weld grinding tips needed

[Shield Arc]

Prove it! Let's see your junk welds!

Oh I have lots of them!

[Scooby074]

EDIT: I see you got the everlast. Good luck with your purchase !

Thanks Scooby. Not in yet, like a kid waiting for delivery at the moment. Have the helmet and gloves,
and likely to get a five or ten pound fire extinguisher. I'm assuming ABC ? Ever any reason to want a pressurized water,
like in lighting up farm combustibles? Once a fireman, always a worrier...

And I got some inexpensive clamps, though I already have a lot of steel C clamps.
And lastly, a cute little thwacker that chips off what needs to get chipped off, with a nice
wood stove style metal handle on it. I have the grinders and flap wheels, etc, but I do wonder about
spark shields/barriers, blankets, etc etc etc. I guess you never need the safety stuff unless you really really
need it...

I appreciate the feedback on protecting one's eyes. If I feel any discomfort at all with this 110 dollar helmet, I won't hesitate to spend more
to save my aging eyeballs. I think this helmet was rated to react in one twenty five thousands of a second. Seems fast, but I'm sure what is more relevant is the quality of the reaction. The intellectual challenge for me now, since I don't have my welder yet..., is being able to see what I'm doing. It's so bright the lens has to be dark, really dark, so the videos I've seen remind me of groping around in a dark burning house, which unfortunately in SCBA I had more experience than I wanted.

Is there a perfect "darkness", or is that open to opinion or simply each to his own eyeball?

Water extinguishers are the best bet IMHO. I have one. It comes in very handy not only for any small fires but cooling as well, I use mine all the time. Not nearly as messy either! . Plus its as easy to fill as turning on the tap, unlike a ABC. That said you should have an ABC just in case.

On the helmet. Try yours out first and see. You might not be susceptible. If your eyes are itching, crusty feeling or burning at the end of a bit of welding (or the next day) get yourself something else. These helmets are SUPPOSED to darken fast enough, but in practice, for my eyes, they didnt.

And No, i wasnt getting flashed off my shirt or leakage around the helmet. It wasnt my first day welding But that is a good point. Wear dark clothing and watch for leakage around the lens and coming up by your chin. You can tape some leather (or something else non flamable) to your helmet for a better seal.

As to "perfect" darkness.. There are different recommended "shade" levels for different processes and amperage levels. I like to go as light as possible yet still protect my eyes. http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us...dinglenses.pdf

One last thing to consider re: helmets, is TIG can be a bit tricky for some AD's to recognize .

[medic0648]

You can find decent cheapish helmets with a specific tig setting that work pretty good.

[daugen]

Oh I have lots of them!

to my utterly uneducated eye it looks like too much material on top, not always smooth.
Not hot enough?

Other than cosmetics, were these adequately strong welds?
could be all go and no show...

[Shield Arc]

That pipe was done several years ago, so I don't remember any details. Most likely working on which rod I liked best with an Inverter welder, or working on which technique I liked best for small bore pipe. Either way it looks like dog sheet! I'm just like anybody else here, I make bad welds too.

[L355SS]

That pipe was done several years ago, so I don't remember any details. Most likely working on which rod I liked best with an Inverter welder, or working on which technique I liked best for small bore pipe. Either way it looks like dog sheet! I'm just like anybody else here, I make bad welds too.

Looks like 6011!

[Shield Arc]

You know the more I think about this. I think it was 6010 run like 7018. Someone mentioned running 6010 like 7018 on one of the welding forums. I think this was my first attempt. Here is what I ended up with.