Every welder knows that they need to have a welding helmet. A popular kind of welding helmet is the auto darkening helmet, and many welders believe they are worth it no matter how much they cost. Many believe that beginner or hobby welders especially need an auto darkening welding helmet because of the fact that a welder has to be in just the right place before they pull the trigger on the blowtorch. An auto darkening helmet can help make sure that a beginner is seeing things right – and it also helps them look like they know what they're doing if they happen to be worried about appearances. Below are two examples of nice affordable auto darkening helmets by Miller and Lincoln.
Why is it commonly believed that an auto darkening helmet is much better for beginners and hobbyists? Because it auto darkens. For example, say you are welding a patch onto a door panel of a car you are trying to restore to pristine condition. You get everything lined up perfectly and are ready to pull the trigger on the mig gun you're holding, you flip your helmet down, and when you check your work, you find that in the second that it took for you to flip down your helmet, let your eyes adjust, and weld was all it took for your mig gun to move a little too far to the right or left.
So now you've warped the metal and welded where you didn't mean to. A mig gun has no hang time, so the few seconds it takes for your eyes to adjust once you flip your helmet down is all it takes for a mistake to happen, and since your eyes are adjusting, you might not realize it. So what's the advantage of the auto darkening welding helmet?
The auto darkening helmet is ready whenever you're ready to do any kind of welding. It will automatically darken to protect your eyes, but since there is no adjusting of the helmet, you don't have to worry about accidentally moving your blowtorch a little too far to one side or the other. You'll simply be able to work.
So what kind should you get? If you are planning to weld every day, get the best you can and one that adjusts from at the very least shades 9-12 and has a fast response time. 1/20,000 of a second or less is good. It needs a delay and a sensitivity feature and should have 3 or 4 arc sensors. It also needs to be lightweight. For those who aren't expecting to weld every day, a cheaper helmet will work, and auto darkening helmets are as cheap as $100, so every welder can afford one until they are ready to upgrade to a much fancier one.
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