Gene, Sounds like you need a better helmet.
I've used many different types of helmets over the years, and I finally settled on a Jackson helmet, with a NexGen module (~$400.00). I use the same helmet for MIG, TIG, and Stick. It's adjustable from shades 9 to 13, and when the batteries die, it defaults to dark. At shade 9, I can easily see the weld puddle, and surrounding metal. The flip time is fast, and will work down to 5 amps, which makes TIG'ing really easy. Whatever you do, DO NOT get a cheapie auto darkening helmet. The flip times can be too slow, and they can burn your eyes. I just ordered a aluminum kit for my for one of my portable welders, (Lincoln HD3200), so it's going to get a pretty good workout this weekend. On 12/06/2013 02:22 PM, Gene Heskett wrote: > Sounds like someone who has walked that walk, > > RANT MODE ON > > and a subject that brings up a sore point with me in that 55 years ago I > could actually find an ND9 panel for my arc shield/helmet, making it usable > but even then I preferred the smith wrench because of ones ability to > modify the carbon content of the weld and see both the surroundings and the > weld puddle thru a set of ND5's. > > Today its ND10's only, which are so damned dense you can't see where to > strike the arc even with bright sunlight on the workpieces. And getting > these high priced automatics set to work well is a dream I haven't managed > to do well yet. Mostly all you can see is the arc itself but dammit all to > hell, one needs to be able to see the work surface for at least a cm around > the arc in order to really be able to drive the j-stroke cleanly down the > joint AND get good penetration. I can manage to run my mig when I have to, > but if I could actually see what the hell I was doing, I could do a hell of > a lot better than I can do when blinded by excess ND. > > /RANT MODE. > > Cheers, Gene -- MC Cason Associate Developer - Eagle3D, Created by Matthias Weißer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sponsored by Intel(R) XDK Develop, test and display web and hybrid apps with a single code base. Download it for free now! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=111408631&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
