So....I'm 57, been around cars a long time, been welding a long time. Got a new helmet, didn't check to make sure it was dialed up enough to be dark enough, welded my ass off yesterday, building brackets for my chrysler, by six last nite had very burny eyes. Continued all nite, got worse as the night wore on, then came the sand in the eyes feeling, you guessed it, welders flash. Very painful, won't be doing that again. Put jackstands under your car before going under. Don't put yourself in harms way. Don't be lifting engines to impress your dumb friends, you only get one back, gotta last you a long time. Watch for pinch points, hard to pick stuff up with no fingers. Don't be running lathes or other power tools with hangy stuff around your person Don't be welding with skin showing, melanoma is nasty and kills. I know theres more, but I'm sure you get the drift. Gonna rest my eyes today.
Most safety glasses block UV rays. Most prescription glasses block UV rays. Most sun glasses block UV rays. All welding helmets block UV rays. UV rays is what does the damage. While wearing safety glasses, an accidental flash (1- or thousands) will cause no harm from UV to your eyes. Maybe you'll see spots for a moment or two but no flash burns. Closed eyelids offer no UV protection, this is also known as blink welding in some circles and often done while tacking. Wear some glasses if your welder is turned on. Tea bags, moistened and placed over your eyes help with flash burns
Feet and knees together! Don't tug on Superman's cape and I always remove my tie bfore running the lathe!
I have always thought the level of 'darkness' has nothing to do with UV protection, darkness levels is personal preferance. Who made the helmet? I prefer the old fixed lense helmet and once used a customers' shield when working on his car at his shop, it was an autodarkening and my eyes were tired afterwards but there wasn't any burn/flash. That is the last time i ever used one of those helmets and it was a snapon if i recall. I have only 1 eye and am very protective of it.
For me, take the sticker off the sensor of a new helmet before using.. Lucky I only welded for a couple of minutes before I figured this out
Years ago, being a dumbass 20 year old, a buddy of mine had some problems with his trailer that we used to haul our cars out to the track. He brought it by my house for a quick repair. I was too lazy to get out the cutting torch as it needed only a small amount of cutting with the majority of the repair requiring welding. I cranked the old Lincoln stick machine up to 200 amps and used it to cut the damaged steel away, then turned it down to 120 amps to weld. Fifteen minute repair time tops, followed by two weeks of absolute misery because I was wearing a sleeveless shirt and severely burned my arms from the welding flash. Blisters covered my arms from my shoulders to where the tops of my gloves had been. What a painful mistake that was.
Slices of potato soaked in water placed on your eyes will also work pretty well. Never heard of the tea bag trick. I'll have to try that one, should I ever need it again.
What doesnt kill you usually makes you a believer .... bet you dont do that again! LOL .... I know I havent!
Not only with welders either .... I learned a few weeks ago that a plasma cutter will do the same thing also !! I felt like a dumbass because I knew about the UV rays but "just a few quick cuts wont hurt anything"..... 3 days later and I finally got all of the "sand" out of my eyes !!!
Did you just tell him to go get TEA BAGGED? If your going to do that, watch out for the sweaty ones they will make your eyes burn even more
And solder even- just last week a friend was soldering something under his car, and his shirt caught fire, he's in a burn unit waiting for a couple skin grafts- very lucky man, got some burns on his hand, arm & chest, but he's gonna be OK
I never have been able to figure out how guys can cut, weld or grind in tank tops and shorts. i get burned enough with long sleeves and jeans on. It pays to be careful all the time as I pulled a stupid stunt about five years ago and almost lost my left index finger due to having it caught between the end of a ten foot long 1-1/2 pipe and a window sill when I reached down to move it a bit and the other end fell off what it was sitting on in the cellar.
Photokeratitis can be more serious than just the inconvenience of the pain. It is possible to go temporarily blind from this, In my case it was three days worth. In extremely rare cases it can be permanent, but generally the cornea will self heal. People with Blue eyes are more susceptible to this condition, and every time you do it, your eyes will be more sensitive to light until you get to the point that you have to wear dark glasses all the time.
This tech list is great, it goes hand in hand with your mom's advice about not poking the neighber dog with a stick...he don't like it....
Also, pretty much all of us here should have one of these. 20$ Get a box of filters for it too. http://compare.ebay.com/like/110735120916?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
All them TV shows have to stop showing guys tacking without a helmet. Oh never mind all those shows are gone now, replaced by families with 20 kids.
In high school shop class, one of the guys was wearing a tie. The teacher told him to take it off and of course he didn't. He got the tie caught just as the lathe was coasting down to a stop. It didn't hurt him (very lucky) but it scared the crap out of him. He was caught though, bent over with his nose a couple inches away him the piece he was turning. The shop teacher came running over... made sure he was OK.... then walked away from him telling everyone to leave the idiot alone so he could think about what he did. He left him there for most of the rest of class and then came over and cut the tie. I love shop teachers!
My grandpaw said to find something that I do well and do it the best that I can. Well when it comes to stupid I am the absolute best. A while back there was an entire thread dedicated to not doing stupid stuff in the shop. I think it is hard to admit that you done something dumb but sometimes you just got to as a reminder to everyone else that they need to pay attention.
You don't tug on Superman's cape You don't spit into the wind You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger And you don't mess around with Jim
Best not to weld with while wearing a cable-stitch sweater too, because later your chest will look like a waffle and burn like hell.
Back in the 80's I always wore a "Golf" shirt in the shop. I have a permanent "V" burned on my chest from the open v shaped collar.
Yeah, it'd almost be funny seeing all these 'heroes' on TV or in magazines welding with bare hands and arms - except people tend to imitate their heroes!
worse...he said "moistened" tea bag.... 20kids and don't forget that housewifing has become a worthy watch.....and here I thought watching golf was the bottom of that barrel I'm still in awe that someone was wearing a tie....about to go on a mission? and my addition....when lifting with a partner, make sure you practice the 1-2-3 lift thing....some folks wait for you to add the word "now"....and always have an escape route cleared and ready to use when things go bad....
Any body that welds needs to keep a tube of TabraDex handy ... Thats the best thing Ive ever used ...
Very, very true. I've been welding for a living for about 20 years. I have light blue eyes and they are getting so bad the reflection from my shirt into the inside of my hood will flash burn me. The eye doctor advised me about a month ago that if I didn't find another career it would only get worse. On a side note, when you get your eyes dilated at the dr., if you have light colored eyes, make sure whoever is doing it knows that light eyes are more sensitive to the numbing stuff that dark eyes. I had a girl right out of school do mine the last time and she used to much of the stuff, my eyes hurt like hell for about 3 weeks and there was nothing they could do for it. That was worse than any flash burn I have ever had.
vicks vapor rub works too just a little on the lower eyelid.I know it sounds crazy but it works .been welding & fabing over 28 yrs,I didnt bielieve it a buddy told me about it and I got the chance to try it it works
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