Welding Helmets

[termite]

Just looked at current price from bezos, $300 for the one I bought. Got it through the shop's gas supplier for around $250 if memory serves me well.

 

[DonYukon]

Was going to chime in here with Harbor freight helmet but quickly realized His helmet cost more than my whole welding git up

 

[stutaeng]

I borrowed my BIL's Lincoln Handy MIG last year when I was doing our addition handrail/guardrails. The guardrails were built in the backyard on a jig as panels with my Hobart Ironman 210, but the stairs balusters had to be welded individually and I didn't have 240V readily available there and couldn't figure out how to get the Ironman up the stairs.

The little Lincoln actually performed very well. It just has a high and a low setting IIRC and I ran it on high...except those lame Arc Fault code-required breakers suck, they kept tripping! I had to pull an extension chord from the garage. Sometimes you gotta do with what you have.

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[Eveready]

When you only weld something once a year or so it is hard to justify anything fancier than the HF auto darkener. That's what I have and it works fine. I also have their Easy Flux 125 Welder and recommend it highly for low production hobbyist type use. When I compared that helmet to a friends that had a big name on it, it became apparent that they were identical and most likely made in the same factory in China.

 

[termite]

I can't knock HF stuff too much. If i wasn't using regularly when i bought it, I'd have bought a cheap auto darkening. The mig i have at home was a HF that i got from a friend (he bought it in 2006-2007). Not high quality and only flux cored but works for tacking and small stuff around the house. Arc is for where i need a decent weld that will hold some abuse.

 

[Erik the Awful]

When you only weld something once a year or so it is hard to justify anything fancier than the HF auto darkener. That's what I have and it works fine.

Yes, and no. If you're trying to learn welding, the Harbor Freight isn't good enough. Being able to see the puddle matters. With the Harbor Freight, my welds looked like a crooked butt crack. With the Jackson, they look like relatively straight bird poop. Hey, I'm still learning.

I'm a hobbyist, and I can't afford a $300 helmet, but I can stretch to afford a $150 helmet. It's worth it - keep checking and try to catch a good helmet on sale. Both my ArcOne and Jackson were $200 helmets I caught on sale for just over $100.

 

[fabandfirewood]

when my pop wanted me to learn to weld he got me a 110v fcaw welder and a 30 dollar yeswelder helmet. it worked for learning but was absolutely awful for anything more than that.

 

[fabandfirewood]

once i sell stuff ill pick up a better helmet than the holbart one i upgrade too and a Chineseum tig welder.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

I bought a Kobalt auto darkening with adjustable tint about 5 years ago (it's NLA now). It works OK for what I'm doing, an occasional little project. I even watched and took some pictures of the solar eclipse through it, ha ha.

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[DonYukon]

I bought a Kobalt auto darkening with adjustable tint about 5 years ago (it's NLA now). It works OK for what I'm doing, an occasional little project. I even watched and took some pictures of the solar eclipse through it, ha ha.

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I DID THE SAME THING LOL