[TheForge] Auto darkening ?

[Paul Sperbeck]

I converted to A/D hoods about 15 years ago. My original hood was a 
Speedglas. Two years ago I began having trouble seeing the the puddle 
clearly, and began to have thoughts of giving up welding altogether.

Turns out the the active element in the Speedglas was causing the lack 
of contrast that made seeing the puddle difficult. I purchased a new 
Lincoln and the contrast returned... good for a few more years.

Speedglas would have replaced the entire hood as they no longer make a  
replacement cartridge for my old one, but the cost was close to the new 
Lincoln. I liked the Lincoln so much that I purchased a second one.

I also wear bifocals, and after a conversation with my optometrist, I 
purchase a pair of single vision glasses ground for clarity at about 18" 
to 48". The original intent was to use them for computer operation to 
reduce neck strain from long sessions at the keyboard (I taught Autocad 
for 16 years.... the glasses really helped) and I also found that they 
improved my near vision for welding.

paul


On 06/04/2011 12:21 AM, Mike Spencer wrote:
> pf wrote:
>
>> I nod my head, approving the old technology.
> As I did until I got bifocals, which happened during a spell of a few
> years when I did very little welding.  Getting back to it, I realized
> that I was having a hell of a time, even with my peculiar choice of
> optical prescription and flip-up magnifiers on upper half of my
> glasses.
>
> So I'm a convert to auto-darken.  Bought a rather dear Miller version
> that I'm quite happy with.  I'm still a bit grumpy, after several
> years, that I had to wait a month for them to order in one that was
> plain black, with no flames, stars and bars or other tacky paint job.
>
> My daughter-in-law solicited some welding lessons, got real keen and
> went out and bought herself an auto-darkening shield from Princess
> Auto for under $100.  Then she found she was pregnant.  Taking
> care of an infant has maxed out her personal gumpties. [1] Grandson is
> two and I expect her to be back to continue her lessons any year now.
>
>
> - Mike
>
> [1] One them technical terms, y'know.  Collectively, all the
>      heterogeneous stuff that keeps you going.  Antedates use by
>      (socalled) Chav subculture to mean something different.
>