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Tig Welding in a shirt?


Avadon

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Lately i've been wondering how safe it is to TIG weld in a Hanes short sleeve T-Shirt. I use welding sleeves that pull up under my short sleeve shirt and then thick rubber gloves over the sleeves. I've been doing this for years and no burns. I can tell the difference because if a sleeve falls down during some heavy welding you can get something like a light sunburn on that exposed area of skin. However over the years I was wondering why the chest area on my black hanes shirts started to look like they were getting worn out.. or bleached/faded look around the chest. Could this be from the welding? I've never had any burns on my chest. Do you think the light could be getting through? I'm wondering if I should start wearing something like a Dickies work button down shirt over my T shirt for added protection. I don't like the heavy denim shirts.. they are usually way to hot and uncomfortable to me.

Anyone have ideas on this? I've been tig welding forever and when I started I remember I used heavy denim coats. And I think over the years you get a little lazier. I got to imagien the thread count on hanes shirts is fairly low and loose. I just don't want to be radiating myself over time lol

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Like you I have been TIG welding for a long time. My advise to you would be cover up. Ultra violet radiation is very strong with any welding process. I am fare skin so I burn easy. I have had friends who use SPF 50 sun screen and weld in a T-shirt. and they seem fine. I would not recommend it. Skin cancer is something definately to be considered here. I have done some very high amperage of aluminum for months on end we are talking 300 amps and up and at the end on the day my chest will still be red and have the smell of cooked skin, and that is with a green coat and t-shirt underneath.

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When I use my tig welder I just cover up any exposed skin and it's always been good enough. My welder is only 160 amps though, and I don't burn easily, plus I'm usually wearing a sweatshirt in the shop. Occasionally I'll be wearing a tshirt and need to make a quick weld in the middle of doing something else and I'll just do it in the tshirt with no gloves. Like I said though, I don't burn easily, and I'm not saying it's a good idea. It sounds reasonable enough that the color on your shirt could be fading from the UV light. It's never happened to me, but I don't usually find myself using my welder for very long at any one time. I'd say just go with a hooded sweatshirt over top, they make pretty thin ones that don't get too hot, and I find the pockets pretty handy.

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Bad idea, you do not need to be "burned" to accept the skin cancer coming out of the arc.
Friend of mine died due to t shirt welding, by the time he had any symptoms his body was so full of cancer there was nothing to be done. He was only welding about 5 years and was 45 yrs old.

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My tig welding experience is pretty small. I have gas welded a fair amount. This in my own shop by myself.

Welding with a partner (over a table or fixture or next to them on large pieces) will expose you to not only your own but the other guys rays. This done with older equipment (CA350 Miller example) and I really didn't seem to have a lot of burn issues other than flying sparks of course. Welding with pluse is another issue entirely. If you are using 400 amp 100% duty machines and making 4-6 foot welds by hand the amount of light reflection is incredible. Some wear leathers. Some green cloth standard stuff (which really seemed to me to be the best for my needs). Even with an automatic hood I know fellas that had a leather " beard" duct taped to their helmet to prevent their neck from being burned.

TIG puts out incredible amounts of light. I would indeed protect myself. Putzin around in the home shop with some small projects I of course might fall short on that. For what it's worth, I have spent a lifetime of watching older welders with purple skin blotches. We should protect ourselves. Nevermind the smoke..........

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Having suffered 2nd degree burns on my left arm, under my bicep and arm pit I allways wear a 100% cotten long sleeve shirt or sleeves when doing any prolonged welding. I got burned badly welding up a valve body on a lathe by not using protection. A little discomfort or the time it takes to cover up is not worth the pain and lost sleep, The Hanes or Carhart work tee shirt are heavy enough to keep from getting burned up to about 200 amps. Over that use double cover. Use a leather guard on the chin of your hood to protect your throut. Better safe than sorry

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I stepped out of the shower and as I was putting on my shirt the wife, pointing to a red/bright pink triangle on my belly, ask "what's that?" It tool a minute or so to determine that it matched the hole in my t-shirt (6 oz Gildan). Upon additional inspection my front was light pink where as my sides and back were normal color. IdealArc 250 at 125 amps stick welding. Holes in t-shirts do not afford as much protection as the cloth and that is less that adequate in this case. YMMV Using Tig is a whole 'nother type of welding.

You can still use those black shirts for other things. Just use a black Sharpie or Magic Marker and draw little black circles on your belly etc to match where the holes in the shirt are located. No one notices the holes anymore. (grin)

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Bad idea, you do not need to be "burned" to accept the skin cancer coming out of the arc. Friend of mine died due to t shirt welding, by the time he had any symptoms his body was so full of cancer there was nothing to be done. He was only welding about 5 years and was 45 yrs old.


Man if this is true this scares the heck out of me!!! I don't burn easily but very light exposure over years is what bothers me.
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Any time you are welding, wear the gear and cover your skin; gloves, shirt, hood, helmet. UV exposure is permanent, cumulative and dangerous. As a doc friend of mine says, "your skin never forgets".

Same goes for the folks that get burned at the beach. Get a few good sunburns and you are at a substantialy increased risk for skin cancer. This may not seem like an issue when you are young, but later in life as your immune system changes, skin cancer can be a real killer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was working in a plant a few years ago and saw a crew going on the start of shift for a large fabrication job. One was a kid in a white tee shirt. I saw him again at the end of the day of welding. I guess he never put anything else on. The exposed parts of his body were as red as a cooked lobster. I'm sure he didn't come in for a few days. I wondered why his supervisor or co-workers didn't caution him. On the other hand he was a kid.

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I have friends who refuse to TIG weld with gloves on. I use deerskin gloves, or light cotton ones when I do. On a related note, the odor from TIG welding, is that cooked flesh, or just a byproduct of the argon? I always smell this after TIG welding, but not MIG, or stick.


Ozone. It's produced by any electrical arc, like welding, lightning, etc. I'm not sure why it smells so much stronger from TIG though.
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  • 3 months later...

Whenever I've tig welded w/o sleeves or gloves I noticed a smell not unlike that piece of meat cooking...... :unsure: .....No way that can be a good thing. I believe the arc light is intensified even more by the argon gas....no bueno.

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I remember one large sculpture I was working on and did about 12 hours of stick welding in the winter with just my regular chambray shirt on, that night after my shower I could tell where the strip of cloth was where the the button holes were, the pocket, and my name where it was stenciled on from when I was in the Navy. Even just a regular stick welder's arc will burn you good and proper if you are not protected. After that episode I bought me a nice set of leathers from the welding supply store, better to stop the burn before it get serious.

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