The Armour Archive

ok i just started taking welding classes at the local comunity collage.
right now we are just cutting and brazzing with oxyfuel at the end of the day my eyes are a bit sore.
Im using a welding helmit with a number five lense.
why am I experiancing this after just working in the class a few hours?

OK...we may have a terminology problem.

For oxy accetylene or oxy propane WELDING you should be using a set of googles.

A tinted face shield that looks like the darker version of a dust shield is designed for smelting and casting. No good for close up detail work where you need to concentrate on the flame tip.

The No5 shields are okay if they are glass (prefferably black tint rather then green...or gold shield, though these are hard to find in little round goggle lenses)
If you are using plastic lenses then I would go for a 6

The big welding masks used for electrical welding (arc,mig,tig) are also NOT suitable for oxy work because of the size of the opening for the lens and so forth.
Right tool, right job.

You may also need to adjust the goggles/mask/shield you have. They are very adjustable and can thus be set WRONG. If you are in a course then ask your instructor to help you out.

it IS a real issue. You do not want to teach yourself this craft at the cost of progressively damaging yourself (any more then the bare minimum required, anyway)


Sasha

Oh yeah. Bit of a postscript...

Last night I went out to lock up thge workshop for the night and thourally concussed myself on a bit of work (sculptural) that I had left in the wrong place (like with the wingtips projecting across a pathway at head height!)

Nothing quite like a freely bleeding scalp wound to make a romantic evening....

So anyway. I am not exactly at my best today...

And I was arc welding into a V and was using a grinder with cutting disk to clean out the slag between welds. The cord got snagged on something for the umpteenth time and with the visor still down (I was crawling along a long run and nudging my tools along with me) I grab the cord and give a mighty yank on it.

The plug comes whipping out of the extension lead like a crossbow bolt and goes bang into my welding helm visor...shattering the dark glass in a most remarkable way!

Fortunately I had the clear sheet of plastic on the inside...so it was amusing rather then medically challenging (and I had to drive down to the shops because I couldn't find any replacement lenses around the house.)

But let this story be a lesson to you...
the moral is...errr...ummm...
well, who needs a moral anyway?

Just keep in mind that welding can give you more then one kind of eye strain!

Sasha...the mildly bemused and lacking a sense of balance.

I figered out that the eye strain was caused buy the low humidity of the shop and a lack of sleep.
as for goggles I will start looking for a pair that will fit over my glasses.


thanks for the help

They have fit-overs...looks sort of like a set of ski goggles.

Sasha