Am I just not using enough lighting? Do I need to upgrade from the cheapest harbor freight visor to something better? I can’t see anything until the arc and I have no idea if that’s normal or not. 

Buy a auto dimming hood, the prices have came down, trust me you’ll thank me later 

What shade visor are you using now?

Whatever the cheapest one from Harbor freight is. I think this one.

Shade 10

Edited November 18, 20223 yr by Mod30
Remove excessive quote.

Buy the auto dimming, you will thank us for it and kick yourself for not doing it sooner

If it will allow me to actually see the metal I’m trying to weld, I am all about it. Currently I’m about to throw my $200 welder through a window.

An Auto dimmer hood Will make a huge difference, you can buy them anywhere now days for not a whole bunch of mula, 

I dunno if your running mig or stick but they also make a handy light that snaps onto mig guns that’s affordable 

An auto hood from HB improved the ability of my old eyes to see the puddle. Another improvement was a bit to my optometrist. Either that or cheaters. My bifocals were to low  for welding, now I can dang well read with out them. 

Even with my auto darkening hood I like to shine a light on the work. It's worth it to spend a couple bucks more for one you can adjust the shade. 10 is good for stick welding but mig wants 12 or darker and tig darker still, you tend to lean in closer when tigging. I do anyway.

Frosty The Lucky.

Agree with others in getting an auto darkening hood. 

They are usually adjustable for shade darkness and let you see the work before you strike an arc. 

Like frosty said, if you still have trouble, light up the area to help you see better. 

The bigger the sight window the better you will see, but prices obviously go up the better you get. 

Harbor freight and Hobart have some affordable auto shade helmets. With the amount of welding I can tend to do I upgraded to a Lincoln Viking 3350 with a 4c lens. It is really nice and clear but you certainly don't need to start out with a $300 helmet.  I've used both the cheap harbor freight and cheaper hobart helmets with no real issues. 

 

 

Toptip about extra light, make sure it is not shining in over the back of your head. You get reflections in the glass otherwise.

I'm apparently the only stupid with fixed glasses (amd the small ones, not the doubles). I use a din 11 for stick an go to 12 or even 13 for mig. Lower and my eyes start to water, most people go 1 lower

I use surgical drapes as shop and kitchen towels. They are cheep, low lint and large. I drape one over the back of my helmet

  I used to get a bit of flash burn from the arc light coming in under the bottom of the helmet, so i riveted a flap of leather to the bottom of the helmet.  Also kept dingleberries from going down your front half if you weren't buttoned up tight...

Thanks everyone, I bought an auto darkening helmet and it’s day and night (literally)

Glad to hear it! Now you can enjoy learning to weld. 

halogen shop lights  help too

We use two street lights for shop heaters, lol. 

Shop heat I don't have to carry sounds REALLY good right now.

Frosty The Lucky.