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Welding mask / goggles

sprouts-car - 16/9/13 at 08:56 AM

Morning Folks,

I'm looking for some cheap, cheerful (but still safe) eye protection for mig welding.

Only needed for a few small jobs, so a compact storage size seems good.

What do people think of these:

V1NF Solar Auto Darkening LCD Welding Mask MIG Welding Helmet Safety for Eyes | eBay
akindnewfrog

1) Total waste of money
2) Dangerous
3) Perfect for one off jobs

Ta
C

T66 - 16/9/13 at 09:07 AM

you will be bright red wearing them, UV burns. Buy a parweld mask like this

WELDING HELMET AUTO MIG TIG ARC WELDER PARWELD XR914

Decent welding receives about 30% of that quality from not battling with a crap mask. You only get one pair of eyes, and those gogs are for oxy acetylene welding.

clairetoo - 16/9/13 at 09:09 AM

No way - unless you don't mind skin cancer and weld burns...........

nick205 - 16/9/13 at 09:14 AM

I recently invested in one of these from Toolstation to replace a hand held shield - it works well and auto-darkening is a revelation making it so much easier to position your torch and get a good start to the weld.

Make sure you get a proper set of welding gauntlets as well and cover up with long sleeves and trousers - sounds obvious, but MIG welding will burn bare skin really quickly and very badly.

http://www.toolstation .com/shop/Power%20Tools/Welding%20Equipment/Automatic%20Welding%20Head%20Shield%20/d40/sd2666/p59509

[Edited on 16/9/13 by nick205]

Davey D - 16/9/13 at 09:17 AM

Have a look around online. You should be able to get the Parweld XR915h for a decent price. Quite a few of the lads in our workshop use them. We get them from one of our suppliers for Ł30 ex vat.They have adjustable shade auto darkening, and have a mode for grinding to stop it going dark from the sparks.

[Edited on 16/9/13 by Davey D]

NigeEss - 16/9/13 at 09:17 AM

Options 1 and 2.

Full face cover is vital for MIG to avoid the mentioned UV.

richardm6994 - 16/9/13 at 09:35 AM

Full face mask as a minimum!! Welding uv burns the skin in minutes!!!

And don't forget to also cover your arms!! Not so long ago I found that 10 minutes of welding in a teeshirt burns my arms like I've been in the sun all day!!

Slimy38 - 16/9/13 at 09:53 AM

It's very worrying that they actually have MIG welding in the title, there is no way I'd use those!

I have one of the toolstation helmets (although I got it somewhere else). It works effectively, and the auto darkening is really useful. I've done lots of welding now with no issues to my health. Only problem has been trying to find replacement glass. The helmet appears to come with a plastic lens which has gone smoky for me, and it took me a full weekend to find a suitable glass replacement at a decent price.

nick205 - 16/9/13 at 10:08 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
It's very worrying that they actually have MIG welding in the title, there is no way I'd use those!

I have one of the toolstation helmets (although I got it somewhere else). It works effectively, and the auto darkening is really useful. I've done lots of welding now with no issues to my health. Only problem has been trying to find replacement glass. The helmet appears to come with a plastic lens which has gone smoky for me, and it took me a full weekend to find a suitable glass replacement at a decent price.

Where did you find the replacement from?

I don't need one yet, but it would be useful to know and maybe keep a couple in the garage.

garyo - 16/9/13 at 10:19 AM

I second spending a bit on an auto-darkening full face helmet. As an occasional welder doing one-off jobs you'll never be especially well practiced so having both hands free is a huge help.

Slimy38 - 16/9/13 at 11:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205

quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
It's very worrying that they actually have MIG welding in the title, there is no way I'd use those!

I have one of the toolstation helmets (although I got it somewhere else). It works effectively, and the auto darkening is really useful. I've done lots of welding now with no issues to my health. Only problem has been trying to find replacement glass. The helmet appears to come with a plastic lens which has gone smoky for me, and it took me a full weekend to find a suitable glass replacement at a decent price.

Where did you find the replacement from?

I don't need one yet, but it would be useful to know and maybe keep a couple in the garage.

This is what I ordered;

90mm x 110mm 90 x 110 Replacement Clear Glass Cover Lens Lense Welding Helmet

But you might want to check the helmet when it arrives to make sure it's a large enough lens. I found it very easy to find ones that were big enough for standard helmets, but a bit more awkward for the auto darkening ones. The brand name ones such as the Parweld are everywhere.

Mr Whippy - 16/9/13 at 11:49 AM

Blimy the amount of damage you could do to your face with goggles

Auto tint full face is a minimum, had welding flash several times from non tinting types and holly crap it's seriously painfull. Watch out from sunburn that's bad too, wear gloves and arm coverings as you can see from my lobster hands below

Rescued attachment my hand.jpg

[Edited on 16/9/13 by Mr Whippy]

Not Anumber - 16/9/13 at 05:51 PM

invest in a decent mask- it's not hard to justify as you can always sell it on when you have finished if you aren't likely to use it in the forseeable.