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Welding Helmets - My God I am impressed !


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Right

For those who want to know

Welding helmets

I am a "Hobby Welder" not 'coded' not 'professionally trained' nor do I do it for 'a living', ........

the notes below are purely my own thoughts ..............that may be of use to others :

Helmets

3 Kinds

Fixed shade 2x types

Pros :

REALLY cheap and REALLY really C**P :lol:

Available as C**P hand Held or slighly less C**P head fitting :lol:

Basically they are C**P ?

End of info :D

Autodarkening :

These can be set to a range of settings to suit the brightness, cheaper ones have limited settings better ones have many / variable settings often the better ones from 9-13

Availble in a range of makes and models, I have had a ESAB Eyetech 9-13 for a while and it is regarded as one of the best / better ones than the cheap ones, well made strong and good electronics, but today I used for the 1st time for the entire day (Fabbing up a framework for a mate) a SPEEDGLAS 9002X

MY GOD :o ..........WHAT A DIFFERENCE

Basically the majority of the "Cheaper" (NOT CHEAP) Autodarkening helmets drop down to 9 as the lowest setting and then when you shove in on your head you do the...........

"Er, Umm er yep, its there I want to weld.... just there - (flip down the lid and) er um b**ger where ?...Oh there I think <Pull Trigger> Oooer.... No left a tad...... er um yeah there it is BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ...stylee" :lol:

With a Speedglas the shade trips out when not welding to like a 4 ! - its like 'green daylight', ..........

you can see the weld area clear .........as if you didn't have a helmet on, ........

just look at the metal and with the helmet down pull the trigger, .............on target ........

as you can see exactly where you want to weld and none of the above mucking about.

When you get into tight twisted positions in a 4x4 ........ie you are upside down ....and head twisted etc ......

its like daylight - pull the trigger .........and instant darkening ................but your 100% on target

The moral of this is I have had an ESAB for a while, they are good, very good, ........

but if you are thinking is an Speedglas worth the extra...??

......if you have the money .........then yes it will improve your welding ..........and your temper :lol: no end.

For 4x4 work, forget hand helds, forget fixed shade,

you HAVE to go for a autodarkening, I would strongely recomend an ESAB as good kit, but only if you can't / won't pay the extra for a Sppedglas - which for some I can fully understand why

However I thought this may be useful

Nige :)

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  • 1 month later...

I bought a Huntsman 'Scorpion' helmet recently, and it's probably faulty, so today I bought another - this time it's a parweld, which ranges from EW9 to EW13 apparently. Unfortunately I was a bit of a plonker with the first helmet and didn't wear any gloves. The result is I have some very bad UV burns on the back of my left hand which initially went red, swelled up, and weeped clear liquid out of the skin. The skin has now dried and has split in several places, which is bleeding every time I clench my fist/do any work. It's quite sore, so I'm a bit disabled at present :(

Les.

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:( oooh sounds nasty les

I have done that too welding in short sleeves and no gloves - not to the same extent as you but I learnt my lesson!

back on topic, I used to use an eBay auto-darkening helmet that I bought from the states for about £30. For the money it was great, but then I bought myself a speedglas 9000x and the difference is like night and day! If you can find a decent deal on eBlag then it is well worth spending the money.

Cheers

Mark

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:P

Well i find classical can be quite nice, but then sometimes some rock, or maybe dance music, all depends on what's going on.

It goes loud enough to hear above the grinder too, neighbours love that, i'm sure.

For ambient sound - yes it does help (seriously)... When you are out there for hours it's good to have the mp3 playing some good tunes. Plus I have the added bonus that with a decent pair of in-ear buds it works as ear-plugs for grinding too. I wonder which your neighbours prefer - your music or your grinding? :rolleyes:

I have a cheap autodarkening helmet and it's great: 9-13 when 'on' and quoted as 6(?) when off... Anyway - I can read newsprint through it and I regularly use it for the grinding-between-welds stuff.

As was noted above, ambient lighting does help: When on your back welding up under the wing it can be difficult to see. I have a 500W security light (£9) on a frame for use in that situation, but it's not always easy to position. At least with the cover in place the bulb doesn't get weld-spatter-pop syndrome :)

But, Les - flash-burns? I am surprised at you! It sounds like your burns are quite deep - have you sought professional advice? (anything deeper than the thinest top-layer of skin affected and you really should be looking at more than a bit of Germolene). Best wishes for a quick recovery.

TwoSheds

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I bought a Huntsman 'Scorpion' helmet recently, and it's probably faulty, so today I bought another - this time it's a parweld, which ranges from EW9 to EW13 apparently. Unfortunately I was a bit of a plonker with the first helmet and didn't wear any gloves. The result is I have some very bad UV burns on the back of my left hand which initially went red, swelled up, and weeped clear liquid out of the skin. The skin has now dried and has split in several places, which is bleeding every time I clench my fist/do any work. It's quite sore, so I'm a bit disabled at present :(

Les.

Thank god you had your trousers on

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I bought a Huntsman 'Scorpion' helmet recently, and it's probably faulty, so today I bought another - this time it's a parweld, which ranges from EW9 to EW13 apparently. Unfortunately I was a bit of a plonker with the first helmet and didn't wear any gloves. The result is I have some very bad UV burns on the back of my left hand which initially went red, swelled up, and weeped clear liquid out of the skin. The skin has now dried and has split in several places, which is bleeding every time I clench my fist/do any work. It's quite sore, so I'm a bit disabled at present :(

Les.

Les.

Seriously I don't very often wear gloves to weld with, learning AC DC TIG at college at the moment I made the choice to use gloves from the start so I feel "Odd" when therefore not wearing then when I tig in the future.

Mig welding as I have for so many years I find if I try to Mig with gloves I can't ! -

as a result I too have often "Red Paw" syndrome, but I have never experienced what you are describing - EVER,

and to that end I would seriously suggest you think about getting it looked at if it isn't calming down big time now ?

Nige

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also remember reflection - factor 80 is a handy thing to keep in the workshop, you can still maintain a "healthy winter tan" just from reflections bouncing about on the inside of the hat, necks are a fave, holes in boiler suits etc my personal fave is Ally welding on a ally bench - I do it a lot and I look like a lobster :lol: Vinnys fave is forgetting factor 80 on a big day out, getting busy and 3 days later being able to peel a layer of skin off his face in one go mmmmmm yumm

get em seen to Les - burns = bad

Gold do a nice range of welding gloves but anything will do as long as they are leather and comfy

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I dont do so much welding now,last job wasTig welding an alloy tank off a Scania truck and putting a blob of Mig on a throttle arm on a Gems injected V8.

The thing that really gets me is EVERY time you see an article in a mag about welding or cutting/grinding etc the photos always show people with bare skin - talk about set a bad example !

BTW Hybrid,I hope you are enjoying your TIG welding - one of the most satisfying skills to learn,esp repairing cast iron.I did a leaky exhaust manifold off a Case tractor a couple of weeks back,£30 repair rather than £440 + Vat for a new manifold !

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parweld, which ranges from EW9 to EW13 apparently. Unfortunately I was a bit of a plonker with the first helmet and didn't wear any gloves. The result is I have some very bad UV burns on the back of my left hand which initially went red, swelled up, and weeped clear liquid out of the skin. The skin has now dried and has split in several places, which is bleeding every time I clench my fist/do any work. It's quite sore, so I'm a bit disabled at present :(

Les.

My sympathys are with you i did this, not wear a glove years ago...needless to say i always use a glove, at least on my left hand anyway!!!!!, parweld not a bad helmet in my opinion, about as good as you get until you go to speedglass.

regards

keith

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Yeah I can fully relate to that. I agree completely allyV8 - you see it everywhere, I just don't know how people do it without getting burnt???

I always kind of pull my head down onto my shoulders to close up the gap between my helmet and the top of my chest - I've had some pretty NASTY burns on my neck and also my forearms (like the whole fawking thing coming off in a sheet) - once bitten twice shy. Bought a nice leather welding jacket and haven't looked back (also saved a goddam fortune in set-on-fire t-shirts...).

I never weld without gloves for this reason. Especially Tig - which I understand is worse than mig.

Safety first! Al.

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What is the consensus on what eye protection to wear for plasma cutting? I have been recomended everything from sunglasses to welding mask. I understand that the plasma stream is bright but doesn't emit UV.

Gus

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20 years ago I worked in a place where they didn't care a hoot about safety - but the plasma blokes all wore full masks and (admittedly thin) leather gauntlets... Not sure what the rules are but I wouldn't risk it...

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