Ask your WELDING questions here.

I just finished a 10 hour intro to welding at CU in Boulder and have been returning to the shop to practice laying beads.
The masks provided are self darkening. The instructor set mine at 10. I've been working on MIG welding this week and damned if I can see a thing. I can barely make out the arc and can't see the work piece at all once the lens darkens. Can I lighten the lens enough to make out more detail without hurting my eyes?

Yes you can, the UV protection is on even if the helmet does not change.

David

The amount of amperage used determines the shade you need. Welding lens shades range from 9 lowest to 14 highest. You can look at the sun with a dark 14 lens shade. Your glass lens must be a 12 or darker. It usually says on the glass lens what shade it is. Most people using home welders will not need a shade darker than 12.

If you have an older fixed shade helmet you can buy lighter and darker glass shades. Go buy yourself a #10 lens if your welder is 250 amp or smaller.

Consistent with 204 cast..I have never welded any..and don't know of a compatiable filler wire.

I get the feeling that 4043 will work fine............I would guess that most cast swinging arms are made from similar material? Seems AlCu is essentially very close to duralamin which was invented by the Germans way back when, and used to make Zeppelin air ships................

Most Asian swingarms are more of a 356 type material and weld really well...200 series not so much...but good luck with your project...and watch for cracking after you put it into use.

We are going to test the modified bike around an MX course, and if the SA is going to break it will do there!

I have the same problem.
No classes or instruction available here so I bought the book and the video the welding shop sells when I bought my Miller mig (220v).
I bought the entire setup with gas bottle, wire brush, nozzle dip, auto dark hood, jacket, gloves, etc.... Total came to over $1,500.

I can adjust the lens shade up and down from the point where I can barely see the weld arc to very bright arc & puddle.
But I can't see the metal I am trying to join.

I have improved some in laying a consistent bead size but the bead is not along the seam or angle I am trying to weld.
I start at the intended point and can continue straight but when I lift the hood I see that my nice straight bead is at a slight angle to the joint because I can't see the joint....

I talked with the guys at the welding supply and they sold me a marking pen to draw a line on the steel.
Can't see that either.
Next they suggested a better ($$$) hood, so I bought the top of the line model they raved about.
Wow! What a difference!!!
I could see the weld arc a little better.
Still can't see the metal joint at all though.
Next, the guys suggested better lighting so I set up a halogen work light to shine on my work piece.
It usually just made my lens go dark before I could see my start point....

I had my eyes checked and they are fine, no reason they should be the problem.
I keep practicing and sometimes I can stay on the joint and think I am finally "seeing" the steel.
Then my next weld will be slightly off track even though I had thought it was right where I wanted it to be.

Very frustrating.
Fun, but frustrating.
I experiment with the lens setting and can find which one is the best for the amps I am using, but I can't see the seam of the steel.

Are some people just unable to see the work piece?"

What did you need to spend for a decent hood? I've been perusing Amazon and looking at models for around a hundred bucks.
Tomorrow I start the week-long machine shop course which is next to the welding shop so I can continue to practice.
I'll ask my instructor if he has any ideas on the visibility thing.

Harbor freight makes an ad helmet for about40.00 that works fine except for tig. I use a Miller elite. 300.00, worth every cent. I have a Lincoln Vista I do not like. It cost the same as the Miller.

Don't know what to suggest other than get your face in there. Move your head to one side so you can get your hood 10-12" from the arc.

One other thing that helps me especially with tig on small parts is cover your head/hood so no light comes in behind your hood. A piece of leather works best but a large shop rag or bandanna works fine for testing purposes. Cover the back of your head so you get zero light in from overhead/behind. It drastically improves the brightness/contrast of the light coming through the lens. It's a lot hotter/less comfortable than going without so I only do it when I can't get a good view otherwise. Try it and see if it helps. On any project where you're running a decent amperage/arc you shouldn't need to do this but if you're having trouble seeing the workpiece it might help.

Really helps me to run the weld towards me instead of away or across. Weld in towards your face, (at your own risk of course) usually have to trigger with my thumb. Found the worse the position I was in the better my welds were, finally realized it was that I could see at the unnatural angle I had my arm and head. Otherwise I have to put my head closer than comfortable to the arc.

<table border="0" cellpadding="5" width="650"><tr><td>Use a silver metallic Sharpie. Steel is closer to black in color, and a black marker has relatively little contrast. The silver color shows up really well through the shade glass. Like it says on the side, store the markers tip down.


http://www.sharpie.com/enUS/PublishingImages/US/products/markers/color/MetallicFinePoint_Silver.jpg
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Make sure you can see with both eyes. If your glove, helmet or any other obstruction blocks one eye, you've lost your depth perception.

If you have to use reading glasses, get a cheater lens for inside your helmet. They come in the same diopters as reading glasses.

http://www.welders-direct.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=LNS-MXXXX

When MIG welding vertical, what's the proper procedure if you blow through the steel? Move faster and 'paint' in some metal? Simply stop and let it cool or ????

A trick I learned a few years ago is to highlight all my marks, etc w/ soap stone.

Proper procedure is Don't blow a hole. :) You are probably running too hot

I bought a Miller Elite and I don't remember exactly but I considered it a LOT of money (around $300?)

I originally bought an auto dark helmet on eBay from a seller with great feedback for around $75.
I got that before I bought my welder actually.
It worked great and the Miller Elite wasn't that much better.
The Miller is certainly higher quality plastic, but I still can't see.
I had asked the welding supply about renting a demo model but they don't do that.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
I tried the silver Sharpie.
I tried the soapstone.
I have tried every position and direction of welding as well as getting real close (actually I am always very close).
I don't use reading glasses and I make sure both eyes have a clear view.
I have NOT (yet) tried covering the back of the hood to block light coming in from behind.
I will try that next, thanks!

Yesterday I was at it again, welding blind with the lens set at 10.
Made a few nice passes and a couple were even going where I wanted them, but not many.

When I watch the instruction video the steel is clear and obvious just like the arc and puddle.
It looks so easy to monitor speed of travel, tip distance, and both pieces of steel, when you can see everything.
I am guessing they have an auto dark lens for the video camera and it works great.
My work doesn't look like the video at all, it is just all black except for the red/orange arc and puddle.
I really don't think it is the hood, I think it is my eyes, or perhaps my brain not processing anything except the brightest object visible. I do have problems with driving at night, being blinded by oncoming headlights on our unlit highways. I don't look at the oncoming lights, I just watch the shoulder on my side ahead of me. I often use my left hand as a blinder to block the oncoming headlights too. My 57 year old eyes take a lot longer to adjust to changes in distance (focus) and light intensity so night driving is more difficult than it was years ago.

I had hoped the expensive hood would solve the problem and if it had it would be well worth it.
Hopefully it will be the answer for others.

I will just keep practicing and if covering the back of the hood helps I will let you know.
I am hoping.....

Really frustrating, I know. I asked my instructor about this today and he pointed me toward the NexGen helmets we have in class but it didn't seem to make any difference to me.
It's true that as we age the muscles in our eyes that help us focus do become less efficient and one way this shows up is what you described with oncoming headlights; it starts to look like everyone has their brights on but they don't.
What happens when you try lower settings, like 8 or 9?

Had no idea they existed!