caps though.

 

Man that's funny. I'm laughing too, but not at you, with you. I've done a lot worse. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for posting. I have recently been trying to figure out what to do about a helmet. It has been several years since I welded much but recently had the need to get back at it and I even bought a new mig. The main thing I have noticed is that I can’t see anything anymore through my helmet. Part of it is overspray on my lense...but I think my biggest problem is older eyes. Between not being able to see up close anymore and lack of light making that nearly impossible, I have learned a lot from the responses here.

 

Thanks for sharing your story, it was my morning laugh (with you). Wait until you start counting your mistakes at 76! My philosophy is, that it isn't the mistake you make so much as the recovery.
So you think you have a problem now at 50, wait until you are 76. My vision is still good enough that I don't require glasses, but the big problem, is that my eyes are so much slower to adapt from dark to light and vice versa. To compensate for this problem, as one of the other posters mentioned above, I have been using the trick of welding outside with the sun behind me for years, but now even that is only adequate.
I have been using one of those halogen shop lights to light up my projects whenever I can. That does help make a difference.
I have been using an auto darkening helmet for around 15 years, and it was tremendously helpful, particularly when arc welding. I don't even have to lift the lid to see the seam before striking the arc. I keep the batteries fresh, and have never received a flash, nor have I suffered the symptoms of a flash. (I do know what it feels like, and there are few things more painful).
I have some small LED flashlights, so I am going to mount one on my helmet to see if that improves things for me.
When my garage is done, I hope to get a whole bunch of welding done this winter.
Bob

 

Back in the 70's all we had were the large and small fixed shade lens hood. Decades later, I went through several full auto HF quality hoods (they all died) before I finally purchased the top of the line Speedglas 9100 hood 8 years ago, it was worth every penny! They have cheater lenses available that fit right in.

 

New from Miller.

 

Now, this is what I went to my welding shop and asked about. (6 years ago!)
I ended up buying 2 of the advertised Bell & Howell brite flashlights, and bracketing them on the LOWER sides of my good helmet.
The weight of these is 'notable'. Might be good exercise for my neck!
Great posting, Blue One! Pretty sure I'm gonna get this kit, $40. Just right.

 

I'm 75 and wear tri-focals. Even my high end helmet with large lens doesn't work well overhead or out of position so I took my glasses prescription to the local Walmart and had a pair of glasses made with the whole lens as the bi-focal. It works great and I can get up close for TIG welding.

 

I’ve been in the optical business for 40 years, this exactly the best option. If you measure the distance from the work piece to your helmet, you can have Rx made just for that distance. I made up this light from the top of a pen light, worked great till it melted !


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

What shade # are you guys using in a fixed lense helmet ?

 

I use # 9 for everything

 

#9 here forever. #11 I might as well have sprayed the lense with black paint.

 

Went out today and used it. It was like night and day. I didn't even wear my glasses. I could see the puddle clearly and was able to drag it along easily.

I did have some difficulty trying to push it and I think I suspect I need a different motion. When I drag it I just use a simple circular motion. What motion do you guys recommend to use when you push the puddle.

Thanks for bearing with me here.

 

Just wait until someone paints the lens in your welding helmet black...

I've used a H/F auto darkening helmet for years on stick and MIG without a problem. Tried it on TIG and saw spots for hours. Buying a new Miller helmet with 2X cheater made all the difference...

 

"Hi...My name is Dave and I can't see when I weld...Hi, Dave! Take the film off of your lens"...

Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Im trying to figure out how a flashlight helps.

 

Not being snarky, just don’t get it.

 

Just for making sure the wire (mig) is exactly where I want it before I pull the trigger. Obviously useless once the arc is struck


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Clean cover and a magnifier behind it...seems like every few years I get a bigger magnifier. I'm up to 2.5 now.

 

If there is a thread on just the stupid stuff we have done over the years, it would be a million posts long!

 

Stick or wire?

 

MIG wire

 

This sounds like a prank that was done to me and then passed on for years pipelining . A piece of carbon paper between the filter and the cover plate will drive you completely nuts for a bit until you determine what has happened to your vision .

 

I put one here.



It helps some. I need a bigger window helmet, though. Can’t line up the progressive lens with the helmet view to be able to see what I’m doing.



Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It adds light from a different angle.


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

x2

 

I wear bifocals and with my glasses I can never get the right focal length. So when I weld I take my glasses off. The light on the helmet trick works great.

 

I envy you. With my glasses off, I can’t even see the inside of the helmet.



Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hello,

It has been quite some time that I last welded anything. Our welding history goes back to the teenage days in the metal shop and auto shop. But, I always felt my vision was hindered by those pitch black drop down welding helmets in those high school classes and before that, the dark, space goggles that my brother gave me to use, when first starting the welding process in our backyard hot rod garage.

I could lay down a good two inches of beads and join metal plates. But, after that time, the darkness got to me. I did not want to burn down the garage or get a nice hot bead on my arm. So, I let my brother do most of the welding in the last months of building and racing.

My last welding project for our 1940 Willys Coupe was the massive amounts of steel plates, neatly cut and welded over the rear axle of the trunk. It was now part of the structural floor board for chassis support and rigidity. (We needed some extra weight to compensate for the 292 SBC with the new 671) It was legal to use if they were welded and not bolted in, according to the tech inspectors. So, that allowed us to fit into the C/Gas Coupe class.

Jnaki

Jump up many years and with the advent of LED lights, that would have made the darkened glasses or helmet wonderful. The whole welding projects would have been lit up and the dark lens still protecting my eyes. It was just a little bit too late for me. So, the new tech would have eliminated the problem way back then… But then, it would not have been the experimental 1950s-60s.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/shop-safety.1142140/page-2#post-12991153 WELDING DARK LENS

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/protect-your-eyes.1043859/page-2#post-11824739 WELDING BEADS LENS