WELDING BLIND ?

[wildwillie]

Havent done any welding in a long time. Problem now is I can barely see what I am doing sometimes guessing witch way to go (not good) I bought an auto darkening hood that helped a little. Would moving up from a buzz box help?My eyes aren't what they used to be. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Craig Clayton]

Havent done any welding in a long time. Problem now is I can barely see what I am doing sometimes guessing witch way to go (not good) I bought an auto darkening hood that helped a little. Would moving up from a buzz box help?My eyes aren't what they used to be. Any advice would be appreciated.

Dear Sir
I would guess that you are older than you use to be, try using a pair of drug store reading glasses 1.5 diopter or you can buy a 2x4 plastic lens to fit 1.5inside of a old style welding helmet, and set your lens to 10 I had to drop down from 11.
Craig Clayton

 

[20 20]

going to a mig welder may be easier for you??

 

[CWL]

Your welding supplier can help you out with a magnifier that goes inside of your welding helmet like Craig suggested. It's much cheaper than a new welder and will be more likely to be effective.

 

[jdonovan]

Havent done any welding in a long time. Problem now is I can barely see what I am doing sometimes guessing witch way to go (not good) I bought an auto darkening hood that helped a little. Would moving up from a buzz box help?My eyes aren't what they used to be. Any advice would be appreciated.

Can't see because of lighting i.e. too dark? Or can't see due to focus/blurry view?

Too dark, get a lower shade number lens. For low amp work even #9 might not be light enough. Most of the auto dark helmets I've seen only go down to 9.

A helmet with a larger view port might help you get better view of the work area.

Also remove the lenses and clean them. I've found my helmets get very dusty sitting around the shop and the dust can block quite a bit of light.

As much as we hate to admit it, aging eyes may need some level of corrective lens. It might be as simple as a $10 pair of readers from the drug store.

 

[Low Bucket]

Is your eyes giving you problems when your not welding?

If they are then don't buy an 'auto darkening welding helmet' from Harbor Freight.- It will make your eyes get worse and possibly cause you to go blind.- I tried the HF helmet and it burned my eyes.- I have a Jackson welding helmet and haven't had any problems with my eyes, and all the welders at work use Jackson helmets.

Do a search on here for welding helmets.

 

[biggerten]

Dear Sir
I would guess that you are older than you use to be, try using a pair of drug store reading glasses 1.5 diopter or you can buy a 2x4 plastic lens to fit 1.5inside of a old style welding helmet, and set your lens to 10 I had to drop down from 11.
Craig Clayton

These things are great - Clip on magnifiers

 

[Egon]

Have you had a proper medical check on your eyes??

 

[wushaw]

You need to put some light on the subject, like a tripod halogen light. You would be supprised what adding an external light source to your welding area can do for seeing what your doing.
I know the arc from the weld adds light but try the extra light source and see if that helps, I know it helps me considerably.

 

[travis potter]

Try drawing a line where your weld will be with your soap-stone the white line makes a big differance. use a # 8 or #9 linse. I use a hand held face shield which helps me. Just my way of doing it.

 

[DanD78]

I put a 1.5 lense in my Speedglass hood and use a halagon light if too dark. You can adjust the the helmet down to around a 9 or 10 for low amp welding. Using a soap stone line as suggested helps as well as grinding a "V" to follow. At one time I was great at TIG welding. I just can't see well enough to do work I would be proud of.


Dan

 

[wildwillie]

Yes I've have my eyes tested and no I am not smart enough to actually read the instructions {I DON'T NEED NO STINK-EN INSTRUCTIONS } that came with the hood. No I didn't know it was adjustable it was maxed out on the dark side, what a dumb #@$. I did pick up a magnifier lens for the hood today.Thanks for the input gang. OK go ahead let me have it. I'm not responsible for any thing I do.

 

[SensibleNick]

I don't think anyone here'll would give you a hard time for that

You're smart enough to ask for help when you need it, and there's a good amount of people who fail to do just that

Happy Welding!

 

[alltoys]

I understand your plight. Getting older my eyes are starting to fail me as well. At least with a cheater lens in your helmet no one else will steal your helmet. I am still using a flip down helmet and use a Gold Lens with a cheater of 1.5 so far works pretty good.

Only part of a cheater I don't like is any action of movement is multiplied by the diopter of the lens. Can give you a sick feeling when looking around if you have an open view. Takes a little getting use too!

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Yes I've have my eyes tested and no I am not smart enough to actually read the instructions {I DON'T NEED NO STINK-EN INSTRUCTIONS } that came with the hood. No I didn't know it was adjustable it was maxed out on the dark side, what a dumb #@$. I did pick up a magnifier lens for the hood today.Thanks for the input gang. OK go ahead let me have it. I'm not responsible for any thing I do.

Don't feel too bad...I thought I had forgotten how to weld...I've been using reading glasses for years now and it never occurred to me until I was complaining to my wife about how ugly my welds have gotten. She said " I've noticed that when welding you have your face right in it, why not try it with your glasses on". Huh??? GENIUS!!! I can weld again! Push them up on the bridge of my nose so that I am looking straight through them (instead of the tip of my nose, as usual). All of that money spent on her PhD wasn't wasted after all!

 

[danktx]

Something I'd like to add. When you weld don't wear glasses that darken in the sun cause when you strike an arc the lens go full dark. I was complaining about my hood till I figured out the true problem....

 

[wildwillie]

I never even thought about it but I do Wear Progressive glasses. Thanks

 

[Knotbored]

This isn't exactly on subject-but I had cateracts fixed for both eyes and went from near-blind perscription (20-250) to good eyes (20-40.) Durring a "cooling off period" before I could get permanent glasses I found a discount store and bought a dozed different pairs of reading glasses for a buck apiece. One of these glasses folds up like a pocket knife and stuffs right into the band of my helmet for storage. Check out the "dollar" stores and discount stores and pick up several pairs-they are handy when permanent glasses just don't work (like searching a low store shelf when wearing bifocals.)

 

[Steve_Miller]

Just moved up to 1.5 from 1.25 last week, sure helps.

Steve

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Just moved up to 1.5 from 1.25 last week, sure helps.

Steve

I'm at +1.75...I must have 5-10 years on you!