Welding Tips and Tricks

Jody's videos are very clear, and the zoom in on the cup and puddle are always very good.

I was wondering - is it possible to get rid of the helmet and weld by looking at the video screen (nice 17" monitor) instead? Has anyone tried it? I ask because I just got a TIG machine and did a few test passes on a piece of steel at 40A , 1/16 tungsten and the arc was so small, the tungsten even smaller to where I really couldn't see what I was doing. I'd love to be able to zoom in on a weld with camera technology.

RoatanBill wrote:Jody's videos are very clear, and the zoom in on the cup and puddle are always very good.

I was wondering - is it possible to get rid of the helmet and weld by looking at the video screen (nice 17" monitor) instead? Has anyone tried it? I ask because I just got a TIG machine and did a few test passes on a piece of steel at 40A , 1/16 tungsten and the arc was so small, the tungsten even smaller to where I really couldn't see what I was doing. I'd love to be able to zoom in on a weld with camera technology.

Maybe it's time for reading glasses?
I can't see looking at a monitor as being practical, is the camera going to follow the arc?

Cheater lens in you welding good or some cheap 2 dollar reading glasses. I think Jody uses a very fancy HDR video camera to get the images he does. I've tried making video with a standard video camera and had little success

I've got 20/20 due to lasik many years ago. I guess I'll try a magnifying lens in the helmet.
At 40A, and some less than 1/8" steel, I got close to the corner and all of a sudden had molten metal balls rolling around. That arc was so small I could barely make out what I was doing and it was powerful enough to melt the scrap I was testing on. If arcs are going to be that small I'm going to have to do something.
The videos being magnified didn't give me a hint as to what I was going to be experiencing.

RoatanBill wrote:I've got 20/20 due to lasik many years ago. I guess I'll try a magnifying lens in the helmet.
At 40A, and some less than 1/8" steel, I got close to the corner and all of a sudden had molten metal balls rolling around. That arc was so small I could barely make out what I was doing and it was powerful enough to melt the scrap I was testing on. If arcs are going to be that small I'm going to have to do something.
The videos being magnified didn't give me a hint as to what I was going to be experiencing.

Wish I took pics of a weld my friend Terry did recently. Stainless and the bead was literally less than a mm wide! I had lasik 16 years ago but it doesn't stop aging. Back to 20/40 or more now.

soutthpaw wrote: I think Jody uses a very fancy HDR video camera to get the images he does.

Maybe, but I doubt it.

See the link below if you're interested in this subject

What is HDR Video? 3 Ways to Create High Dynamic Range Video


What the Future Holds for HDR Video
In the next few years I suspect that HDR video is going to become increasingly popular. The technology necessary to capture HDR footage will trickle down from professional movie cameras to consumer DSLRs which will open up the technique to a whole new audience. Screens with a high enough dynamic range to accurately show HDR footage will become more common place.

I think everyone is missing Bill's point. It has nothing to do with one's vision, or view through the hood.

This is an idea I've considered before. In place of welding with a mirror or in a very restricted space where the torch itself blocks your view, imagine a tiny heat-protected camera looking straight down your cup directly at the puddle, and you're observing the monitor.

I think the learning curve to weld like this would be no worse than learning to weld with your "off" hand for someone with a strong hand dominance, so I see it as doable.

Steve S

I didn't think about it that way. But we have a bore scope like camera at work that sinks up with the screen on your phone through blue tooth. It has great resolution and its own light. It has a diamiter of about 3/16. It's on a flexible lead that's 12 ft long. If it would hold up to the heat that would possibly work Awsome for those mirror assisted bank shots.

As far as welding by hand with a camera...... I use remote welding equipment in the Nuclear Industry and have been using this form of welding for the past 20 years. The cameras we use are an all manual camera... Focus by pulling away or pushing closer. They generally have an 8x zoom. The camera is normally 3" from the puddle to get the proper focus. The camera is mounted into a block that is water cooled because of the intense heat. they are auto darkening. With the limited amount of area actually seen on the monitor, it's usually about 3/4" in front the puddle that you actually see. Not to mention the price tag on the camera, the ones made for the type of welding you would need that would stand up to the heat... $$thousands$$. And these cameras have video processors to convert the image to a video screen.
So, in my opinion, it would be wonderful to weld by hand with no hood. But with the cost of something that is actually more complicated and expensive than practical, a good set of readers or cheater lens would be best...
Only my opinion......

This is some interesting video about just this sort of thing, "augmented reality" and "high dynamic range" video for welding. The explanations can feel a bit slow going stick with it, some cool stuff here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygcm0AQXX9k

Glad someone is thinking about better visuals than with these bulky helmets. The prototype in the video can probably be brought down to a pair of sunglasses in size with miniaturization. In that video, the contrasts are much better than thru even an expensive helmet.

RoatanBill wrote:Glad someone is thinking about better visuals than with these bulky helmets. The prototype in the video can probably be brought down to a pair of sunglasses in size with miniaturization. In that video, the contrasts are much better than thru even an expensive helmet.

Indeed. In reality, the contrasts are better than human eyes can do without such assistance. With high resolution HDR capable cameras being so common, small, and (relatively) inexpensive these days and processing power also very available, I'm surprised someone is not selling something along these lines in a more workable package already. Even if only for particular applications or whatever.

That video is from 2012, and the required technology has come a very long way in the few years since.

Some old movies showed pilots wearing skull caps with goggles. Football "helmets" from decades ago were just padded leather skull caps.
Why do I have to have this bulky gadget on my head to weld? What I'd want is a skull cap with today's electronic auto darkening goggles on a hinge that would let me push them out of the way. I routinely bang my helmet on part of the work when I'm trying to squeeze my head into an area to get close enough to see what I'm doing. The helmet is a hindrance. I can see a production welder using today's helmets, but I weld for a minute or two and then remove the helmet to do some more metal work that usually involves putting on hearing muffs and safety glasses to cut some steel or grind something. It's the constant dance of switching helmets that wastes a ton of time.

With a camera set up and some simple shielding, all I'd need is some minimal spark protection that could amount to safety glasses and a baseball cap and I could keep that on all day. No more magnifying lenses and my head crammed into tiny spaces to see what's going on. Helmets, even the best of them, are a sorry excuse for what I think we need.

RoatanBill wrote:.....With a camera set up and some simple shielding, all I'd need is some minimal spark protection that could amount to safety glasses and a baseball cap and I could keep that on all day. No more magnifying lenses and my head crammed into tiny spaces to see what's going on. Helmets, even the best of them, are a sorry excuse for what I think we need.

Sounds like a business opportunity!
Someone needs to do this, I'm betting there is money to be made.