[TheForge] Automatic welding lens

[Larry and Pat Brown]

I've used the Jackson executive and now the nextgen, I have been very happy 
with them as you can also grind and torch cut with them. Mine have bounced 
off the floor quite a few times and been bouncing around the shop and truck 
mildly for years and are still alive. My biggest complaint is on the 
executive, sweat getting into the battery compartment which they solved 
with the nextgen
Larry Brown


At 01:30 AM 1/5/2005 -0600, you wrote:
>Bill, I have had several electronic shields. They are great but don't drop
>one... They don't like that. I think that the cheap ones work as well as the
>expensive ones. I can't thank you enough for using the term "shield". How
>the hell the word "helmet" ever replaced "shield" is a mystery to me. A
>"helmet" protects one's head. A welding "shield" offers little head
>protection but does a great job of shielding your face & eyes from the
>welding arc.
>
>dave mudge
>dave at magichammer.net
>http://www.magichammer.net
>http://www.metalsmithinghowto.com
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Woolley
>Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 8:13 PM
>To: Sponsored by ABANA
>Subject: [TheForge] Automatic welding lens
>
>Greetings,
>
>Just thought I would engage anyone on the fence about buying an
>automatic welding lens.  I thought I would never have much use for one
>until a couple of stair railing jobs ago it dawned on me that it might
>be more than useful for welding/tacking pickets to bottom/top rails
>without having to lower and raise my shield everytime I moved my
>electrode 4 inches. ( I had been using 6010 to tack, then finish with
>either the same rod or 7018 since I don't have a decent MIG machine)  I
>probably should be using my 110 volt MIG for this but can't seem to get
>in the groove of turning to it for this application. Anyway, having the
>automatic lens has greatly eased the process of making these simple
>railings.  The fact that I can start and stay with 7018 is a blessing.
>(Since I don't have to mess with my shield, the rod end never fully
>cools in between stops and starts, thus making the problem of restarting
>this rod cold without sticking all but solved)  I like the appearance
>and control I am used to with this rod.  I looked at most of what was
>currently available in a  mid to high quality lens before I chose a
>Jackson NexGen which came with their Shadow shield (sorry I just can't
>call it a helmet), which  spec wise is pretty much state of the art,
>American made, available on line for $275 total.  I was looking into a
>Jackson EQC Master which was $240 but decided to go the extra mile to
>gain a larger viewing area (lens size).  For what it's worth, I thought
>for a long time that it would be a frivolous purchase, or a luxury to
>have one, but from just a couple weeks of  use I can tell that it is
>going to be a valuable tool for me to have in the shop.
>
>Regards,
>Bill Woolley