Welding helmet..

[john87]

Hi All,

I know quite a few of you get yourselves involved with welding, so i thought that this might help..

 

Now, i am a properly qualified welder, so it follows that i am quite good. [or was] Not worked as a welder for years, but with getting old and your eyesight getting worse, i lost all confidence. As you know, with welding, confidence is everything, i would be so stressed everytime i went to weld anything..

 

So, a few weeks ago i bought a speedglas 9100V helmet complete with the optional magnifying lens [you get the lens that matches your glasses strength]

 

Anyway, it was expensive, about £400 all in all, but i went to try it out for the first time yesterday.

 

OMFG!!!! Within literally two seconds of striking the arc, all confidence back!! The difference is like night and day, best £400 i have ever spent...

 

So, anyone else think their welding has gone crap, get one of these!! BEAUTIFUL quality, just brilliant in every way..

 

john..

[topchippyles]

Worth every penny money well spent. 

 

 

[roys]

John, not trying to smart but could you not have just worn your prescription glasses under a normal welding helmet, why does a welding helmet with a prescription lens incorporated make it so much better?

As I say genuine question.

[john87]

Hi Roys,

 

I used to try it wearing glasses, but it is awkward as everytime you take the helmet off you knock your glasses off too. I usually wear a leather flash hood too even if only doing a small bit of welding [had a close run in with skin cancer] so i do not want the rays on me.

 

For some reason having the lens in the mask works so much better, perhaps with glasses as the welding lens is a distance away, there is some optical interaction?? I have no idea. I could not get on with doing it like that anyway.

 

Your eyesight getting worse creeps up on you slowly. I had a speedglas helmet years ago, but i thought that the lens must have been going wrong, so i gave it away and got an Esab one. That was not much good at the best of times and only lasted about 2 years before packing in. £250 down the drain.

 

I had a long think before getting another.. I know someone that has a £60 helmet from screwfix. I had a quick go and was very impressed to be honest.

One thing though, i know the automatic lenses go dark and light again, they all do that, but the UV protection is there all the time if you understand me, even in "light" mode?? I was worried that with all the counterfeit and other chinese crap, could the rays still get through and do your eyes in over time, as, the only think the chinese make properly are viruses..

 

Therefore i decided to get another speedglas one, as they are the best without any doubt at all.

I have had it for about a month i think, i got it from BOC. When i tried it though, as i said, it was unbelievable.

 

Would i buy another?? YES, if were twice the price.. I was worried what if i bought it and i still could not see clearly, but that was a risk i had to take.

 

You can buy the lenses and maybe stick them in any helmet with double sided tape i suppose. They are about £20 the lens and come in 1, 1.5, and 2 diopters is it?? I woud imagine there are lots, but i would get a speedglas one..

 

It is like a different world, like having the welding ability i used to have back. Makes me feel all young again!

 

It IS a lot of money, but as my first speedglas helmet was still working fine when i gave it away [it was about 20 years old] i have no reason to think that this new one will be any different.

 

Speedglas do cheaper ones, but the 9001 series are wider and deeper and better suited to overhead welding and stuff. I love it..

 

john..

 

[topchippyles]

24 minutes ago, john87 said:

Hi Roys,

 

I used to try it wearing glasses, but it is awkward as everytime you take the helmet off you knock your glasses off too. I usually wear a leather flash hood too even if only doing a small bit of welding [had a close run in with skin cancer] so i do not want the rays on me.

 

For some reason having the lens in the mask works so much better, perhaps with glasses as the welding lens is a distance away, there is some optical interaction?? I have no idea. I could not get on with doing it like that anyway.

 

Your eyesight getting worse creeps up on you slowly. I had a speedglas helmet years ago, but i thought that the lens must have been going wrong, so i gave it away and got an Esab one. That was not much good at the best of times and only lasted about 2 years before packing in. £250 down the drain.

 

I had a long think before getting another.. I know someone that has a £60 helmet from screwfix. I had a quick go and was very impressed to be honest.

One thing though, i know the automatic lenses go dark and light again, they all do that, but the UV protection is there all the time if you understand me, even in "light" mode?? I was worried that with all the counterfeit and other chinese crap, could the rays still get through and do your eyes in over time, as, the only think the chinese make properly are viruses..

 

Therefore i decided to get another speedglas one, as they are the best without any doubt at all.

I have had it for about a month i think, i got it from BOC. When i tried it though, as i said, it was unbelievable.

 

Would i buy another?? YES, if were twice the price.. I was worried what if i bought it and i still could not see clearly, but that was a risk i had to take.

 

You can buy the lenses and maybe stick them in any helmet with double sided tape i suppose. They are about £20 the lens and come in 1, 1.5, and 2 diopters is it?? I woud imagine there are lots, but i would get a speedglas one..

 

It is like a different world, like having the welding ability i used to have back. Makes me feel all young again!

 

It IS a lot of money, but as my first speedglas helmet was still working fine when i gave it away [it was about 20 years old] i have no reason to think that this new one will be any different.

 

Speedglas do cheaper ones, but the 9001 series are wider and deeper and better suited to overhead welding and stuff. I love it..

 

john..

 

I think nothing of paying £400 for a new chopsaw or cordless tools its worth every penny if it does the business for you john. 

[john87]

You are right. I used to love welding [hated fabricating though!!] but when my eyesight went a bit i lot all my confidence. Different world now though!!

 

I bought a Bosch cordless drill once. Cannot remember the price now as it was about 15 years ago i think. Was in the hundreds though.. As i walked out of the shop i thought "what the heck did you buy that for" but it turned out to be one of the best things i have ever bought. The use it has had... Batteries are starting to lose capacity now, but what a drill..

 

john..

[Bolt]

[eggsarascal]

13 minutes ago, Bolt said:

You’re not the only one, Although I’m fairly good on the tools welding is one of those jobs I’ve never been able to master.

[john87]

5 hours ago, Bolt said:

Oddly enough, the "good" one, is actually crap too.. All this "stack of dimes" shit, is just that, shit. It is merely a fashion. It was explained to me once [by a SERIOUSLY qualified chap] that all this came about thanks to the chinese and their cheapo bike frames. You see, a robot welder cannot weld properly like a person can, as it has no judgement, it cannot see what is happening and react accordingly. Therefore, the thing gets set to lay down what are really, more or less a series of overlapping tacks..

People saw this and thought that this appearance represented "good" welding, and so they all decided to copy it.

 

In reality, for any serious purposes, the thing would fail visual inspection for "excessive ripple" and not blending smoothly with the parent plate. The smoother the weld, and the smoother the transition to the plate, the better, in fact, one commonly used method of increasing fatigue resistance, is to grind the toes of the weld with a die grinder, blending them in..

 

Every single ripple acts as a stress raiser, not to mention the effect of fatigue life caused by the rough interface between the toes of the weld and the plate. Then you have the effect that the excessive ripple will have on corrosion resistance, with the ripples all setting up various types of "corrosion cells"

 

Lots of internet "experts" will disagree with me, but ask yourself this. Ever looked at the welds on a pressure vessel??? They were lovely and smooth, yes?? There is a reason for this..

 

john..

[john87]

5 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

You’re not the only one, Although I’m fairly good on the tools welding is one of those jobs I’ve never been able to master.

Can i tell you why?? Because nobody ever showed you what you were trying to achieve. It would be like trying to play darts with the numbers missing off the board..

 

I am sure that if someone spent half an hour with you and then left you to it for a few hours, that you would AMAZE yourself with your new found skills..

 

john..