Straight Weld

[ryanjones2150]

I'm pretty cheap, especially on stuff like that. I generally don't change mine out until I get frustrated about a weld that looks like poop or went crooked or something. I'm gonna try H80N's suggestion.

[Aeronca41]

My wife sometimes calls me El Cheapo, but I'm not that cheap!

[aametalmaster]

If i was going to buy one thing it would be a new lens cover. Just had a kid come in and wanted a glass lens for an old school hood. His cover plates were so filthy don't know how he saw anything. Had his glass lens not broke it prob would have been a long time until new ones...Bob

[Aeronca41]

Thank you, Bob--I was with Ryan, about to order a big box......

[aametalmaster]

If anyone is interested a company called Markel sells a red and silver pencil that is supposed to illuminate when welding. I ordered a red and silver if it works i will post back.

I sell them and there is nothing special about them. Keep your money...Bob

[ryanjones2150]

Sweet! I'll buy a case of em if it'll make me a better weldor!!

[davidmelley]

If anyone is interested a company called Markel sells a red and silver pencil that is supposed to illuminate when welding. I ordered a red and silver if it works i will post back.

[MMW]

Draw a line on each side of the joint spaced about 1" or so apart so you have something to follow. Use anything that works on the material you are welding. Soap stone, markers, scribes, etc. This way you have a reference point on both sides. Cheater lens, new clear cover, proper shade lens is all good advice. I lieu of a cheater you can try cheap reading glasses also. More hours of hood time helps also.

[H80N]

Also keep the sacrificial lens cover on your hood clean and change it out more often. They're cheap. But if you're a tight wad like me you keep going until it's like welding through fog. That way, when you do finally change it, it's like Christmas!

You can take those covers off and clean/polish them with a plexi polish like Meguier's #10

http://www.meguiars.com/en/marine/pr...lastic-polish/

[ryanjones2150]

Also keep the sacrificial lens cover on your hood clean and change it out more often. They're cheap. But if you're a tight wad like me you keep going until it's like welding through fog. That way, when you do finally change it, it's like Christmas!

[Oldgrandad]

If you can't see good luck making a straight weld. Bi-focals help me read the blueprints but I still add cheaters in my hood 1.5 does the trick now. Did some sanitary tig last week and I had your problem couldn't see the seam turned my shade down to 9 and bumped up my cheater to 2.0 wow my eyes were 10 years younger. That cheater is to much for other welding so now I swap back and forth.

[Aeronca41]

I thought Ryan's suggestion on lens shade was a good one-have to try that.

Glad the glasses helped. I tried those but they wouldn't work for me-one eye is farsighted and the other is nearsighted, so without prescription lenses, nothing works very well. I need the glasses to get both eyes even then have to deal with the trifocals.

I did find the cheater lens in the hood helped a lot, just had to consult with a friend who's an optician about what power to use with my glasses and my most common comfortable distance from the puddle. But, it's still not like it was in the old days. However, if that's all I have to complain about, I'm a very blessed guy!

[davidmelley]

North of 50 and eyesight decent but far from perfect. I tried the wife's readers today and watching the bead was much better. Ordered those magnifier .75 to 2.5 to see which one works the beat. Must have made 50 practice beads pushing the puddle and around weld 40 it started to feel like i was getting somewhere. I never had a problem with over head stick welding but this mig is a different feel to me. I have become a master grinder lol.

[Sandy]

I've found, when I can't run a straight bead, I'm not seeing the root and I'm not seeing the puddle the way I should be able to see the puddle. Looking for a crutch to run a straight bead, for me, isn't the answer. Figuring out a way to see the root and read the puddle is the answer. It's a constant issue that I have to deal with.

[ryanjones2150]

If I'm doing a lot of MIG welding, I turn my hood down to maybe 8 or 9 and then I wear sun glasses under my hood. Without the sun glasses on I'll have a big blue spot in the middle of my vision for a bit afterwards. I also use some sort of torch manipulation to play the light around so I can see better. I find that a push angle gives me better visibility of my joint ahead of the weld puddle. Getting in a good, comfortable position helps too. Although that seems to never be possible, at least for me lately.