Stick welding smoke

[Chris P]

That's a good point. I should tell my Dad about this thread, he's pretty safe, but sometimes he thinks he's invincible when it comes to safety and protecting himself. The thing is that when you breathe in toxicity, you may not even know it, and you can't feel it, so you think you're fine and continue on as you are. But those toxins stay in the body and wreck havoc later on.

Your not kidding here. When I was welding without the ventilator I never even really noticed the smoke until I looked around the room and saw the haze. The first time I used it I kinda forgot about the smoke and took it off when I was finished (before I went out side). I couldn't believe the difference between the filtered air and the air in the garage. The reality really set in, in those first few breaths.

[Alphonse]

To add to this topic for what it is worth:

I was working in a fabricating department of a rather large company, that had a visit from OSHA on a complaint by an employee that there was TOO MUCH WELDING SMOKE in the building.

The welding department had good ventialtion and overhead exhaust fans. OSHA made each welder wear a small mask like testing devise. And even though you can see fairly heavy layers of smoke in the shop, they determined the air was "safe" for MIG & TIG welding operations. They went ballistic about the plasma cutting station and oxy-acetylene cutting...MUCH MORE DANGEROUS HEAVY METAL DUSTS IN THE AIR , far more dangerous than any other welding processes conbined! That was the state of art back in 1996, I am not up to par on standards now.

[archiphile]

I have had one of these hoods for eight years. This was the best 1,300 bucks(now 1,600) that I have ever spent in my life. I feel like I have alot more energy at the end of the day and I do not have welder boogers. Now all that i have to do is quit smoking.

[jonathan king]

hi chris always have plenty of ventolation when welding, arc rods contain celulose which is not great to breath in. i know when you are welding using mig or tig i think its known as tag in the states you dont want a heavy breeze blowing the gas sheild away but you should still use a suction feed ventolation system. when i worked in industry welding stainless steel tanks we wore a full face masks this was to prevent suffocation and to protect us from the vapours off the welded material.
so stay safe and have fun. john

[unitekweld]

Your not kidding here. When I was welding without the ventilator I never even really noticed the smoke until I looked around the room and saw the haze. The first time I used it I kinda forgot about the smoke and took it off when I was finished (before I went out side). I couldn't believe the difference between the filtered air and the air in the garage. The reality really set in, in those first few breaths.

Well, he did some more welding this holiday break, and he of course denied that it was not healthy for him to breathe unventilated air...so that's it, he's going to have the read the thread. Or I'll have to get him outside to see the difference like you did.

[Golden_arm]

Well the type of hood to buy depends on how much ya use it.... If you are in the profession... take a look at Speed Glass hoods. You can get an entire fresh air set up and auto lens hood for a pretty penny. I'm not aware of any other manufacturer making a fresh air set up... so ya might be better off just getting a resperator instead.