Helmet Settings

[ampdog]

I was welding the brake lever (1/2" aluminum rod) for my Motorcycle. I notched the rod and turned the voltage way up cause I wanted to make sure I got complete penetration (important part).

My helmet was set on 13, but I was having a hard time seeing the puddle. I turned the helmet back to 9 to see if it got any better, but that hurt my eyes. I guess it was brighter because of the extra voltage

This is not the first time I've had a hard time seeing my joint and / or the puddle. Does this happen to anyone else? Anyone have any tips?

[Guest]

I would have probably used a shade 10, but for complete penetration, I would have welded up one side...flipped it over and back-ground it then welded that side.

Here's a tip for welding a broken casting of any kind...clean the metal from oil and dirt...do not grind at this point, and force the casting back into alignment. Once you do that, tack the ends of the break. now you have it tacked, grind a groove about half way and weld it up. Now sometimes you won't be able to grind both sides, in that case weld the non grindable side first, and weld it, keeping in mind you don't have to get 100% penetration, then flip it over and back-grind to the other weld and weld it up giving you 100% penetration, and perfect alignment! Works every time!

[Royal Fe]

Experience..........wouldn't thought of that! Thanks for the tip! Needed it last month fixing a brake pedal for a friends Factory Five conversion on his Mustang. I went through the trouble of making a jig to keep everything aligned and square when this would have saved time and material.....Experience.