# Welding with no Helmet



## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

It's really dumb. I knew better but after the head gear for my welding helmet broke I decided to lay a few more beads like a tard. Now my face feels like it's on fire  My eye lids are burnt too. I weld a lot without wearing gloves and usually I'm wearing shorts, flip flops, and a t-shirt. Never get burnt. But I guess the face is a bit more sensitive.


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

you never get burnt


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Raw skinned potatos on the eyes is spose to alleviate flash-burn. Dont know if its true.


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## G3farms (Dec 18, 2009)

cucumber slices also helps when put on the eyes.

"never get burnt" lol then you don't really weld that much, trust me on that. Some days I will lay motel metal for hours on end and yes you need a helmet, a hat, minimum of some type of sleeves, gloves, long pants and preferably leather boots with leather laces.
If welding over head better get out the leathers for darn sure.


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## Huntinfamily (Aug 14, 2010)

I am a welder by trade. The potato slice trick works. Take a raw potato and slice it up into 1/8" pieces lay down on ur back and put them over your eyes and face. In a couple of hours after you go to sleep that flash burn will really start to hurt. Something in the potatos soothes it. I use this trick often because when I am doing a few tacks I am usually to lazy to put my welding hood on and just close my eyes.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

been there and done that. did it alot in high school shop because I could see better without the helmut, the teacher used to yell at me but gave up after about a year. on a job site once I needed to teach "puddle" welds to a newbe that was screwing up a lot of panels with bad welds so I grabed the stinger and said watch this is how its done and did 5 or 6 really nice welds and then handed the stinger back and told him if I can do it without a helmet you should be able to do it with one, he was amazed. the drawback to this is that my pupils shrink very quickly and take a wile to comeback, a real problem when driving at night.


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## rean (Nov 18, 2008)

Never, ever do what I did. I was doing a ton of tack welding, and decided to shield the weld with my hand and just shut my eyes. I burned real bad. So decided to use noxema to cool it down with. Well when I went to scrub the noxema off it took some of my skin with it, and that which was left behind was gray and gross looking. I've had flash burn in my eyes as well, and that's no fun either.


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

If one thing is understated on this forum it is safety, and welding without a helmet is UNSAFE no matter who you are.

A person only has a pair of eyes, and skin is what holds your insides together.... not a good thing to blatantly disregaurd safety for any reason whatsoever! that said the helpful tricks for taking some of the pain out and the hint that DONT TRY THIS is good to see.

We all share things for a reason, and this i believe is a good lesson to take to heart and practice safety in and around the workshop and tools in general. And i suspect we all have a horror story from one aspect or another in the shop and on the job..... most of us have the scars to show for it, and I am no exception, learning from the experience is a good thing.

William


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Yep done it once . Got those leathers and a auto dark love that thing .:cowboy:


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## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

G3farms said:


> cucumber slices also helps when put on the eyes.
> 
> "never get burnt" lol then you don't really weld that much, trust me on that. Some days I will lay motel metal for hours on end and yes you need a helmet, a hat, minimum of some type of sleeves, gloves, long pants and preferably leather boots with leather laces.
> If welding over head better get out the leathers for darn sure.


Well I'll admit I don't weld for hours on end. If I were to add up all the time I weld up on average I'd say it would equal to an hour at a crack. I've seen people that insta burn if they get anywhere near welding flash :shocked: MIG welding seems to burn more than ARC though. I welded my friend's tire changer with his MIG welder and even with the helmet my eyes hurt afterwards. That never happens ARC welding. 

My face is feeling much better today although the ole eyes still feel a little under the weather. No more helmetless welding for me.


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Some educations cost more than others. This one was relatively inexpensive, but it could have been otherwise. Welders spend good, hard-earned money on helmets for a reason.


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## rean (Nov 18, 2008)

PhilJohnson said:


> and even with the helmet my eyes hurt afterwards. That never happens ARC welding.


That's an indicator of the glass needing changed.

Glad your feeling better today. :0)


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

As a mid-lifer will failing eyesight, can't imagaine risking any preventable eye damage due to welding. You're only getting one pair and they don't get better with age.

Harbor Freight has the Auto Darkening helmet on sale this week.

http://www.harborfreight.com/blue-flame-design-auto-darkening-welding-helmet-91214.html

The price is about 1/2 a night on the town.


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## rean (Nov 18, 2008)

My husband was welding outside, looked up and there was the horse looking over his shoulder. He said he didn't even think about the horse being curious enough to see what was going on. We watched him for a couple of days, and he seemed ok. Thankfully!


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

Don't put the Lord to the test comes to mind. I don't weld, but I wear ear muffs even when vacuuming. My hearing is continuing to decrease, and it aint no fun.


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## Percy (Mar 1, 2010)

Although I am as guilty as anyone else when it comes to the occasional helmetless spot weld, I do agree, saftely always needs to come first and I learned the hard way and paid a heavy price for not being as safe as I could have been on one particular occasion. Although it really wasnt my fault and I was wearing my GI issue earplugs, I unfortunately got too close to an explosion trying to save a fellow Marine after a roadside explosion hit our caravan in Iraq. I got out of our vehicle, which we are not supposed to do, to bring him out of harms way, and another device went off right beside me, thankfully it didnt detonate all the way and there was no shrapnel, but the resulting explosion itself blew my ear drums and left me with a 95% loss in each ear to this day. Me and fellow Marine are alive to tell about it though and thats what is most impoortant. Can no longer talk on the phone, hear the birds chirping in the morning or listen to my mother's voice. Its the price we pay for freedom I
guess, even though I dont believe we are in Iraq for the purposes of homeland freedom, ah well, I will save that rant for another day....


Always, safety first, you cant say that enough, and remember the kids are always watching us and picking up on our habits!:thumb:


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## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

rean said:


> That's an indicator of the glass needing changed.
> 
> Glad your feeling better today. :0)


Thank you. The helmet was my friend's helmet. He told me that he had it on the lowest setting of darkness (auto-dim helmet). His eyesight isn't the greatest so he doesn't like the lense too dim. I still have decent vision so dark shades aren't a problem after the arc is struck.



plowjockey said:


> As a mid-lifer will failing eyesight, can't imagaine risking any preventable eye damage due to welding. You're only getting one pair and they don't get better with age.
> 
> Harbor Freight has the Auto Darkening helmet on sale this week.
> 
> ...


That is very tempting :grin: Might have to bring in another load of scrap in. 



Percy said:


> Although I am as guilty as anyone else when it comes to the occasional helmetless spot weld, I do agree, saftely always needs to come first and I learned the hard way and paid a heavy price for not being as safe as I could have been on one particular occasion. Although it really wasnt my fault and I was wearing my GI issue earplugs, I unfortunately got too close to an explosion trying to save a fellow Marine after a roadside explosion hit our caravan in Iraq. I got out of our vehicle, which we are not supposed to do, to bring him out of harms way, and another device went off right beside me, thankfully it didnt detonate all the way and there was no shrapnel, but the resulting explosion itself blew my ear drums and left me with a 95% loss in each ear to this day. Me and fellow Marine are alive to tell about it though and thats what is most impoortant. Can no longer talk on the phone, hear the birds chirping in the morning or listen to my mother's voice. Its the price we pay for freedom I
> guess, even though I dont believe we are in Iraq for the purposes of homeland freedom, ah well, I will save that rant for another day....


Might not have been the safe way to go or by the rules but I think you did the right thing. There is nothing safe about being in a warzone, ear plugs or not. While the reasoning for being in Iraq might seem questionable I still think anyone that is willing to put their lives on the line deserves my respect and thanks :goodjob:



Percy said:


> Always, safety first, you cant say that enough, and remember the kids are always watching us and picking up on our habits!:thumb:


Yeah I remember picking up some bad habits myself as a kid from watching adults that should have known better.


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## Percy (Mar 1, 2010)

PhilJohnson said:


> Thank you. The helmet was my friend's helmet. He told me that he had it on the lowest setting of darkness (auto-dim helmet). His eyesight isn't the greatest so he doesn't like the lense too dim. I still have decent vision so dark shades aren't a problem after the arc is struck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Hey man thanks. You know what I feel I did the right thing, I was trained to never leave a Marine behind dead or alive. The problem is that Iraq and roadside bombing devices changed the rules, if we are hit by one we are instructed to remain in the vehicle and evacuate the area immeidately, I did the opposite and stopped and got out to get him and bring him back to the veichle, which under normal warzone protocol is the right thing to do but not in the Iraq or Afghanistan theatre. My gunny was happy with what I did but the higher up the rank the more ----ed off they were at me. Politics is what they call that I guess, the guys who are not actually out there putting their asses on the line are the ones who were mad about what I did, oh well, my discharge was honorable and they can all kiss my ass now.


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Eyes,yup,but dont forget your back.When young we can and do lift a lot,and sometimes more than we should.It only takes one wrong bend and your back is shot for life.

So I agree,practice safety from the earliest age you can,some mistakes cant be taken back.


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## Gianni (Dec 9, 2009)

Mig and tig run hotter than an arc welder. You need a darker lens. I go one shade darker with a wire feed also.


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## PhilJohnson (Dec 24, 2006)

Percy said:


> Politics is what they call that I guess, the guys who are not actually out there putting their asses on the line are the ones who were mad about what I did, oh well, my discharge was honorable and they can all kiss my ass now.


Sounds like the same ole BS that goes on everywhere. I've ran into plenty of people calling the shots in the civilian world that have no clue of what it is really like to be in the thick of things. At least you can have a clear conscience knowing you did the right thing. 



mightybooboo said:


> Eyes,yup,but dont forget your back.When young we can and do lift a lot,and sometimes more than we should.It only takes one wrong bend and your back is shot for life.
> 
> So I agree,practice safety from the earliest age you can,some mistakes cant be taken back.


Yeah I've been pretty lucky with my back. My shoulder however is a different story :huh: Been getting tingling feelings in my thumb and I've noticed at certain angles nailing things is quite painful and tiring. I think there maybe some rotator cuff damage from hauling can milk this summer. I don't swing the milk cans out of the tank one handed any more. Also my knee seems to be giving me more troubles as well but that was from an unavoidable bike accident about 5-6 years ago. Guy cut me off and I ran right into the side of his van landing knee first  Although one wouldn't think after my latest incident I am definitely more safety conscious than I was 5 years ago.



Gianni said:


> Mig and tig run hotter than an arc welder. You need a darker lens. I go one shade darker with a wire feed also.


I thought so. My face has completely healed up now and I have used my new helmet already. My helmetless welding days are over.


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

Percy said:


> .......and I learned the hard way and paid a heavy price for not being as safe as I could have been on one particular occasion. ......snip..., I unfortunately got too close to an explosion trying to save a fellow Marine after a roadside explosion hit our caravan in Iraq. I got out of our vehicle, which we are not supposed to do, to bring him out of harms way, ...snip..... Its the price we pay for freedom I guess, even though I dont believe we are in Iraq for the purposes of homeland freedom, ah well, I will save that rant for another day....
> 
> 
> .....snip.....


First off you did what anyone else would have done in the same circumstances whether or not the higher ups said not to, *exigent circumstances* and reactions to the immediate situation save lives. plus you had your saftey gear on while doing so, everything happens for a reason and although we may never know why it happened, it is enough to have faith that what you did has reason for some point in time downrange in life..... the impact of that may never be felt by you , but be sure, it did happen for a reason. Thank you for your service in case no one said so before, and I would wager that other Marine, his family thanks you too, for just being there and doing your job and then some.

My hearing loss is from ear drum ruptures when i was 2-4 years old, and running machines for years without hearing protectors..... and maybe playing cow pasture tackle football without a helmet but indeed that too is another rant.

What we do in life really does have an impact on others, kids see us doing things we learned that are short cuts and they may not be so lucky, some folks read in part a thread like this and say "look at all those fellas who spot weld without a helmet and they still have vision" ...... the soap box gets slippery, particularly when we admit to doing things we KNOW is wrong but did them anyway..... Like i said before we all have scars from those things we did, some visible, some not.

William
Idaho


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

with auto darkening helmets with adjustable shading available for under 60 bucks there is no reason ever to not have a helmet on while welding anything.


I've laid a lot of miles of welds (stick mig and tig) at work and at home with my "E-bay special" 40 dollar auto darkener I bought 8 years ago. Still works quite well.


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## Wis Bang 2 (Jan 12, 2010)

The welding supplier's rep was coaching a new guy on using the mig on aluminum and cautioned all of us that it's brighter flash could get your eyes reflecting back from the white wall beyond the guy doing the welding.

OP needs to think about wearing more clothing. I worked w/ one welder who used to sit on a creeper chair & slide up to the work [tractor trailer suspensions] and strike an arc next to his thigh. He also spent some of his weekends making extra money welding in the equipment at the landfill. The bone cancer that killed him started in his right femur AND he was always wearing cotton work uniforms...


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## GeterDoneDad (Nov 27, 2010)

I weld every day, and the one thing that I dont understand is haw anyone could trust their eyesight to the cheapest bidder,(harbor freight). If you are going to weld, go to a welding supplier, and get a lense that you can trust. They cost more for a reason, its not because they have the market cornered.


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

GeterDoneDad said:


> I weld every day, and the one thing that I dont understand is haw anyone could trust their eyesight to the cheapest bidder,(harbor freight). If you are going to weld, go to a welding supplier, and get a lense that you can trust. *They cost more for a reason, its not because they have the market cornered*.


What is the reason? 

The HF auto helmet meets ANSI standards, is well built and very reasonably priced. Auto darkening circuitry, is not rocket science.

As a pro maybe you should try one before knocking them. There are a few internet comparison reviews, by welding pros, comparing the HF (and the same Northern Tools helmet), to more expensive "Pro" models. Their results are the helmets work as well or sometimes better than the higher priced ones.
Many pro welders comment in welding and repair forums, that these helmets do the job just fine.

Heres one. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUhD63fmB-k&feature=related[/ame]

Any welders helmet, IMO, that costs $300-600 is mostly price markup, as they are just plastic, a little glass and 50 cents worth of electronics circits.

Many of us weekenders cannot affor a $500 helmet, so the HF works just fine. We could meet half way, and get a $250 Hobart, but then they are made in Korea, which is presumably much better than China (???).

Try one and let us know how well you like it.


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## taylorlambert (Jul 4, 2010)

I hate those Harbor frieght / Woods welding helmets. We have one at work. I got it because the dealer near us is Woods sales a they didnt have a good one. I bought this one as I needed one in an emergency. It worked good as we dont do a lot of welding at work. I keep my Miller 225 portable and my 135 220v Mig there for fixing dumpsters and site fab work. 

I have a new Hobart and Jackson standard helmet in my home shop. I did know that even a Jackson or other good helmet will lightly burn your eyes as a minute case of flash burn. Your eyes will itch a bit. This is from alot of off and on welding as the thousandth of a second or so it takes to flash off to the dark lens lets in enough uv to do this. I was welding some hooks to attachment plates to put on dads loader bucket the other day. It was pretty cold out and The helmet didnt seem right. I didnt realized it atthe moment but it was taking longer to change. Its solar powered and left in sunlight. Also on the cheap units they cant usually find replacement cover lenses for them. Ours never did recoupe even after being kept in the hot office over night.


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

A whole lot of potential skin cancer on this thread. And, yes, it can kill you. The dermatologist has cut some wonderful "steaks" out of me recently. Don't go down that road. Protect yourselves.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

Welder burn can lead to premature cataracts-----been told they can appear anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months following the burn.


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