Never welded beads while looking with no hood ,but i used to tack weld all the time with just blinking my eyes.Yes ,i have burnt my eyes many times and dont do it anymore.I could always tell when i burnt them because they would feel real tired before i went to bed olny to wake up in the middle of the night feeling like i had rock salt under my eye lids.Best thing i ever used to take the pain away was to grind up sum potatoes (like hash browns) and put a handfull on my eyes .I have been told im gunna get cataracts or go blind ,but i did all this dumb shit in my late teens and am now in my late 30's and still have 20/20 vision.I wear an Auto Darkening Miller Hood now days BTW ...
I'll have to agree, this has stupidity written all over it. Next there will be a thread about grinding without any glasses on...
I used to use a flip-down hood, I hated it, so I didn't use it much, gave me whiplash, especially when tacking. I would set the torch, cloe my eyes and weld by braille. Probably why my stuff looked like crap. I finally got a nice Miller Pro-series auto hood. SOOOO worth it. You can set it for whatever you are doing, even grinding. I use it when plasma cutting, MIG and TIG. I still use goggles for OA.
Sorry to hear about the painful lesson. I don't weld enough to do things like that. I know how you wound up there. When you do something enough, you can get a little lax in your time spent being careful.
Welding Sandals [SIZE=-1] Fed up with damaging expensive footwear whilst welding? These special sandals have been designed with a minimal area on their top surface, reducing the amount of material exposed to sparks and white hot drips of metal. [/SIZE]
Gawd damn, some of the guys are harsh on this fellow with the "stupid" comments. He knows he F-ed up but he's just trying to give others fair warning NOT to be messin' around without a hood. Believe it or not, there are a lot more people than you realize that think it's "alright" to weld outside in the driveway in bright sunlight. As dumb as it sounds, it's happening.
When I was a kid, I was watching another guy out of the corner of my eyes with my head turned. You'll only do it once. Woke up in the middle of the night with the sand feeling. The worst parts was opening my eyes and not seeing anything. I feel for ya brother.
Old fart here. I've been welding for 45 yrs and have been flash burned a few times mostly as a kid holding things for my dad. As we get older our vision declines regardless of accidents. I don't even hit the switch until I have on my glasses, hood, gloves, etc.. Now days unless I'm welding in sunlight I set up a halogen work light so I can see what the hell I'm doing and shade my mask to avoid the self darkening dilemma. Helps a lot. There are a lot of things I could wish for, but youthful vision would be right at the top of the list. Be careful out there, Mike
I've worked with "welders" that claimed they could block the arc with the tip of the gun (yeah right) coincidentlly these were the same guys that would say my welds dont look good but they're stong (they were 1/2 right) and one even said he would weld a gas tank as long as it was completly full cause only the fumes would ignite... there are alot of folks swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool!
My father lost an eye when he crashed his '63 Split Window Vette. Growing up with a vision challenged person in your life you learn to respect some things that you might take for granted. I do sometimes tack stuff together without a hood but I do close my eyes and my safety glasses are always covering my eyes. I DO Not weld a bead without a hood. Some things you need to spend some money on and not skimp. A good welding hood just happens to be one of those things
What really rots my socks are all those weekend automotive TV programs that show the star simply closing his eyes and welding without a "don't try this at home" disclaimer. At least Norm Abrams always got his safety first blurb in before doing anything around power tools. I always wear 100% UV block sunglasses under my hood as a backup. If I forget to drop the helmet I will still have a backup, as well as some protection from arc reflections which are almost always present both inside and outside shop, especially if welding near new galvanizing tin siding. Afterglow from fresh welds is also a real hazard which can burn eyes. Smacking still hot welds with hammer will send sizzling hot pieces of slag into your face about every 3rd whack, or down a boot. Painful lessons taught me not to weld when tired, wait for welds to cool before cleaning. Plus forget welding a straight line after hammering for even a few minutes. And I always keep a bottle of water handy to pour down my boot or coveralls as required ha ha.
Come on guys, welding flash is just what it sounds like. A burn of the eye tissue. I have had many many flash burns from working with and around welders. Often flash will result from refracted welding arc. My vision now is compromised from these burns. I have seen many craftsmen on t.v. tacking while turning their face away sans hood. Your vision is your most delicate sense and you would not think of sticking a sharp object in your eye. Welding or grinding or any activity that has the potential to produce flying debris or burns without proper eye protection is just plain stupid.
like the bottle of water idea, i chased a hot bb around my shirt and chest the other day, got 4 or 5 little marble burns on my chest.........i was wearing a hood though....
I actually have realy old round goggles with the chain hat hooks the two eye cups together. At least 35 years old. I got them in welding school and still use them. But I just picked up a new O/A set of eye protection that are like cool sun glasses in a deep green tint. I'm liking these ones so much better!!! They were under $10 from the welding supply house. I have never used or been taught to use full face for O/A. There should be no sparks wihile O/A welding. I find it actually real peaceful how quite O/A is. Its almost theraputic!! I guess thats why in two years of O/A welding I got A's . Its a love!!
I've always used an auto-dark helmet, but once I didn't put on my green welding jacket and did a series of spot welds on a hood hinge in a short sleeved shirt. I figured, what could happen? Only the nastiest sunburn imaginable on my arms, and I don't have that pale a complexion. Now I put on full protective gear every time, that shit hurt. -KK
Ok, so i'm about to start welding school and this thread is scaring me; Has anyone gotten flash when using a current, top-of-the-line autodarkener such as 3M's spedglas or miller elite? Remember it's still 1/25000th of a second until darkening which could add up. 2) i think even Smokey Yunick admitted to not wearing protection when grinding and he had to go the doctors many times "to get the crap out." And then finally started wearing protection. So, he was the only smart person to do this.
This world can't be built without welders!!!! Wear the correct PPE and you'll be fine. If anyone implies that doing so is being a wimp go visit them in 20 years!!!!! That includes safety glasses and EAR PLUGS!!!
It can be more serious than many know. There are many different street names but it is all Photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis. It is always painful, sometimes greatly so, like a gritty sand in your eyes feeling with burning. It is essentially sunburn of the cornea and if bad enough it can cause irreparable damage. The more times it happens it seems the more susceptible you become to it. Although rare it can cause temporary or even permanent blindness. I know because when I was young I got "Snow Blindness" bad enough that I was essentially blind for about 3 days ~ I always use a helmet! And have to wear sunglasses in even the smallest amount of light.
I'm 49 and I am suffering from some of the long term effects of flash. The few times it had happened was more of ignorance and the other time was stupidity. There is a difference. Ignorance is not knowing the consequences. Stupidity is knowing better but taking the chance. What is it going to take to get some people to wake up and smell the coffee? I'm all for nature weeding out the stupid, but you can't guarantee that stupid doesn't take out the innocent. What other stupid threads are going to come up next. My guess is riding without a helmet and not putting seat belts in our vintage rides.
Welding with no hood is just STUPID. Plain and simple. And closing your fucking eyes doesn't make it ok either. Spend the money on a good, quality hood, AND USE IT.
I started using the auto darkening since they came out with it, right before strike the arc I all ways close my eyes just for a second or two just to avoid the intitial flash for those few miliseconds it takes for the auto dark to work.
Heh. my neighbor always chides me about all the protective gear I use - he is a wildman and is in the ER all the time. Funny thing is when I was welding fittings in a big HVAC shop most of the guys wouldn't use a hood either, this work usually involved 1000's of small silicon bronze tacks. I took my hood and cut a hor. slot below the glass, then fitted a small piece of alum. shielding so tilting my head would allow a glimpse of the work then tilting down would shield my eyes. Never got flashburned in 20+ years (crosses fingers) - many others did many times and never saw the correlation...
I credit flash burns for ruining my night vision in the rain. I was fine until I reached the age of 21. I had done loads of welding and got flashed once in a while by not dropping the hood fast enough or using one of those cut down hoods on a stick when I welded in tight areas. Now I use the hood all the time and a strong light behind me so I can see the arc light up better. I also have a self-darkening hood, greatest invention since the bong. Bob
Didnt read the whole 9 pages so someone might have already said it. So, if youre laying a straight bead, theres no way in hell you can weld w/out a helmet, as you wouldnt see where youre goin. If you say that you cant see the puddle w/ the helmet on, you either not lookin in the right spot, or youre not tryin hard enuff. If youre doin continuos tack welds, to avoid warpage, for esthetics or whatever, and dont have a self shieldin helmet (like me) the best thing is using O/A weldin glasses and ABSOLUTLEY close your eyes when pressin the torch button (were talkin MIG right?). This still leaves your face exposed. What i do is wear a bandana up until the glasses. It works, and is much better than rising and lowerin the damn helmet every 2 seconds. DO wear the bandana, or whatever, cause the burn is quite deep. Last one i got by weldn w/out coverin my face lasted months, i mean, my skin would peel forever. Odd enuff, during the summer i always work w/ short sleeve shrts, but never burned my arms or hands. Ah, also wear a hat! Numerous times i had magma hot stuff flyin in my head! not nice. Of course as soon as i can afford it i will buy a self darkenin helmet, but anyone that doesnt have one should try his best to keep safe. Shit is no joke, eyes are delicate and after having a bit of steel grinded out of my eye (i was wearin safety glasses but shit flew from under them) i sure wish i will never get to the ER for eye problems.It was scary to sat the least, and painful. I was lucky enuff to never have flash burns.I'd like to keep it this way. Hope this will help someone.
The thread rating system here is gay. I jacked my eyes up welding once, never again. Had to go to the hospital and get these eye drops and spend two days on pain killers in total darkness.. I honestly thought I was going to be blind. I couldn't open my eyes, I couldn't close them, and they just burned like lava and streamed tears... and my forehead peeled from the sunburn. To make things worse, the nurse was smokin' hot and really gave me the what-for. Made me feel even stupider.
The Jalopy Journal
