Hahahaha I know all about that business of wearing reading glasses under my helmet. I have to check those out. Thanks for the info.

 

I agree that you need to invest in a good helmet as your eyes are precious, even if most of us need "assistance" with lenses.

When I started on my project truck, I bought a cheaper helmet with the replaceable lens, but last year I bought a medium price range self-darkening one. A world of difference, as I can now see what I'm doing as opposed to guessing. Just built a tire rack for the garage, and am waiting for it to collapse before I park my truck under it for the winter !

I found the mig to be invaluable for the body work, and am constantly hauling it out to repair or build something.

Tom

 

I have needed reading glasses to weld for quite a while, and was using either the el cheapo's or the inserts you can buy at a welding shop. I ended up splurging for a pair of prescription glasses made just for welding at a certain distance and it really helped out my welds. Just tell the eye doc you need to see at a distance of x" and need a single vision pair to do that with.

 

Being 68 years old, my eyes are definitely not what they used to be. I went from a cheap northern tool auto darkening helmet to a better Hobart helmet and eventually to a better Miller helmet. The better helmets help as well as the cheater lens, but adding additional lighting sure helped my welds. Since a lot of my welding has been on my back under the truck I had to do some redneck engineering. A cheap harbor freight led light and a scrap of stainless and a couple hose clamps did the trick. This was a real help in building my exhaust system, since I had do a lot of welding in the dark areas under the truck.

 

so if I was just starting out, should I go MIG or TIG for floor pans, rockers, etc.

 

Jim,
I've got a Miller Elite (hi $$) and a HF cheapie... both work fine for me I just like the miller fit better.

be sure you don't lighten the shade up to see the puddle better and get to a point of burning your eyes... itchy eyes suck... protect them. I wouldn't mig weld with less than a level 9... higher amp weld go up in shade.

john

 

Unless you already have a TIG machine and the skills to operate it, then the MIG is hands-down the only way to go.

 

I agree with Charlie . . . but you can lay down an awesome weld with TIG. Don't be surprised if you move to TIG after a while. It does require a greater skill level and MIG is great for quick for spot welds.

 

That's a big 10/4 on that John, my old helmets single shade was to lite and did burn my eyes, not to the point of feeling like I had sand in them but I had a black spot in my vision for an hour or so after using. Thanks for posting more good advice, its helping a lot of people. Many of us had never touched a welder B4 coming to FTE.