On Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 8:04:01 AM UTC-5, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Steve W." wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 1:39:42 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe
wrote:
wrote in message
...
Hi all, I'm thinking of getting one or two welding helmets for
X-mas.
I've got a Dayton welder in the barn that I've used a little,
with an old flip style helmet. My son (age 14) has gotten into
metal working
and would like to try welding. There are a huge number of
options.
Here's one review.
http://www.mrwelderreviews.com/revie...lding-helmets/

From which I'm thinking of the Antra for ~$50, or perhaps the
classic Miller for a bit more.
Your thoughts?

TIA
George H.
I've had two HF automatic hoods. The cheaper one did not easily
have a way to change the batteries and I destroyed it trying to
cut the compartment open. The more expensive one ($10 or 15
difference) was easy to change batteries, but I managed to break
it after a couple years it was quick enough to go dark, but was
slow to go light when you shut off the arc. I liked the cheaper
one better for that because there are some thin metal welding
methods that really benefit from being able to see the weld
bead/spot very quickly ater the arc shuts off. I bought a Miller
automatic and I like it fairly well, but I bumped something with
it welding under a trailer, and broke the adjustment knob off. I
still use it all the time, but I can't lighten the shade easily
anymore. LOL. Your mileage may vary.

Regardless of what you decide to use I truly believe an automatic
wedling helmet improved my welding more than anything else except
maybe learning what duty cycle means and that I just need to stop
welding and let my machine cool down when it starts throwing a bad
bead whether it has shut down or not.

That's great, Thanks Bob, (and Gunner, Rex, Paul, Steve.) I'm
pretty much a welding idiot. My house came with a Dayton buzz box,
(with a mis-wired plug.)
I made a few bad welds, and then two that are ugly,
but still holding, and haven't used it since. (I guess I better
make sure it's still working and mice haven't made nests everywhere
inside.)

Any other essential piece of kit I need? George H.

Welding gauntlets (I buy 2-3 pairs of the HF ones a year, they hold
up just as good as the more expensive ones I've used)

Long sleeve treated cotton or leather shirt/jacket to keep you from
getting a burn from the UV and sparks. (I actually use wildland
firefighting shirts, they are either a treated cotton or Nomex type
material, and they are usually much cheaper than the same thing sold
at a welding supply.

Scrap steel and a solid table with a vice for practicing and testing
your welds.

Grinder w/flap wheels (the great equalizer for the beginning welder)

--
Steve W.

For completeness, a chipping hammer and wire brush are essential for
stick and flux core welding. A cotton cap and leather shoes help
protect you from hot sparks. When I sit down to weld small delicate
stuff I wear a long leather apron and shoe spats.

Since I can't dedicate a space only for welding I use firebricks to
set up a temporary one shaped like a small barbecue pit. The sides
deflect the wind, conceal the arc flash from neighbors and help hold
pieces in place.

Magnetic angles and C-shaped Vise Grips are often very useful. Clamps
made for welding have copper-plated screws to keep molten spatter from
sticking.

I got by with one 4-1/2" angle grinder until taking on larger
projects. Then I added a 7" one with dish wheels to remove metal fast
and a couple of cheapo 4" grinders permanently set up with a cup brush
for rust and a cutoff wheel to erase small mistakes. The original
4-1/2" grinder has a fairly fine disk for smoothing anything that
could snag skin or clothing. I don't use flap wheels much only because
the edge of a solid disk smoothes inside corners better.

Unless you are only repairing cracks the steel has to be cut to size
first. Either a chop saw or a 4" x 6" bandsaw will serve for that. I
prefer the bandsaw because it's more versatile and accurate. I use
mine a lot for woodworking, with a 6 TPI blade it will smoothly and
accurately cut 6x6 posts and landscaping timbers.

-jsw

Got it, thanks. We've got a small angle grinder,
I've mostly been using a reciprocating saw for slicing metal.
If things get serious a chop saw would be nice.

George H.