Help! I Can't See When I'm Welding!

You can learn to weld. I'll show you exactly what to do in my affordable online welding courses at courses.timwelds.com/.

When I've started hobby welding, I bought a mig welder and an automatic helmet. After few hours of trying to glue pieces of steel together, I've found out I haven't removed protective film. Whoa... much better. Few months and few hobby projects later I've found out there was protective film on the inside as well. Now I can actually weld stuff.

I've been a fabricator/welder for just a little less than 50 years, just retired about the time you posted this video. I've used a auto-darkening hood for quite a few years. A couple of things that I've found to increase the life of my inner and outer cover lenses are, put your hood back in the box it came in and close it when not in use and blow the cover lenses off before you wipe them. The first keeps grit and dust accumulation down and the second will remove most of the dust and grit that does. I usually use a damp microfiber towel to wipe them off only when I need to.

Ordinary classroom Chalk in orange colour. If you're having trouble seeing then run a line or 2 of orange chalk either where the weld will be or next to it. Orange chalkboard chalk works well for people who can't see. I hope this helps someone.

Thanks for all the reminders to get optimal view of the arc and weld pool. You nailed it on keeping clean lenses inside and outside the helmet view panel. You are clear, concise and easy to understand. Keep up the great videos.

One major problem I have is lighting. I do a lot of body panel work and often find myself in weird positions, especially when working on cabs, floorpans, firewalls, etc... I mounted a small picatinny rail on the top of my welding hood (like you would use on a AR15 rail) and mounted a Surefire rifle light to it. Works amazingly well.

Great video. Personally lighting is the key for me. I use a cheap led drop light and place as close as possible to what I'm welding. Such a huge help if your not out in sunlight

A frequent occurrence. Corner welds usually work, but butt joints sometimes end up with a nice bead going cross country. A more expensive helmet helped a little. Welding in the sunlight works if there is no wind. What I want is a super bright led light that attaches to the gun and illuminates an area the size of a silver dollar, ideally surrounding the pool. It also needs a roll of spatter shield.

Thanks Tim for the very helpful tips,I messaged you some time ago as I couldn't see my welding line and kept going off the actual weld area.Your reply suggested making a chalk line where you actually wanted to weld,that has been a big help and it worked for me,thanks again Tim for your excellent videos. (England UK)

I'm a weekend welder/novice. I use a HF auto darkening helmet ( love it) , I ended up screwing a 2000 lumen headlamp to the top of my helmet. It works great although adds more weight and can get in the way in tight quarters. I'm just a beginner but really enjoy building stuff with metal. Nice video , thanks for posting.👍👍

Great video. Very useful. I discovered it was time to get glasses when I was on a gas welding course. I just couldn't get the welds straight until someone said " hey, try these reading glasses". Wow what a difference! You can ask your optician to set the focal length to the distance you normally weld at as that's usually further away than you would read a book.

Fastening a good quality head torch to your welding hood is a great idea too. I saw another YouTuber do this. Seems like an ideal solution. Thank you for sharing.

After watching a few of your vids, I went ahead with making fender brackets and stick welding them to my boat trailer. Your clear, concise tips and instructions really improved my welding results. Thanks so much and keep up the great work!

@TimWelds I just wanted to show some appreciation man.. I only started welding today, I was struggling a lot & my welding rod would always stick.. but just after soaking up some of the info you give on your channel, I quickly learnt how to strike an arc & things were looking promising Again thanks so much bro.. My name is Jean-Claude or just JC for short, All the way from South Africa

I am a new hobby welder and really appreciate your videos. Very glad I came across your channel.

These are old videos of yours that I'm watching but my gosh I'm happy to have discovered your channel. Thanks for explaining so clearly and concisely, especially for us garage shop hacks. You've got a new sub.

Great video! Not sure if others mentioned it but it's worth checking your battery before you do much else if you're having trouble seeing things and think something might be wrong. It's an easy thing to forget and, on my helmets, it's not that easy to check.

I'm really enjoying your videos,I've been welding for a few years and most was gas weld,I took a summer course at medina Ohio joint vocational school. It helped but I find your videos very intuitive. I wanted to thank you

Good video. In the past I have used 300 or 500 watt works lamps which help a lot. They're hot so perhaps these days LED alternatives are available. Also I like to use a fan to blow away welding fumes.

Just came across your channel a week ago. You do a really good job. Clear and concise. Thanks