No one is invincible

[LittleBigFoot]

Just a reminder to be carefull with your work.

Yesterday I was tacking welding my coil buckets in place on my Jeep. I left my mask at my friend's house. I figured, "Oh well, it's just a few minutes of welding, I'll be fine as long as I don't look at the arc."

Well I was balls-fucking wrong.

In the ten minutes I was welding I got an extreme flash burn to the cornea. It has been the worst experience I've ever felt. It's just plain fuckin uncomfortable and being photophobic blind all day just sucked a giant pile of ass.

I expect no pitty. It was my own pure dumb-ass-ness that did this to me. Flame on.

So remember, be careful with your work (especially the youngins) No one is invincible, no matter how big of a bad ass you feel you are.



Adam

 

[74duster318]

You ain't the only one who's done it. I know a few people...myself included.

I was welding my exhaust system up right before i had to go to school. My mask was a bit awkward and i couldn't weld good with it on so i though what the hell, i'll do without for a few tacks. That night i had sandpaper for eyelids...

It seems to go right through you're eyelids and still affect your eyes. And man does it hurt like #$*#!
________
ALEXAHOT

 

[rboyer]

I knew this one guy who had it happen and his eyelids puffed up real big and everything and he ended up going to the emergency room because it bothered him so much. I know one guy that's welded alot of stuff with sunglasses before and he never has problems though. I guess every case is different. When I have to crawl under a car to weld I usually use a small face-mounted set of cutting goggles which I fitted with a 10-shade lens. I sometimes get a sunburn around the goggles from doing so but it still protects my eyes and gives me the comfort of being able to lay under a car without having a huge mask hanging off of my face.

 

[Dishtowel]

I've tacked stuff together with two pairs of sunglasses.... No unpleasantness.

 

[Will]

I don't mess around. I've gotten lots of sunburn from welding in shorts--and lots of burns on the tops of my feet from welding in old nylon running shoes. But I never weld without a mask. I got an auto darkening mask because it is hard to hit a tack weld when you're blind. An auto darkening mask is a must in my opinion.

 

[4x4mike2004]

When i started welding i got an auto darkening mask, best tool i ever bought. I would also suggest not wearing mechanix gloves while welding as they cach fire quickly.

 

[Insanejughead]

Leather FTW!


Yeah... I'm the kind of guy to take it safely when welding. I don't even like watching American Chopper when they do all the tack welds while just blinking for that split second. Bad role modeling.

 

[Ranger44]

x2 on the auto darking helmet.

Having troubles looking at the computer screen?

I will say that I have made the same mistake. I can also say I've gotten the welder "sunburn" too. Safety is important though.

 

[koda6966]

Never EVER weld without a helmet.

My fathers an idiot and wont drop 20 bucks on a cheap mask, he has the viewscreen out of an old one wired onto the brim of a hat. He's not a very smart old man.
I think I'll get him a cheap welder somewhere and buy him a mask, just so I don't have to worry about him hurting his eyes.

 

[bottledgt]

shit dont bother me at all. i always tack with nothing and have welded while looking at it before. not good, but never got flash

 

[86freebie]

i know kinda off subject, and i don't mean to step on toes.

i am 44, when i was 20 i was invincible. back lifting not with the knees. carrying a 20 pound electrical belt and jumping off the last 2 to 3 rungs of the ladder. just all kinds of stupid (on my part) and now i can work on my truck for about an hour before the lower back, knees, and sometimes neck start to hurt allot.

you only have 2 eyes protect them well. not worth the risk. because you will wake up one day and start to hurt. weather its night blindness or whatever...

oh and this is so true. PAIN PILLS THOUGH GREAT FOR EVERYTHING ELSE> THEY WONT BRING YOUR SIGHT BACK>>>

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Someday I'll get an auto-darkening mask, but for now I've always just done my welding and cutting with a set of goggles. In fact, I've even started using the goggles for running the angle grinder. I wasn't sure how well that would work, but the one day I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't feel like going back in the house to get my old work glasses and didn't want to sink some hot slag into my brand new glasses. Well, my welding/cutting goggles were right there handy... I'd say they worked out better than expected, I could see where I was actually cutting instead of the shower of sparks thrown about by the blade.

 

[Mark_88]

Experience is an excellent teacher...unfortunately sometimes the lesson learned is costly...forgo the pain and possible permanent damage whenever you can...only takes a second or two...

I live with a blind person and I don't think there is a minute goes by that he doesn't want to have even 50% of his sight back...he's only 35, been blind (has about 5% vision) since 15 due to a brain injury...because he wasn't wearing a helmet on an ATV...

Safety laws are in place for a reason...not just to scare employers into outsourcing our jobs...or make us feel less "manly"...

I still do stupid things myself like hammering things without safety goggles...had a piece of metal dig itself into my face just below my eye once...and my safety glasses were sitting not five feet from where I was working...and when I wear the glasses 9 times out of 10 something bounces off one of the lenses...

Same as weed whacking...those little pieces of plastic fly off at about 100 mph and hurt like heck when they hit bare skin...if they hit a rock and head towards your face they can due serious damage...

Anyways...safety first...be careful out there...<end of rant>

 

[lil red]

I don't mess around. I've gotten lots of sunburn from welding in shorts--and lots of burns on the tops of my feet from welding in old nylon running shoes. But I never weld without a mask. I got an auto darkening mask because it is hard to hit a tack weld when you're blind. An auto darkening mask is a must in my opinion.

ya im not really experienced too much with welding, but i can do it, and it will hold together
but i learned in school with an auto helmet and at home i have the regular, so i usually line up my tachs, put my other hand in front of my face and look away than hit the trigger
but than you dont see what your doing, so now im saveing for an auto helmet
its just easier

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Yeah, Flash burn in the eyes sucks!!

Fortunately I have an awesome remedy.

Cut a potato in half, tip your head back and rest the pieces on your eyes for a while. The tater sucks all the heat right out.

My mom told me about that, cause my father was a pipefitter/ ironworker and was supposedly very stubborn about the mask.