TIG welding and(eye) sight Problems/fixes?

[HBWELDER]

Sounds like I may have to try one of those Optrel e680 hoods. Does anyone else on here have any expereince with them....pros, cons, etc??

Also, from when I have welded in places with more light available than some others, it DOES seem that more light may help, so I guess I will have to see about making up some kind of a light/clamp/stand gadget to put on the subject when I TIG weld.

Maybe by using some of the help I got on here, I can somewhat overcome the vision limits that seem to get worse as I get older, but as my buddy says..."Well, I'm still loking at the grass from the green side." I like what another old buddy of mine says..."The only way to keep from becoming an old dog is to keep learning new tricks."

Thanks for all the ideas, help and comments, guys!

Don,

One of the tricks I have used, adjust the amperage down to a point where I can push the foot pedal all the way down to weld. Now I can focus more on being consistent with how close I hold my tungsten to the material, and how consistent I feed the rod. I used this technique a lot when I was using a rotary table to weld.

Today's digital read outs make it so much easier to adjust the amperage. When I first started welding, all we had was a dial with number 0 to 10, and a dial or arm, for low/med/high.

Patrick

[H80N]

As We Age

I finally graduated to a 2.0 magnifier for my autodark..... have also started to rely on a Halogen worklight at my welding bench or work area..... makes a huge difference in seeing my TIG work.... (at age 59)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]27967[/ATTACH]

BTW.... I would much rather use a Magnifier in my Big Window Elite than hassle with reading glasses..... IMHO..

Our eyes change over time as we age.... it is just a fact of life... I personally use a magnifier in my helmet and many times some aux lighting to see precision work.... and make no bones about it... many of us share the same situation...
Disturbingly, one of our members misquoted this information in another thread in an attempt to belittle and embarass.... DO NOT allow false pride or misguided loudmouths stop you from dealing with changing sight and your enjoyment of the profession!!!!

and yes karma is cruel... what goes around will come around... just wait a few years wise guy

Hope this is helpful
Thanks
Heiti

[TxDarth]

Question on the Optrel e680 - is it just this model that provides the natural color you speak of? They list several others as well.

I currently have a Radnor helmet - bought at the local AirGas, not cheap - 275.00.

My old helmet had 9 - 13. I was looking for the lighter shade for Tig as I was having trouble seeing as well. This one goes from 7 - 13 with a very large viewing area, which is nice. I do like the idea of the 5 - 13 on this Optrel. I did not realize they went that low. Most of my applications are below 60 amps - exhaust and sheet metal. I also have another helmet if need be 9 - 13.

I don't really care for laying out another 300 or so for another helmet but would like to able see better......

[fdcmiami]

Our eyes change over time as we age.... it is just a fact of life... I personally use a magnifier in my helmet and many times some aux lighting to see precision work.... and make no bones about it... many of us share the same situation...
Disturbingly, one of our members misquoted this information in another thread in an attempt to belittle and embarass.... DO NOT allow false pride or misguided loudmouths stop you from dealing with changing sight and your enjoyment of the profession!!!!

and yes karma is cruel... what goes around will come around... just wait a few years wise guy

Hope this is helpful
Thanks
Heiti

chill out papi; your whining is unbecoming and sets a bad example for the younger guys. by the way, i am older than you. lol.

[dondlhmn]

chill out papi; your whining is unbecoming and sets a bad example for the younger guys. by the way, i am older than you. lol.

I will have to say that a lot of "younger" guys seem to want to dis the older guys and that may be just because they think it is somehow cool. They just don't truly understand what hurt bad or dead is really like....maybe too many TV shows or video games where everyone always just bounces right back up and keeps on trucking. Now days it seems to be all about "attitude", but attitude is merely bark and those who truly have the "BITE" to back up any kind of attitude know better than to tip their hand and, therefore, tend to keep a very low profile. The thing is, the young guys doing the dissing mostly have no idea just where the old dog they are poking with a stick has been, what he knows, what he has seen, and what he has done in earlier times. Often it is not something spoken of or bragged about. Some "old" guys have been and done a lot of things and have a LOT of "T shirts" earned the hard way from some pretty interesting places and events from all over the world.

Just because a guy maybe is a newbie or not very good at the task at hand at the moment, DOES NOT MEAN he may not have some other, maybe more important skills that are not used often.......

Maybe a dumb question, but how can you tell how old anyone on here is unless you happen to personally know them? I looked at some profiles and didn't see any ages listed.

Not to get into an age contest or anything, but I'm 64 and that's most likely why I'm starting to have some issues with how well I see the puddle.

[H80N]

Don
as long as reasonable people can exchange useful information here, we are winning.... There will always be gnats buzzing around to annoy... what some percieve as proving their manhood often proves just the opposite... and clearly age is not always an indicator of maturity...
Thanks

[HeliArc84]

still got young eyes....

Thought I would chime in on the old folks discussion- I [For the time being] have great eyesight, and I have experimented with a lot of lens combinations in both passive and AD welding hoods. Although there are subtle differences, most well-made AD hoods are comparable. The clearest sight pictures I have experienced were
1. big window green glass lens ordered online from philips safety. Philips makes incredible lenses- Its truly night and day. I Want to say with shipping youll get one for around 10-11 bucks tyd.
2. A friend of mine has an old Lincoln “Supervisibility” glass 2x4 in his Huntsman that is unbeatable. Note-I've picked up several newer versions of this lens that were junk. His has Lincoln Supervisibility in white block letters on the inside.
It seems simple, but keep a camera cloth in your bag, and use lens spray to clean your cover lenses frequently. T-shirt tails, shop rags, and windex add minute scratches that subtly but quickly hamper clarity.
With that being said- can any of you dusty ole rodburners tell me if aluminum stickrods are worth the$$? I Start most of my fires with a 304- don't have a feeder or AC HF. I do got a Lincoln 110 flux mig- any ideas?

[shovelon]

With that being said- can any of you dusty ole rodburners tell me if aluminum stickrods are worth the$$? I Start most of my fires with a 304- don't have a feeder or AC HF. I do got a Lincoln 110 flux mig- any ideas?

This guy RickV on another site made a project out of it if you are intersted.

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=58760