While looking for something completely different (automatic welding mask, mines getting flakey) I found these multi-tool blades, incredibly cheap compared with local prices:-
Scroll down a little from the first few items.
You have to buy more than 1 set but at a pound or so a go that's still not much!
The pricing is actually a bit confusing, they're basically about £1 per blade, the 'minimum quantity' is simply the price for the whole set illustrated. I.e. the set of 6 costs £6 and the set of 13 costs £13.
So not *quite* as cheap as I first thought but still not bad.
This is probably a numbskull question, but is aliexpress a good (i.e. reputable / financially safe) site to order from? There is an item available on it I wish to purchase, but I was hesitant to use the site because I have never heard of it (and am an easily spooked mard).
I still have slight worries using amazon and ebay.
Thanks,
DP
I have been considering the same as I bought mine when I bought the MIG welder 20+ years ago.
From what I thought I remembered back then I could actually 'see' what was going on with the weld, just as I could when gas brazing / welding, or even stick welding for that matter but now I can't.
That said, I borrowed my mates new / expensive BOC mask the other day and I can't say it was that much better (so more like see where you are going to start ok but then it's lucky dip where you actually end up). ;-(
Cheers, T i m
I use aliExpress a lot and haven't had any problems at all. The sellers sometimes find english a bit difficult but they do their best.
It works much like eBay.
I don't let aliExpress save my credit card details (nor do I allow eBay to have them either).
I wouldn't be without mine, bought cheap[ish] in the UK more than ten years ago, it just made my amateurish welding a whole lot easier and better than a non-auto helmet.
So, assuming you have done gas welding where you can generally watch the molten weld pool as you go, can you say you can see what you are doing 'clearly' when MIG welding? If so, may I ask what mask you got please?
Cheers, T i m
It's not quite like that but once you get the settings (of the welder) right then you can produce a reasonable weld.
The one I have (that's now past its best) was from Cromwell,
PRO-885-0001A AUTO VARIABLE 9-13 WELDING HELMET @ 69.27 incl. VAT bought back in 2003, so it's lasted 13 years.
The parent company, Alibaba, has been going since 1999 and is worth over $US 200 billion.
I've ordered a few dozen items over the years and all have arrived. That said some of the much cheaper bits were of awful quality. Those that were more sensibly priced were generally fine.
Overall, no worse than eBay and usually cheaper.
I have some sort of budget model, for MIG (as an inexperienced welder) it's certainly vastly preferable to a fixed filter. I sometimes find mine a bit too dim unless I have reasonably strong lighting on the workpiece, and then the mask will sometimes dim before I strike the arc.
Never done gas welding although I have done lots of silver soldering. Gas welding is one of those "Wouldn't it be nice to have the kit" jobs. Can't justify OA, but think about MAPP from time to time.
I have a 300 watt halogen flood light on a stand. Blast that on the work and my auto mask is good.
Interesting. I would have thought there would be enough light from the arc but it's probably in the wrong direction (in yer face rather than towards the job).
I'll give it a go, thanks. ;-)
Cheers, T i m
No, the bright light is needed when the auto mask is 'clear'. 'Clear' isn't absolutely clear and you need a fair amount of light to see what you're doing through it before striking the arc.
It's to see things before the arc starts. That's always been my problem. But I'd be the first to admit welding isn't one of my better skills. ;-)
Ah, ok, so not the same as my problem (with auto helmets).
It used to be one of mine, as the trailer I built 40 years ago and the tri-fold all-steel garage doors seem to suggest (but no expert either etc) but of late I don't always seem to be able to see where I'm going
*once* welding. ;-(Maybe I need to re-learn how to do that ... like when looking into water to see what's below the surface.
Cheers, T i m
Ok, so not likely to help me then.
So, I'm looking though the mask and can see everything as clear as day. I'm going to do a 2" but weld and have ground the corners of the two edges away to form a reasonable fillet. I strike the arc and then all I can see is the arc, not much around it so if I do an inch of weld then stop, I often find I have a good bead of straight weld but going out of the fillet by a few degrees?
Now I'm right handed and so would normally lay the torch over at a slight angle to the right and weld left to right (so potentially also obscuring my required direction with the torch).
Looking at some of the videos on Youtube I *can* see the weld pool and surrounding material so I know what I'm looking for, it's just that I can't seem to see it on my setup anymore.
Cheers, T i m
With you now. ;-)
That bit is OK here. A nice puddle seems to mean a nice weld. It's thin stuff like car bodywork I don't get on with.
Yes, so you can see said puddle?
It is tricky and where TIG really comes into it's own.
I think the general thing there is join a load of short tacks together ... but now car panels are being glued together and I understand, acceptable for MOT repairs, I'm not sure what the future is re welding such things?
Cheers, T i m
Thanks! I'm not keen on the save payment feature, either ;)
Thanks for the info! I'll give 'em a go.
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