Weld marker..

I'm sort of a newbie welder and have a hard time even staying in the center of the weld. Once I drop the mask I have a hard time seeing anything but the pool.. Is their some sort of marker like chalk or soap stone that would make it easer to see in the dark of the helmet? I'm almost embarrassed to admit my welds often drift off a bit.

Joel

Reply to
Joel
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I've got a quart-halogen light I use to illuminate the area to be welded. Sometimes that's enough to overcome the 'shadows' and help me follow the joint.

Larry

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'Web Guy & Hobbyist Welder'

Reply to
Larry

"Joel" wrote: (clip) I'm almost embarrassed to admit my welds often drift off a bit. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ I don't know whether this will help you, but I had the same problem using my flux-core MIG. Eventually, I solved it by clearing up scratched and dirty glass and filters on my helmet. I also stopped wearing tri-focals while welding. I removed the diopter correction lenses from my helmet, and started wearing reading glasses. The idea was to eliminate as many surfaces from my visual path as possible--it helped a LOT.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Go to your local hardware store and buy a $10 quartz flood lite. The small kind that sits on the floor and points up.

Place it on your welding table and point it at your work. It will make it possible to see the metal before you strike and arc.

At school we them "poor man's speedglas".

Mark your weld joints with soapstone for white line to follow.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Are you using an auto-darkening helmet or a shaded lens anywhere from 9 -

13?

If you're using a fixed shade, like 11 - 13, you might want to get a lighter shade 9 - 10, or get an auto-darkening helmet that has adjustable shade, so you can go anywhere from 9 - 13 depending on ambient light.

Are you stick welding or mig welding or what?

I know that sometimes I start mig welding with my hand in a bad position and it ends up throwing me off because I can't see the joint where I'm going. If you imagine looking at somebody mig welding from directly above, I used to hold the gun inline with the direction I was welding. Now I hold it off at a

90 degree angle (again looking from directly above) and just angle the tip of the gun so I acheive the same exact welding position, only the gun is out of the way of seeing where I'm going. It's hard to describe.

Maybe this will help visualize:

old way: ----- of the weld. Once I drop the mask I have a hard time seeing anything but the

Reply to
TT

Thanks for the ideas.. I was hesitant to use soap stone, as I didn't know what it would do to the weld. I do have a auto darkening helmet and that helps. I'm doing flux core, no MIG gas welding as a hobby and just getting started.so I'm not very good at it. But it's coming along. I'll go out and get one of those bright halogen lamps and see if that's any better. It all makes sense and thanks again.

Joel

Reply to
Joel

Joel: Several others have posted very good suggestions. I agree with making sure the visual path through your helmet is clean and correct. Scratches and weld smoke greatly reduce visibility. The use of bright light on the weld area dramatically reduces the contrast between weld zone and arc and the surrounding metal. I like to put enough light on my weld zone so that I can easily see the surrounding area while welding. I suppose it's a bit like the difference between driving at night with mis-aimed headlights pointed straight down and driving during the day. During the day, you can have your mis-aimed headlights on or off and it just doesn't matter. At night, though..... :-)

Good luck.

Andy S.

p.s. My posted e-mail address is incorrect. I was amazed at the jump in spam immediately after I made the mistake of previously posting with my real e-mail address.

Reply to
andy

I usually give every component of the joint a very light touch with an angle grinder, just to remove any burrs that might be left so as to ensure a tight fit-up, this leaves a shiny line that I can often spot reflecting the light of the arc.

Stuart

Reply to
Stuart Wheaton

If I have a tight line to follow I often will set a piece of flat bar alongside the joint ... say half an inch from the joint. I can see the edge of the flat bar and it gives me a reference to follow the joint. Randy

Reply to
Randy Zimmerman

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