Which welding mask?

[Therunner]

Morning all

Did a bit of welding over the weekend, only a small patch on the sill, just in front of the rear wheel arch, and my new welder is so much easier to use than piece of sh!t I used to have

Anyways, I'd like to get a reasonably decent mask/helmet - the hand held ones are rubbish - and I notice that there are different shades of tint to the glass so what I'd like to know, is what's the difference? I don't want to pay out £30ish and not get the right thing!

I've got an SIP mig with a gas bottle.

Cheers

Melvin

[hi_tower]

whitebeetle on the volkszone site sells decent uv activated masks. about thirty odd quid.

[Therunner]

cheers for the tip, I'll check him out

Melvin

[Syncro G]

The reactive ones are well worth it, especally if your not a welding god - you can see what your trying to do, whilst retaining your retiners (well, so long as you've remembered to wake it up if it needs it)!

[mininut]

the hand held ones are rubbish - and I notice that there are different shades of tint to the glass so what I'd like to know, is what's the difference?

The different shades are numbered, the lower the number the lighter the tint. For arc welding I would go no lower than a 10. If your eyes are good, a 13 shade will keep them good. Basically go for the darkest you can cope with. Personally, I use a 12 shade but, I'm using it everyday.

If you feel confident enough I'd steer clear from the light reactive helmets and go for a basic lightweight headscreen with a range of glasses from 10 - 13 shade. Don't forget the clear plastic 'glass' to protect your shaded glass from weld spatter.

Don't chuck away your hand sceen, they're good for quick tack welds if everything is clamped or tacked in place

[wasserleaker]

i bought a cheap (40quid) reactive type off E-bay, no-brand type, not even a makers name on the box, and can honestly say for the money it is very good, have mostly used it for arc welding, but done some bodywork using it and found it to be great

[Therunner]

Thanks for the replies. I'm liking the sound of the reactive ones, no fiddling with raising and lowering the visor!
I'll look for something around 10 - 12 then, there's a fair amount of welding to be done but I certainly won't be doing it on a daily basis at least I hope not!!!!

Cheers

Melvin