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When would you use "welding glasses"

Labrat

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 20, 2012
Location
Virginia
I noticed these when I was browsing McMaster:

McMaster-Carr

My first thought is, wouldn't you just get a burnt face? Are they for working around other people that are welding but keeping a safe distance yourself? For that matter, what is the distance where your eyes are not safe but your skin is?

Pardon the ignorance - I've been welding for a long time, but only by myself in my own shop.
 
Got me. Now it's so obvious. Welding without an arc did not occur to me.

Does anyone still gas torch weld instead of just using it to heat and cut?

We use it for casting repair. You can TIG it too, but some parts I find go together better when you can get the whole area glowing hot and keep it there.
 
I was a welder in the army. Yes, they actually had an MOS for that. 44C20 What a joke! Mostly I welded hand rails at the mess hall and 52 flag poles. Anyway we called them flash goggles. To protect your eyes from other welders. And of course; gas welding/brazing.
 
Got me. Now it's so obvious. Welding without an arc did not occur to me.

Does anyone still gas torch weld instead of just using it to heat and cut?

Now you've let out your age.
I hate torch cutting because it changes the hardness of the cut area.
 
For that matter, what is the distance where your eyes are not safe but your skin is?

The short term consequence of a arc flash to a eye versus the long term exposure to arc light on skin.
Your question is going to require the brightness level for the equation.

The inverse square law. Does it apply to arc light? Arc light, arc bright, where art thou arc tonight ...
 
Also handy around plasma tables. They also make flip-up glasses. Let's you flip the shaded part up when you're programming, then flip it down when you have to check on the machine.
 
Got me. Now it's so obvious. Welding without an arc did not occur to me.

Does anyone still gas torch weld instead of just using it to heat and cut?


nobody brazes anymore? I like gas welding for thin stuff, like thin walled tubing etc.
 
You should be wearing shade 5 glasses or goggles when using oxy-acetylene for heating, cutting, and brazing too.

Yes, shade 5 for O/A work you are doing yourself.

Those shown are shade 3 and are useful in a welding shop for casual exposure. Its not just the arc, but the reflection of the arc from walls and windows. If you've never been in a shop with dozens of arcs lit at once you may not understand.
 
The last time I was welding I blew up the one appropriate size cup I had so was fighting to get a job done in aluminum and kept contaminating the tungsten.

DAMN if I didn't yank up the helmet about five times to take a glance at the gear too soon and stared right at a white hot tungsten burning my eyes in the process.
Now THAT got me thinking I need some tinted safety glasses under the helmet and I was wondering about welding glasses for this.
 
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