Welding mask

Warrior,
Info on hood: Jackson Shadow
hsl-100
order# 63250146
price: $28.67 through MSC
order# is also for MSC
This is a very lightweight high quality hood that is steel mill strong, no frills just function.
Hope this helps,
Matt Doyle
 
If you weld infrequntly just get a plain face mask hood. don't bother with the auto darkening hoods unless you weld for a living. When I first started welding I used one with a flip up lens, that way you can use the helmet as a face shield when you are grinding. I like the Jackson helmets with the full face lens but you have to flip the helmet down when you weld. Like one poster mentioned it is hard on your neck doing that all day. I prefer just positioning the torch and fliping down the lens with my finger. Give ebay a look there are tons of helmets there.

As far as auto darkening helmets go Optrel is the Cadillac. They came out with battery-less solar powered helmet (much lighter) long before anyone else. When other companies darkening time was 1/10,000 of a sec, Optrel was 1/25,000 of a sec. The company I used to work for bought me one back in 1998 The invoice said $275. Most of the early auto darkening helmets at the time had 2 or 3 pre-set shades. With Optrel you could adjust anywhere between 4 and 13. I rembered being floored at the price because I paid less than $20 for the flip up helmet I was using.
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
If you weld infrequntly just get a plain face mask hood. don't bother with the auto darkening hoods unless you weld for a living. When I first started welding I used one with a flip up lens, that way you can use the helmet as a face shield when you are grinding. I like the Jackson helmets with the full face lens but you have to flip the helmet down when you weld. Like one poster mentioned it is hard on your neck doing that all day. I prefer just positioning the torch and fliping down the lens with my finger. Give ebay a look there are tons of helmets there.

As far as auto darkening helmets go Optrel is the Cadillac. They came out with battery-less solar powered helmet (much lighter) long before anyone else. When other companies darkening time was 1/10,000 of a sec, Optrel was 1/25,000 of a sec. The company I used to work for bought me one back in 1998 The invoice said $275. Most of the early auto darkening helmets at the time had 2 or 3 pre-set shades. With Optrel you could adjust anywhere between 4 and 13. I rembered being floored at the price because I paid less than $20 for the flip up helmet I was using.
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In my opinion....thats backwards. I don't weld for a living but I weld alot more than alot of folks. I weld for my job on occasion, I weld for fun, and I've taken classes on welding. I've been around quite a few beginners and a number of pro's.
A pro has enough practice that flipping a hood up and down isn't a hinderance. Striking an arc is not a challenge for them, and keeping parts from moving while you tack them isn't a challenge either. The auto helmets might be more convenient but they aren't a necessity.
The novices I've been around on the other hand, usually have trouble striking an arc the first few times and cook a lot of rods getting them stuck. Or they foul up the contact tip on their mig. Alot of them want to use both hands to guide the rod or hold the mig gun. They need both hands free and they need to be able to see where their hands are before they start to weld. The auto darkening helmet gives them both hands and takes away alot of the hassle.
 
Matt Shade said:
In my opinion....thats backwards. I don't weld for a living but I weld alot more than alot of folks. I weld for my job on occasion, I weld for fun, and I've taken classes on welding. I've been around quite a few beginners and a number of pro's.
A pro has enough practice that flipping a hood up and down isn't a hinderance. Striking an arc is not a challenge for them, and keeping parts from moving while you tack them isn't a challenge either. The auto helmets might be more convenient but they aren't a necessity.
The novices I've been around on the other hand, usually have trouble striking an arc the first few times and cook a lot of rods getting them stuck. Or they foul up the contact tip on their mig. Alot of them want to use both hands to guide the rod or hold the mig gun. They need both hands free and they need to be able to see where their hands are before they start to weld. The auto darkening helmet gives them both hands and takes away alot of the hassle.
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You are missing the more important issue with auto darkening helmets. Convienence is important but the primary issue is safety, If you are welding in a production situation all day, day in day out flipping the helmet down or the lens down is a safety issue, You do this hundreds of times during a day and you will look at the arc un-protected many times. You get in a rythm doing things and through repetition you do it faster and faster. During the day you will get out of sync and hit the trigger before the helmet is down. With the auto darkening helmets you don't have to raise the helmet or lens to move the torch to a different location. Less up and down means more safe.
 
Ilovetoolsteel said:
You are missing the more important issue with auto darkening helmets. Convienence is important but the primary issue is safety, If you are welding in a production situation all day, day in day out flipping the helmet down or the lens down is a safety issue, You do this hundreds of times during a day and you will look at the arc un-protected many times. You get in a rythm doing things and through repetition you do it faster and faster. During the day you will get out of sync and hit the trigger before the helmet is down. With the auto darkening helmets you don't have to raise the helmet or lens to move the torch to a different location. Less up and down means more safe.
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So why wouldn't timing be the same safety hazard for a novice? You've pretty much made my point. No matter who you are, if you can afford it, an auto darkening hood is better.
 
Matt Shade said:
So why wouldn't timing be the same safety hazard for a novice? You've pretty much made my point. No matter who you are, if you can afford it, an auto darkening hood is better.
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Because you dont have the repitition of production to make your job more efficent. In a production situation you find ways to be more efficent to make your job easier. You do this by doing something over and over again. You don't really have that when you are doing a one off thing. You aren't really looking to save time by shaving a second of an opperation because you aren't doing it over and over again. You never get to the point where you are working like a machine.

It's not like I am making this stuff up I have worked in factories for the last 16 years,(6 of that welding on a production line), you get to the point during the day where you don't even have to think about what you are doing. That is when the problems happen.

An auto darkening helmet will really not do much for the person who welds once in a while, who has to think about each individual welding operation because each is different.

Furthermore the occasional half second of arc is not going to harm you any more than a camera flash will, It's when it happens 20 or so times a day over a period of years that it becomes a problem.
 
I had one of those cheap HF auto darkening masks and ditched it. It was too slow. You could perceive the flash, but it wasn't long enough to get the ghost of it when you close your eyes. I could feel the eye strain after just a short while and took it back. I just bought a good Hunstman flip mask (like the pros at a couple big welding/steel fab places around here seem to favor) and got used to flipping it up and down.
I like the idea of auto darkening and weld quite a bit, so I may have to try a good one and see.
 
I have had both types of mask...the auto is better.

And it's way, way better too...the old mask I had before was not even close.

It's opened up a new world of welding for me.
Before I got my autodark mask I was never sure whats going on and if the parts have moved on me.....
But with the auto you can watch the parts and see what you are doing before the work starts...

Another thing thats a good about the auto is that if you still want to flip up the mask, you still can!
Guys that like to flip up and down still get to, they dont have to stop doing things the way they learned...
But I have found the auto mask is a real joy to work with on many jobs where flipping up and down is not easy...

I kept my old mask around to hand to a guest so that they can watch and be safe.
 
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