Welding Helmets

[ahebron]

For many years I have owned a decent mig welder but have always bought the cheapest helmets.
Like most I have gone from passive helmets then when they came along I got speed glass finally getting a cheap true colour version.
But I was never very happy with the speedglass ones I owned and now have a collection of 3 acquired over the last 10 years.

Last year I bought a decent ACDC TIG welder after watching the welder at work use his but when I used it I had trouble seeing what I was doing. This is no excuse for my bad welding skills as I still have to learn how to TIG but I reckon being able to see is important when using the welder.
This year we have a new welder at work and I saw his 3m speedglass welding helmet and commented that it looked flash and he said it was the best he ever used.

As I do my work at the beginning of the day and end of the day but have to stay on site incase of changes I decided to spend that day researching what was available in decent speedglass true colour helmets. The 3m model was ridiculous money so I settled on a Lincoln Viking which rated extremely well and was only stupid money. As I do overtime nearly everyday I used this money to pay for the helmet. I also bought a set of 1.5x and 2x optics to fit behind the screen so I won't always have to wear glasses when welding, these where something I never knew existed. 

Today was christening day for the new helmet and what a difference it makes even though I was only using my MIG machine, the true colour big screen is amazing to use as you can see so much more than the post box slots of my other helmets and there is no heavy green tint to the glass before welding . Weld mode level 12 still allows me to see the weld without being too bright.  I am able to adjust the head band to fit perfectly on my over sized bonce and it is well balanced and comfortable.

I am very happy with this purchase and while it will not make me a better welder it will at least allow me to see the mess I am making as I make it instead of after I take the helmet off.

 

Adrian

 

[NonMember]

Thanks for the recommendation.

I have one of the cheap reactive type helmets - possibly a Draper - which works fairly well if you can get the ambient lighting right. My biggest problem with it, at the moment, is that the head band is cheap and shoddy and has broken. Yet another case of a hundred quid product being let down by the fifty pence part.

[Roger K]

I too have a Lincoln Viking 3550, and very nice indeed it is too.  I've had a few auto helmets and you definitely get what you pay for. They can be had for under £200 and at that price they are a bargain.  I have the optical screen as well, as once past 60 the quality of your welds becomes inextricably linked to your ability to see what you're doing.  I use mine with my trusty Portamig and a R-Tech AC/DC tig, works great.  I've been using it for a good few hours a day over lockdown doing the bodyshell on the XK140DHC, which is now just about ready for paint.

Roger

[Mathew]

At home I use a cheap auto helmet, its ok and I can see ok for the mig welds I do. At work we all have our own parweld air fed helmets, what a difference, nice cool air flow and a large clear viewing area. Being food industry its stainless tig work. The new ones with the filtered air make working more pleasant.

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, Mathew said:

 At work we all have our own parweld air fed helmets, what a difference, nice cool air flow and a large clear viewing area. Being food industry its stainless tig work. The new ones with the filtered air make working more pleasant.

Can you sneak some car parts in and weld them at work?

[Mathew]

2 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Can you sneak some car parts in and weld them at work?

Now what makes you think anything as dodgy as that ever happened 🤔😉