I'd held off buying one up to now because I was perfectly happy using my
flip (nod) down mask. I'd tried one out, and was impressed, but didn't
fancy shelling out £150 for one.

I spotted some on ebay from a US based seller which looked pretty good,
and were going for ~£40. I bought one, it arrived today (5 working
days!!) and I'm really really happy with it. I paid £49 including
shipping. It looks very similar to the Screwfix offering.

I thought I'd share that.

--
Grunff

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
I'd held off buying one up to now because I was perfectly happy using my
flip (nod) down mask. I'd tried one out, and was impressed, but didn't
fancy shelling out £150 for one.

I spotted some on ebay from a US based seller which looked pretty good,
and were going for ~£40. I bought one, it arrived today (5 working
days!!) and I'm really really happy with it. I paid £49 including
shipping. It looks very similar to the Screwfix offering.

I thought I'd share that.


For us thickos
what's a auto darkening welding mask, and how does it work.
I am presuming that it somehow switches from a see through state to a black
state when flashed by the welding torch. Right ?????
rob

rob wrote:

what's a auto darkening welding mask, and how does it work.
I am presuming that it somehow switches from a see through state to a black
state when flashed by the welding torch. Right ?????
rob

That's exactly what it does. It's an LCD (like a digital watch display).

The big advantage is that it means you don't have to [a] hold a mask to
your face or [b] flip a mask down. So you can use your hand to hold
stuff, and keep your head still.

--
Grunff

Grunff wrote in message news:c13egs$1b9u00$1@ID-
That's exactly what it does. It's an LCD (like a digital watch display).

The big advantage is that it means you don't have to [a] hold a mask to
your face or [b] flip a mask down. So you can use your hand to hold
stuff, and keep your head still.

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.

--
Grunff

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 13:57:24 +0000, Grunff wrote:

adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.

--
Grunff

I bought one off Ebay from a guy in this country for around £100.00
all in. The helmet itself is original from a down under company.
Never tried welding with anything else but it works a treat.

Did try looking through the hand held face shield they supply with
welders before it went back on Ebay...

You can see what you are doing, it darkens immediately you start
welding and clears when you stop, all adjustable so you can have a
little delay after the weld etc. too.

The Screwfix one looks a bit "cheaper" construction wise but when all
said and done what price your health? :-)

Mark S.

Grunff wrote in message ...
adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.

I know you need to wear a mask when welding, obviously, but never
having welded anything myself, what actual damage does it do to your
eyes? Does the flame belt out U/V or something?

David

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.


He's probably blind (or as good as) now....

AIUI, people who use contact lenses should NOT use these 'auto darkening'
masks, there is a slight (ms) delay to the protection as the arc is made -
and thus a slight possibility of welding your contact lenses to your eye
balls.... :~((

Lobster wrote:

I know you need to wear a mask when welding, obviously, but never
having welded anything myself, what actual damage does it do to your
eyes? Does the flame belt out U/V or something?

Depends whether you're gas welding or electric (arc/MIG/TIG) welding.

The former is just a hot flame, which heats the metal to white heat. You
need dark goggles, otherwise the very bright metal [a] blinds you and
[b] makes it impossible to see hwta you're doing.

The latter make use of an electric arc, so make a *really* bright spark.
As well as chucking out lots of visible light, they also chuck out lots
and lots of UV. You need an even darker lens in this case, otherwise you
can't see what you're doing, and your eyes will be damaged in a very
short time. Much brighter than the sun.

--
Grunff

On 20 Feb 2004 10:09:14 -0800,
(Lobster) wrote:

Grunff wrote in message ...
adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.

I know you need to wear a mask when welding, obviously, but never
having welded anything myself, what actual damage does it do to your
eyes? Does the flame belt out U/V or something?

David

According to the mig guide I got the bright light drys your eyes out
and causes at the very least intense discomfort plus your skin should
be covered to protect against the molten blobs of metal flying about
along with the UV it also creates.

Better safe than sorry.

Mark S.

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Lobster wrote:

I know you need to wear a mask when welding, obviously, but never
having welded anything myself, what actual damage does it do to your
eyes? Does the flame belt out U/V or something?
snip
The latter make use of an electric arc, so make a *really* bright spark.
As well as chucking out lots of visible light, they also chuck out lots
and lots of UV. You need an even darker lens in this case, otherwise you
can't see what you're doing, and your eyes will be damaged in a very
short time. Much brighter than the sun.

I can personally vouch for that.... :-(

Only a couple of weeks ago I was stripping the ceiling of old plaster...
Meanwhile my mate is outside welding his car up. Accepting any excuse to
rest my arms from stripping I kept wandering out to see how he was doing. I
knew full well not to stare at the spark, and did my best to avoid looking
anywhere near it.

Anyway, to cut a long story short that evening I was adamant I had something
in my eyes - though to be bits of plaster from the ceiling - as they were
very painful. Closer examination revealed nothing and following a sleepless
night the pain still hadn't gone away.

The following morning my eyes looked well tired, and still felt like someone
had kicked sand in 'em. Still hadn't twigged this might be something to do
with the welding so went to the doc - I was concerned I was unable to see
whatever it was that was in there. She was quick to ask if I'd be welding...
....and subsequently diagnosed me as having welders' flash.

A regular dosing of wet tea-bags and several days of painful squinting later
I was right as rain having learnt a very painful lesson.

Might just pop over to uk.legal now to see if I can sue my mate... ;-)

Mathew

"Jerry." wrote in message
...

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.


He's probably blind (or as good as) now....

AIUI, people who use contact lenses should NOT use these 'auto darkening'
masks, there is a slight (ms) delay to the protection as the arc is made -
and thus a slight possibility of welding your contact lenses to your eye
balls.... :~((

This is nothing more than an urban myth...

http://www.hse.gov.uk/fod/infodocs/668_21.pdf

Mathew

wrote:

According to the mig guide I got the bright light drys your eyes out
and causes at the very least intense discomfort plus your skin should
be covered to protect against the molten blobs of metal flying about
along with the UV it also creates.

When I'm doing a lot of welding, I usually get quite bad tan lines
around my neck and arms.

--
Grunff

In article ,
Mathew J. Newton wrote:
AIUI, people who use contact lenses should NOT use these 'auto
darkening' masks, there is a slight (ms) delay to the protection as
the arc is made - and thus a slight possibility of welding your
contact lenses to your eye balls.... :~((

This is nothing more than an urban myth...

Phew. I wondered how I'd got away with it for all these years...

--
*Tell me to 'stuff it' - I'm a taxidermist.

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Dave Plowman wrote:

Phew. I wondered how I'd got away with it for all these years...

You mean you never welded your eyeballs? I think the wire would really
poke. That would hurt.

--
Grunff

On 20 Feb 2004 23:45:43 GMT, (Huge) wrote:


What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding?

Someone on my welding course using this technique welded the workpiece
to the bench.

[T] When I was a lad and on a course and doing some stick welding the
guy in the next booth had a white hot ball of steel bounce off his
leather apron and go up his nose!

All I heard was a 'pop' a scream a 'fizz' (as the stick welded itself
to the bench as he dropped it) and caught the sight of him rushing out
of the booth to plunge his face in the quenching tank (full of bits of
welding scrap and rusty water)!

I did feel sorry for the lad though .. it looked like it had
frightened the whatsit out of him and the image if his face covered
with rusty water and steam exiting from one nostril with stay with me
for ever .... ;-)

All the best ... and weld safe ..

T i m (with auto mask)

wrote:
On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 13:57:24 +0000, Grunff wrote:

adder wrote:

What ever happened to the time old tradition of holding everything in
place, shutting eyes and turning head while making a squirmy face
while welding? Don't you lose out on the sun-tan using a mask?

You know what? I used to know a garage welder who protected his eyes by
squinting while MIG welding. I'm totally serious - he'd just squint and
weld away. I watched him do a whole patch on a fiesta this way. Couldn't
believe it.

--
Grunff

I bought one off Ebay from a guy in this country for around £100.00
all in. The helmet itself is original from a down under company.
Never tried welding with anything else but it works a treat.

I got one from an internet welding supplies company for £69,
it works well.

--
Chris Green

Huge wrote:
Grunff writes:
wrote:

According to the mig guide I got the bright light drys your eyes out
and causes at the very least intense discomfort plus your skin should
be covered to protect against the molten blobs of metal flying about
along with the UV it also creates.

When I'm doing a lot of welding, I usually get quite bad tan lines
around my neck and arms.

When I'm doing a lot of welding, I usually get dozens of little burns
around my neck and arms.

When you're doing welding you're supposed to *cover* your neck and
arms (and all other exposed skin) for this very reason.

--
Chris Green

"Mathew J. Newton" wrote:
The following morning my eyes looked well tired, and still felt like
someone had kicked sand in 'em. Still hadn't twigged this might be
something to do with the welding so went to the doc - I was concerned
I was unable to see whatever it was that was in there. She was quick
to ask if I'd be welding... ...and subsequently diagnosed me as having
welders' flash.

It's called "arc eye". You should not look at the arc, or reflections
of it. You should also cover up all exposed skin to avoid the risk of
(potentially) serious skin damage.


J.B.

"Jerry Built" ] wrote in message
It's called "arc eye". You should not look at the arc, or reflections
of it. You should also cover up all exposed skin to avoid the risk of
(potentially) serious skin damage.


J.B.

...& when you cover up use something like leather or cotton that won't
allow very hot bits of metal to burn through!

"Jerry Built" ] wrote in message
It's called "arc eye". You should not look at the arc, or reflections
of it. You should also cover up all exposed skin to avoid the risk of
(potentially) serious skin damage.


J.B.

...& when you cover up use something like leather or cotton that won't
allow very hot bits of metal to brun through!

"Jerry Built" ] wrote in message
It's called "arc eye". You should not look at the arc, or reflections
of it. You should also cover up all exposed skin to avoid the risk of
(potentially) serious skin damage.


J.B.

...& when you cover up use something like leather or cotton that won't
allow very hot bits of metal to burn through!