Hi all,
First post here and have been welding sporadically (talking more about the time than the welding here <g>) for about 50 years since doing a welding module at college. ;-)
I had to do a bit of fabrication on a trailer the other day and couldn't find the auto-darkening helmet I bought from BOC Murex (was it) a very long time ago so borrowed one off a neighbour.
Thinking things might have progressed since I got mine and now I'm mostly doing MIG rather than stick, I was considering buying a new one but see they range from 20 quid to 'ouch'?
Talking to a another welding mate yesterday he mentioned his welding helmet cost 200 quid but it *looked* like any of those you could buy on eBay / Amazon for £35?
So could someone explain if there is good justification for these sorts of price differentials please ... for things other than maybe durability / quality / branding?
What may be part of that answer is that I'm not sure if it's my eyes, the shield spec / settings / ability or it's just 'the nature of the beast' but I don't seem to be able to see where I'm going like I think I used to? Eg, run the perfect bead along a butt weld and whilst it might start on the joint it ends up beside it? ;-(
Do I need loads of light on the job or wouldn't that make any difference, once I've started (MIG) welding etc? Obviously I could do loads of experiments but don't really want to do so with a borrowed (new) mask ... I need to get one so I thought I'd ask here first. ;-)
Cheers, Tim
Edit. Reading around and thinking of the masks in real-world use I think I might be able to add what might be a small list of things that sound like they could be important (in no order).
Replaceable front 'glass'. I guess it's likely to be plastic in many cases these days but I'd like to think I'd either get enough spares with it to see me out or be reasonably sure I could get more later if required (plastic gets melted, glass can get broken). More important if spending reasonable money on something (~100 quid).
Replaceable batteries (although being an electronics tech, could probably replace any type)?
Large viewing area.
Quick / comfortable headband / nodable.
True colour?
Automatic and adjustable on all the key areas (darkness level, delay, .. ?).
Does that help pin something down please?
First post here and have been welding sporadically (talking more about the time than the welding here <g>) for about 50 years since doing a welding module at college. ;-)
I had to do a bit of fabrication on a trailer the other day and couldn't find the auto-darkening helmet I bought from BOC Murex (was it) a very long time ago so borrowed one off a neighbour.
Thinking things might have progressed since I got mine and now I'm mostly doing MIG rather than stick, I was considering buying a new one but see they range from 20 quid to 'ouch'?
Talking to a another welding mate yesterday he mentioned his welding helmet cost 200 quid but it *looked* like any of those you could buy on eBay / Amazon for £35?
So could someone explain if there is good justification for these sorts of price differentials please ... for things other than maybe durability / quality / branding?
What may be part of that answer is that I'm not sure if it's my eyes, the shield spec / settings / ability or it's just 'the nature of the beast' but I don't seem to be able to see where I'm going like I think I used to? Eg, run the perfect bead along a butt weld and whilst it might start on the joint it ends up beside it? ;-(
Do I need loads of light on the job or wouldn't that make any difference, once I've started (MIG) welding etc? Obviously I could do loads of experiments but don't really want to do so with a borrowed (new) mask ... I need to get one so I thought I'd ask here first. ;-)
Cheers, Tim
Edit. Reading around and thinking of the masks in real-world use I think I might be able to add what might be a small list of things that sound like they could be important (in no order).
Replaceable front 'glass'. I guess it's likely to be plastic in many cases these days but I'd like to think I'd either get enough spares with it to see me out or be reasonably sure I could get more later if required (plastic gets melted, glass can get broken). More important if spending reasonable money on something (~100 quid).
Replaceable batteries (although being an electronics tech, could probably replace any type)?
Large viewing area.
Quick / comfortable headband / nodable.
True colour?
Automatic and adjustable on all the key areas (darkness level, delay, .. ?).
Does that help pin something down please?
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