how many of you weld with your eyes closed?

Exactly! My vision went from almost 20/20 (no BS perfect when I went into the Army) to needing glasses for far sightedness and having trouble reading street signs at night thanks to my stupidity. My eyes felt like sandpaper for a week. Im like 22/65 or somethign like that, not bad, but I can tell the difference.

 

here's a tip should you get a minor eye burn and feel the need for some eye drops. read the label before dropping in your eyes.

had something in my eye once and put EARDROPS in my eye. this is stuff that melts earwax. burned like a fucker.

 

I'm so conditioned I can't watch tv commercials for welding school without turning my head away, no way I'm welding with out a hood.

 

Not to promote Jesse ,but a couple of years ago he was given an award,from a national welding institute for his welding.He also always promoted eye safety on his show,not like the "other"shows.

 

I have enough trouble welding with my eyes open. How the hell can you do a decent job with them closed?

 

Spend a couple days with your eyeballs burned then remember that when you weld again. WEAR A HOOD!

 

ok so i worked in a place where the enginer used to tack gas stove parts togather in the R&D dept. i know i tried to show him how to flip his shied down 10 times but he never got it, so he would shut his eyes and pull the triger, maybe i didnt use enough big words so he didnt understand me?

 

Ill do 2 or 3 tacks to get a piece in place, but after that its helmet.

 

Stupidest thing I have ever heard.

 

When I had a factory, building sign trailers, if I caught someone welding without a helmet, he was gone because he wasn't a welder.
Guess who he would sue if he destroyed his eyes?

 

Nope, if I don't have time to put the helmet on, then I don't have time to weld. Not only that, I bought the best helmet I could afford too.

 

Same here. I don't even do tacks without eye protection, though I will admit to a set of torch goggles with a #8 lense. Yep, I use good goggles with the torch, had to break down and buy a decent set, cuz I couldn't see out of the cheap ones. Shade 5 is shade 5, right? Guess not.

Now THAT is funny!

Tim D.

 

You can buy new eyeballs?

There's only a couple of things I do with my eyes closed, and welding isn't one of them. I use an auto-darkening helmet, and use the blink-when-striking method as well.

 

I have a HF auto dark helmet but I can hardly see out of it. So I am going to get a new lense for my old flip down one and wonder what # lense are you guys using. ​

 

"Vision is highly over-rated"

 

I will tack on occasion without a helmet- but these are little, tiny tack weld, simply enough to hold something together precisely long enough to allow for a "serious" weld. so small that typically, they are completely enveloped by the actual weld.

My "big" Snap-On machine has something pretty cool...it has a spot function, and the gas shield slides down the nozzle on the torch so you can cover the weld completely. I don't know what the heck it would be really good for, but I played with it, and it works! you never even see a little light! just push the torch against the metal, pull the trigger down and hold it, and zaaap. it resets every time you pull the trigger, and continues to purge with the trigger down! Neat....but again, I don't know what the hell you would use it for.

 

Tacking is one thing with out looking at the arch behind the nozzle. But I always use my hood to weld. And the main reason for that is to see my creations. Like my family and my projects.

 

I have done some tacks without using the helmit, I cover the weld area with my gloved hand. If you can't manage a tack without looking you need to practice more. Sound and feel. I used to work in factory maintenance, sometimes you simply could not get into a position to see the weld area and had to weld by feeling the rod move across the metal and feel the break/crack. Sometimes not pretty, but many are still holding 20 years later, so they must have been OK.

I go through one autodarkening helmit every two years or so! Being clumsy doesn't help, but I think the autodark gets slower as the helmit ages, and these are not the HF junk. Also clean the lenses almost every day, can't stand not being able to see the weld area. I often have a light with me if I'm welding in a dark area. When I can see the weld area, I want to see it. Gene

 

-Best damn Christmas present I ever got, was the auto-darkening helmet from my wife...

 

I not only wear a helmet but add long sleeves and a shirt buttoned up. I have been burned on the neck, arms ( even thru the button area on a long sleeve shirt) ankles etc. Allways protect yourself.

 

Not Assguy...his eyes are wide open!!

(you're welcome Dave..haha)

 

what? whos there? hello . anybody i can still hear u guys ....

 

mmfb,dwpifgkkfknel.I guess I can't type with my eyes closed either

 

LOL! Shit! You beat me to it! I think I should try it so I can't see the mess I'm makin'.

But really, I never weld w/o a hood. My welds are bad enough with my eyes workin'. I can't imagine burning my eye's outta my skull too.

 

hit #9 in slide show June 14 - 21

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3842331/

 

Don't want to OT or hijack the thread, but do you guys take your dogs out of the shop before you weld?

 

my dog would leave the shop when i started welding, after awhile he wouldnt come in the shop, kids are not so smart when there little, my dad used to take me with him to get welding done on his logging truck when i was as young as 4, he would always tell me not to look at the light/arc or i would pee in bed that nite.

 

That dude can weld and read the sports page at the same time.

 

Why would I want to take my dog out of the shop when I'm welding?

She loves to watch the sparks and chase the little bb's around the floor. Some times she even catches them in the air! haha

 

If i'm alone, and I need all my (gauntlet gloved) hands on what I need to tack, I'll get the gun near it, turn my head and hit if for a half second, but that is about it. I have a pretty comfortable helmet and most of the time when I flip up the helmet, I forget it's on, so it stays on my head anyway.

I've also got my non-car guy buddy and his kid trained to listen for me to yell "WELDING" when I'm about to drop the helmet and pull the trigger, They yell back "OK" when they have their heads away from looking back at me and I go.