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On Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 9:13:13 AM UTC-5, Jim Wilkins
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On Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 2:17:18 AM UTC-5, Steve W.
wrote:
wrote:
On Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 1:39:42 PM UTC-5, Bob La
Londe
wrote:
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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.
OK, I've been using my carhart cotton duck jacket, and "the boy"
is
now
big enough to not get lost in my old ones.
(Or are we liable to start it on fire?)
He's also taken my fire place gloves for his forging work...
I figured they would be fine for welding too.
Scrap steel and a solid table with a vice for practicing and
testing
your welds.
Yeah I've got plenty of scrap steel :^)
George H.
Grinder w/flap wheels (the great equalizer for the beginning
welder)
--
Steve W.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fire...and-courtains/
I used a saturated solution of feed-store alum plus borax to treat
cotton welding curtains. A sample strip hung over an upright
propane
torch flame burned in the flame but only charred above it.
-jsw
Hmm, We used borax to turn toilet paper into non-burnable wadding
for
model rocket launches. Same idea.
Welding will be done out in the barn, (concrete floor) away from the
house.
(neighbors are at least 1/4 mile away.) Is fire that much of a
concern?
Maybe a fire extinguisher for the barn is in order... probably not a
bad idea
even without the welding.
George H.
It's impossible for me to tell from here what your specific risks are.
I have an assortment of water-filled extinguishers around the property
and bring one nearby whenever I'm running an engine out beyond hose
range. So far I've only needed them once, when I saw the old man
across the road lying motionless beside his driveway with the grass
fire his acetylene torch had started creeping toward him.
You probably won't see, smell or hear a fire while you are welding.
-jsw