Welding Tips and Tricks

Help me out with a simple question. Why can't I see a frickin' thing when I weld? Seems like it's just a big red blob surrounded by blackness.

I used to see okay with my cheapo Harbor Freight helmet. I use a nicer Hobart helmet now. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

I also have one of those little LED lights on the torch.

Here's what I was working on. I had a piece of a wrench lying around doing nothing.

It's a bottle opener.

Nice!

Thanks. It looks better now that I've ground a pound of weld lumps off of it.

FWIW- I like the harbor freights. They're like the fat chick of welding hoods.

The only real problem I've had with seeing the pool is when light gets in the back of the hood, or when it sags forward when looking down. Tightening up the knobs so that it doesn't sag and affixing some old suede to the top with hook & loop from the craft store helps that.

For most smaller stuff I only keep it at 9 to 9.5 din. but that is very subjective.

I guess I need to get a sheet of crap metal and lay down some beads on it while playing with the darkness control.

If the batteries are getting weak sometimes the auto lens gets darker or less clear. New batteries are cheap.

I like the bottle opener, creative.

Thanks. A friend saw the piece of the wrench in my garage and said I had to make something out of it. I think the bottle opener was his suggestion. I happened to have some 304 stainless to weld to it.

I had it left over because I stole an idea for lathe tool post wrench.

That's what we call a church key.

Tried it out today. It works really well. I put it on the mill and added a precisely located lanyard hole, complete with chamfering.

Sadly, I gave it to a buddy of mine because I felt sorry for him. He's about to drive an unheated car from Florida to New Hampshire.

Can't help with the helmet issue but wanted to say that opener is cool

Thanks. My buddy is really happy with it. I put a chamfered hole in the end for a lanyard.

I know I have seen something similar at Sears but yours is better I am sure.

Someone told me about the Sears thing, but I wasn't really looking for a bottle opener. I was looking for something to do.

I may get a Harbor Freight wrench and make a couple more of these. I'm jealous of the buddy who received the first one.

I could make two: one I hold in my hand while I use it, and another rigged up so it can be screwed to a wall or counter!

Years ago, I bought a nice Guinness opener and mounted it on a column on my patio. A few months later, I looked at it, and the finish and paint were completely gone. It was a piece of crap. That won't happen with a wrench.