Nooooooooooooooooob

[Yeti]

Hello

Firstly, thanks for the amazing quantity of quality information on here! I've been reading the site a fair bit, and learnt a lot to build on the crash course a friend gave me a few weeks ago.

My hobby is messing about with old cars (mostl early watercooled VWs), and has been for years, and I finally decided it was time to stop just doing the oily bits and start doing the flakey bits too. I've been using my mate's Clarke 150A MIG, and got some nice results (in between the charred holes and stuff that fell off as it cooled) so far on practice peices (haven't got brave enough to hit a car that I care about yet).

My main problem so far is that I'm not getting on well with a permanently dark mask, it's been remarked that having a big nose probably doesn't help . Seeing as my mate bought the welder, I figured it was only fair that I bought an autodarkening mask, so we've got a good setup between us, so any feedback anyone can give on their mask would be appreciated

Steve

 

[TVT]

I bought one of the cheap generic brand autodarkeners a couple months ago (about $60), and it was perfectly fine. It doesn't have an on/off switch or anything, and is solar powered. The only issue I can find is that it's a bit of a leap of faith when you use it, trusting that the light from the arc will trigger it, and hoping it's got enough residual power stored to switch it on.

I then got a $300 Miller auto dark last month purely for the on/off switch (which proves it works by flashing the screen) and its AA battery back up for peace of mind.

If you use it a lot, and especially if you can leave it somewhere light enough to charge it up, the cheaper one will be perfectly adequate.
Both of them have the same window size, and pretty much the same shape and size for face protection.

The Miller has a few extra adjustments for comfort etc, but honestly - they don't make that much difference. I really only got the Miller because it was an anniversary present, and I wanted a spare in case I ever got anyone to help me while I'm burning stuff up.

 

[English Steve]

Welcome Yeti

For a good quality auto for DIY use, and at a very good price, have a look here.

 

[shadowcaster]

Second the Parweld 914, great helmet, I bought one of the cheapies from E Bay and although it did work it was way to dark to see what I was doing. The Parweld works much better and my welding has improved since using it, and it dose'nt cost that much more.

 

[Yeti]

Thanks for the quick replies (sorry I don't get on t'internet that often). Looks like that'll be on the cards come payday.