Is there such a thing as a light to put close to the work when welding to see what you are doing before the sparks start flying? how bright would the light have to be to see through a welding helmet? I am just tired of feeling my way to where I am trying to start a bead. thanks for the ideas.

 

I have an auto darkening helmet, so it's less of an issue for me and I highly recommend you get one. Preferably one that's adjustable in shade (9-13 is typical)

When I'm not using that helmet, I use a homemade light fixture which is nothing more than a 5/8" OD tube with a light socket threaded on the end, with a 150W halogen spotlight screwed in.

I put it reasonably close to what i'm going to weld, and I can see enough to start the weld in the right place with the non-dimming helmet.

The rod was lying around, the socket was lying around, and the cord was lying around. Just had to buy the bulb

Oh, for a base I use an old vice. lol

 

In my experience, if you are welding with stick, and your shield is up, look at the spot you want to start. As you flip your head a little to put the shield down, move your hand with the stinger towards the spot. You will hit where you are looking with some practice. Sorta like riding a motorcycle- you look where you want to go and that is where you will end up. It does work.
An alternate method is to hold the rod near the end. Flip your shield, and move the rod to the work.
If you are welding with mig, the just put the end of the wire where you want to start. Flip the shield down and pull the trigger.
I have never used an auto-darken lens, except to try one out years ago. Didn't like it so never used one.

 

I found sunlight the best, next to that a few 100w reflector lamps shining on the weld area. Less of an issue now with the self-darkening helmet.

 

When I started out teaching my self to weld, I fought with the fixed dark glass helmet for a year. It made it REAL hard for this novice starting out. Got the Miller self darkening for 220 bucks, best money I ever spent. I never pick up that old dark glass helmet now .

 

I have a self darkening helmet, greatest thing since sliced bread for welding.

 

I still can't stand auto dimming shields, I got flashed by a couple really bad tig welding. Take some scrap, and some junk rod, and practice dropping the shield and striking an arc at the same time. The key is what you set the tension on the helmet at, if it's too light, the hood will drop too fast or just by itself without warning, too tight and you will have to lower it manually. I set mine so I just do a light nod, and it drops in place, ready for welding.

 

at school we have had quite a few discussions with our professors and some of the owners of local welding shops. i used to be a big fan of auto helmets but no more. they can be useful especially if tacking. if welding for any period of time i would go witha nice flip. i have experimented with a few now and i think the est s a Jackson Shadow solid front and like mentioned adjust it until it comes down witha light twitch. if you go with an auto helmet go with the Jackson NEXGEN. at school we have two four foot flourescents in our booths. to have a light bright enough too see when your helmet is on would mean having your helmet down all the time. a good flourescent bulb should work. but have it in front of you sendng light towards you, not behind you over your back. i hav troubles with reflections from behind me breaking my concentration. my .02

 

Sunlight is awesome, but other than that I use one or two 500 watt halogen flood lights.

 

Good post,

Would you share with us why your class has been taught that auto /darkening helmets are bad for the user ? Is it they may not be fast enough to really protect the eyes from the first arc made, or something else ? I really would like to keep my good vision another 10 -15 years. thanks

 

If you're stick welding most of the time you can place you're rod on your workpiece without arcing PROVIDED your rod is alomst parrell to the direction you intend to weld, Then when you're ready to start just stand the rod up and if neccacary give it a few taps.

As a professonal I cannot stand auto darking hoods. Because when you're burnin rod after rod after rod the last thing you want to do is leave your hood down all day long. That and electric arc gouging tends to ovepower the auto lenses 700 to 1000 amps DC has a habit doing that sort of thing. I have literally melted plastic cover lenses before.

Probably because if you cannot master blindly striking an arc then you cannot master becoming a welder.

 

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Probably because if you cannot master blindly striking an arc then you cannot master becoming a welder.[/QUOTE]

thats another good reason but what we talked about was;

if you watch the lights in your house, you notice that there is a very slight flicker to them at times, our rational was, what is keeping a similiar thing from happening in your auto lens, i dont really understand how they work, but i imagine that there is a current run throught the lens and that darkens the helmet, not too sure on that, but what is stopping small fluctuations in that current? another is that, if you are working up on scaffolding we'll say,and your helmet drops, thats pretty much the end of it, if you have a flip down mask, worst case you need another lens plate which are cheap enough to have a few spares in your toolbox, the heat buildup as well. it can really screw with the helmets

personally, when we have done production tests (mark based on amount of rod burnt in a day) i used my optrel auto helmet, i had it switched to shade 13 and my eyes were still feeling sore. i wnet to my flip down mask with a shade 12 and my eyes felt fine. the owner of the shop i frequent said somehting simliar, if he is welding for a day and uses an auto at then end of the day his eyes are really sore. when he uses a straight helmet he does not have a problem.

i defintely see good uses for an auot helmet and will still use one from time to time, but for the majority of my work, i will stick with a nice flip down. of all the flips i have used so far, my vote is for a Jackson Shadow with straight lens. its light and wrks pretty good

 

Thanks for the reply FirstTry, great post


Now that you mentioned it, the last time I spent about a hour mig welding with my ADH, my eyes were sore. I just thought it was another day of getting older with the accumalating aches and pains that go with that process.

 

One thing I have found useful is ear muffs when welding, get slag in your ear one time and you will not do out of position welding without it.