Why the hell would anyone do that, I'll never understand! Like grinding without safety glasses and a face shield. Totally stupid.
I have been called a pussy multiple times, but I never even throw down a tack without mine!!!! I weld every day for a living!! Years ago I spent a little time at a local vocational school,and the one thing that the teacher said that stuck with me was" there isn't much demand for blind welders" or should I say weldors!!!
I've worn Contact Lenses for the past 25 years and I've always been paranoid about ALWAYS wearing a helmet. I remember Stick welding in Machine Shop in the 11th grade and the shop teacher read us a memo to the entire class about some welder somewhere that flashed himself and his contacts MELTED to his cornea and he went blind that night when he removed them later that day. Needless to say, that story scared the absolute shit out of me and I still think about it EVERYTIME I put the helmet on. 'Ya know, I wonder if most teachers are even aware of how one sentence out of their mouth can be remembered by one of their students for the rest of their lives?!
Avoid the need for a cure. Protect your eyes and definately KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM THE WELDING AREA.
WHY waould anyone weld without a helment? I guess next they will wear thier welding sox when welding. This is just unbeliveable. Your hood is aa much a part of welding as the tourch & machine .
To add to all the previous suggestions, I have NEVER even considered welding without a hood. Let me share with you what I used to share with my Auto Shop students. "You can eat with false teeth, you can walk on a wooden leg, but NOBODY can see out of a glass eye"
30 years ago I took a header into a shop to get an alt bracket welded on. Owner was nice enough to do it right away and he gave me gloves and said hold it still (the header, not the bracket) and I had just enough sense to look away as he quickly welded the bracket. Within an hour my arms (t-shirt), left side of my neck and face hurt like hell. It was like a bad sunburn.
I hope that the point has been made that welding without proper safety gear WILL do irreversible damage THE FIRST TIME. If you choose to weld without a hood, please send us your horror story so that we can impress on others what happens when stupidity prevails over safety.
Just go to a oriental massage parlor and tell her that you will pay more for a happy ending. It should help take all of the pain away !!!!!!!
This is the reason I posted this thread. I didnt post it so everyone could chime in and tell me what a dumbass I am. Like I said, Im pretty good about wearing a hood and I do bitch at other techs when I see them welding without one. This was a one time incident that taught me (and hopefully others) a valueable lesson.
Thats about the worse thing you can do! haha! I weld everyday for a living, you can really hurt your retina by not wearing a hood. A little remedy for some arc flash is to put a couple slices of a potato over your eyes and lay down. Kind of like how you see cucumbers on peoples eyes in a spa or some crap. Honestly i have never had to do it, but i heard it works. Not to mention your eyes, but even getting your skin burned that bad isnt good either. If ya have problems with a fixed shade hood, buy a cheap auto tint for at home. THey work really nice for pulse welding body panels or whatever else. Also if you have a really tight spot that you cant get a hood in all the time, buy a cheap one and cut it down to fit. I weld pipe all day and im in some ridiculously tight spots all the time, and the only way i could ever get my head in is to have a hood "chopped" to fit. I basically leave the lens and trim the plastic down to make it really slim. You dont want to use it all the time b/c it doesnt protect your whole face and neck but it helps when you are in a jam! Be safe, its not worth fuking yourself all up for a few welds.
i have known people that did some welds without a hood and safely aside, i wondered how they did it at all? i mean looking away, start and stop, and all that how does their welds turn out at all? they must be the most talanted bunch around because i bet my welds would look like crap!
That's a huge NO NO when welding . Man you only have one set of eyes so you better protect them the best way you can . I don't even use that POS hand help crap . I don't even do the close my eyes tach welding either . It take but a couple seconds to put an auto dark hood on and be safe ! Sorry for bitching at you but you know better and that is a huge change that someday will cut your eyesight down so bad you can't see anymore and I don't ever want to live in darkness , ever ! Now that is said and done with , I am glad to hear you made out OK and hopefully your eye site wasn't damaged . It only takes a second to get the hood so protect those eyes ! Again , glad you made out OK ! Retro Jim
Jeez! I got some arc burn this year from a co-worker welding across the shop from me and I was working behind a P30 stepvan on my lift! The white walls,ceilings and doors must have reflected enough light to burn my eyes...I can't even imagine welding without a hood!
Welding with out a hood is stupid, tack welding without a hood is stupid, welding in short sleeves is stupid welding with out gloves is stupid
People that do things like this are why our society is inundated with silly ass warning stickers and caution stickers on everything.No one would think that they would actually DO such a thing.
Stupid thread, but I think the point has been well established that it is not only foolhardy and permanent, but downright stupid to attempt to weld without protection for the welder and anyone in the welding area (Welder, Co-workers, By-standers, Children and Pets). Safety is everyones responsibility.
Ya know, , I cringe every time I scroll past this post. I can't imagine, , , getting the odd accidental flash from my son's welding while we're in the shop togeather is bad enough but to work without a hood at all is unbelieveable! And don't forget the plasma cutter, it's just as bad, I've seen guy's try to use sunglasses with one. You need at least a #5 shade
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