Helmet question

Try different things. You may want to spring (one time) for a gold plated lens and see how that winds yer clock. There are a lot of lenses and hoods (autodark variety) that will affect what the puddle looks like. You just need to see which looks good for you.

And to weld enough, and get training enough to understand what you are seeing when you see it. If you have the best thing out there, and don't understand what you are seeing, it won't make any difference in what hood/lens you use.

Steve

Thanks, I took them both out and they are both 10. The Lincoln was pretty dirty though. I guess that tint just works better for me. Although after seeing the puddle with the Jackson I was able to make more sense of it with the Lincoln. I like the Jackson a lot better though. I can do the head nod thing with it like real welders do ;-)

Yeah, I definitely need some more experience. I've only had the welder since Saturday. I am thoroughly hooked though. Every piece of metal I get my hands on has beads all over it and gets attached to some other piece of metal that has beads all over it. I'm even starting to do some welds that I can't break. I don't have any training but I have some books and the arc welding videos from Wall Mountain. Don't worry, I won't be doing any trailer hitches anytime soon ;-)

Trouble is, that will give you a headache if you do it often enough.

And if you do it long enough to get into bifocals, you lose what you are looking at when you nod.

Then it's time for an autodark. (I love mine)

Steve

"bb" wrote: (clip)The Lincoln was pretty dirty though. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That may be a large part of the problem. CLEAN! The plastic cover plate, the filter, any diopter correction. Dirt and scratches scatter light, which reduces contrast and obscures detail. Especially when you're new, you need to SEE.

That's probably my next step. The autodark, not the bifocals ;-)

I wonder why I didn't get one sooner. Then, mine was stolen. I put up with the Jackson hoods for as long as I could, then went one day and bought another. I wear contacts AND reading glasses to weld. The autodark sure helps everything stay in place from the ready, set, go to the strike arc moment. Get the best you can afford. If you only can get a less expensive model, just save for a better one.

STeve

I replaced my helmet last month with a new Jackson since the headband cost

80 percent of a new helmet. The Jackson shade indeed had an odd yellow tint. I had to replace the lens and am back to green. I didn't care for it any more than the green types that I have used for years. It is good to hear that some people stick with tradition and actually learned to used a helmet and nod it down properly. Until they make an auto shade helmet that stands up to welding shop abuse I will not bite. I have listened to countless tales of woe in lunch rooms. I have not yet worked with a welder that used an auto dark more than a week before taking it home. They are great for light work but once you start pumping out over 200 amps regularly things have a habit of melting or overheating.. Randy

I have a autodark and it's great for production work, but the optics aren't as good as glass, IMHO

Richard

I love my huntsman 430 with #10 lens ...

Because my my fat head and a normal helmet won't fit under my truck. Duh!

I've noticed that with the Dual Shield- seems to be quite a bit hotter than spray.

I've noticed that with the Dual Shield- seems to be quite a bit hotter than spray.

This is really a metal cored wire- Dual Shield 70 Ultra Plus- low fume, with very little flux and stabilizers, meant for clean metal. When we started out and the settings were wrong we almost immediately melted the cover plate and the nozzle on the Roughneck. I called ESAB tech support, they got right on the phone and were very helpful- seems like 190 amps, 23-24 volts is the sweet spot for us. All position and penetration is just about guaranteed.

We ain't got time for that girly stuff :'))) We often run over 400 inches per minute using .045 cored wire and 28 volts. The whole idea is to turn the material with the crane and then pour it in as fast a possible. Our water cooled guns are using .052 wire. Locally metal core is used to increase deposition. For all position most local shops go to self shielding flux core. Even the plastic in cheaper helmets gets hard or warps. There is a fair amount of welding on heavy material that is regularly over 200 amps all day long. I notice that many students out of welding school get a rude awakening when they are expected to weld for a full eight hours. It is a lot different when you have hundreds of feet of weld to do rather than a little test piece in a well ventilated welding booth. Randy

This is really a metal cored wire- Dual Shield 70 Ultra Plus- low fume, with very little flux and stabilizers, meant for clean metal. When we started out and the settings were wrong we almost immediately melted the cover plate and the nozzle on the Roughneck. I called ESAB tech support, they got right on the phone and were very helpful- seems like 190 amps, 23-24 volts is the sweet spot for us. All position and penetration is just about guaranteed.

That's too much like real work....... What we do is more like play. Fabricate the occasional implement, repair snowplows, etc..

I don't have the ventilation for that. The Ultra Plus makes less smoke than our little 110 volt fluxcore.

It's no glamour job, that's for sure.

We used automated band mounted motor driven bugs to weld oilfield caissons.

72" in diameter, 1.5" wall thickness. 6010++ open root weld, then lots of passes with .072 flux core wire with an argon shield. Hard. Dirty. Hot. Smoky.

Boy, was that fun, or what?

Steve