I thought I had just got lazy, but it was actually a case of geezerness!

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OK guy's, I can hear the snickers!I just entered geezerdom today I guess.I had been doing all my welds with a Mig, and had left the stick alone for quite some time.Recently I bought myself another stick welder to play around with.Most of my welds where really lacking, I couldn't seem to hold a straight bead to save my life, and the welds just looked plain awful, so I figured I got lazy and out of practice!  but I had also noticed here lately that my Mig welds where starting to wonder and it was getting harder to see, so I thought it was because it was getting time again to go see the eye doctor and get a new pair of glasses, but I was able to read books and news papers and such just fine!and every time I do go see the doc, he tells me my eye sight hasn't changed!Then, Bob Warner started a thread on making Mig welds look like Tig, and there was a lot of discussion on there about it being hard to see the weld bead and the weld walking off to the sides because of not being able to see where you where going, and I thought, boy this sure sounds like me here lately, and the discussion turned to cheater lenses.I started thinking "Cheater lens" so I went down to my LWS this afternoon, picked up a Miller 2.25 diopter, took it home, put it in my Elite hood, and set the stick up with some 7018, turned her up to 150AC, got some 3/8" thick drop scrap and  struck an arc.Man!I couldn't believe the difference, I could actually see everything again! So yeah!Call me a geezer!Have a look at my first bead using the cheater lens!Now if I can just find something to steady these ever increasing  shaky hands!I know, more beer right!    Attached Images#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:Nice to hear your post, the same thing happened to me and I have been stopping more frequently with Mig to verify that I am not wandering a bit especially if I am doing anything late in the day or evening in the shop, will have to give them a go, my optometrist said I needed bifocals but my brother in law was so disapointed in his that I never got my prescription filled.Kept using clear lens's.How about welding with contacts, are their any contact lens users?Used to hear some wild stories about people getting their lens welded to their corneas, you lnow mythbuster stuff?
Reply:I don't know the dangers of wearing contact lense.   I've had welders work for me that wears them..... Still better check with your eye doc.IF IT WORKS, DON'T FIX IT2 Lincoln CV-300 / LN-7 GMALinde-VI 253,400 & 450 w/MIG35 feedersCNC Table with Oxweld O/A & Hypertherm 1250G3Lincoln Ranger GXT 250Hobart-MicroWire 300ESAB Heliarc 161ESAB-Mobilemaster 2 CC/CV Feeders& more
Reply:I have been welding with contact lens (and Cheaters)  for nearly thirty years.  I was told of the horror stories  of the lens melting to the eye but I figured if inside my helmet was that hot, my face was gone already, not that it wouldn't be an improvement.  The only real issue I recently heard about was with gas welding goggles that did not filter the infra-red very well causing the eye area to get uncomfortably warm.  But, again,  when it gets that hot, you get out of the kitchen, so-to-speak.  I have the usual goggles and have torch welded and cut with my contacts on without issue during this same period.I love the cheaters and bought a variety so as my eyes get worse, I can just swap it for a stronger one.  My biggest problem which causes me to wander is that my right eye "shuts down" while I'm welding, for some reason, and I keep going with one eye; extremely annoying but noone has been able to figure out why it shuts off.  The cost of old age, I guess.
Reply:I used to do the cheater lens thing until I got farsighted enought to need glasses to read my tape measure. I went to lined bifocals and eventually lined trifocals. I still used cheaters so I could look thru the top of my glasses when welding but it was annoying. I finally went to lineless bifocals. What a difference. It's almost like I got my old, see anything anywhere, eyes back. The cheaters went in a drawer and I just wear my glasses. I've finally became so farsighted I have to wear them all time anyway.
Reply:I have had bifocals for about 5 years now, but I still had a hard time seeing!And, when I would pull the hood down far enough to use them, my breath would fog the inside of the hood up, even though I had made it a habit of breathing with my upper lip over my lower, forcing my breath downward, been doing that since I first started welding, and it used to work just fine, but with the hood down so far, my breath was being trapped inside!When I went to the LWS, I tried out several strengths of cheaters to see which one would work the best, and found that the 2.25 gave me a perfectly clear and clean view without using my bifocals, and after giving it a try out at home, I am hooked!#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:I'v only heard of 1 instance (confirmed) of a problem using contacts.  The fellow actually caught a hot spark directly in the eye & melted (very small area) the lense to his eye.  He had to have it removed & eye healed normally just as if it were a metal shaving that had to be dug out.If I wore contacts I'd use them welding too.  As long as you use good protective gear I'd think you would be ok.IF IT WORKS, DON'T FIX IT2 Lincoln CV-300 / LN-7 GMALinde-VI 253,400 & 450 w/MIG35 feedersCNC Table with Oxweld O/A & Hypertherm 1250G3Lincoln Ranger GXT 250Hobart-MicroWire 300ESAB Heliarc 161ESAB-Mobilemaster 2 CC/CV Feeders& more
Reply:I tend to wear a 3 or 5 shade pair of glasses to cut getting flashed,  and use a 5 or 8 in the helmet, with a cheater lens.      What is fun is having some one pick up the cheater helmet to watch you weld, from more than 18 inches away they can't see a thing. -Like headlights coming at you in the fog     My problem is the central vision is going away from being flashed too many times. Tig is the worst. Maybe it will get better if I am away from it. My hearing loss is a benifit , If I want to concentrate I can hear what someone is saying. If not, they can jabber all day. The wife says it is selective hearing. SHE'S RIGHTpast work toys; lathes,mills, drills, saws,  robots, lasers ironworker, shears, brake, press, grinders, tensile tester,  torches, tigs, migs, sticks, platten table, positioner,  plasmas , gleeble and spot. Retired June 30, 2009.
Reply:Yeah, I'm equipped with selective hearing too. It's pretty damn handy at times, ain't it?
Reply:Isn't that something selective hearing eh! I Does your wife know?Got a hearing problem from an old injury, so I don't have to worry about selective hearing,and my father has that.Totally forgot about getting a helmet cheater, I think maybe it is time for seamless bifocals as the coating is getting bad in my glasses. I could never figure out where sparks were ruining my glasses so I kept two pairs and rotated the glasses(with new lens) through the optometrists, no matter how careful I was grinding and one day realized it was from a resistance welder with bad copper contacts not getting complete circuit.Ya just never know...Thanks for the posts.
Reply:Heh!Selective hearing!Think theres a relationship between your eye sight going and your hearing, cause I have that too!My wife said she is getting tired of hearing me say huh.#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:Ken, that plate doesn't look as if the joint was beveled.It's easier to hold a line if the joint's beveled.  It gives shadow lines as the arc is running.  (And better penetration too)I concentrate on where I'm going, folowing the straight shoulders on the topside of the bevel, and shift my attention back and forth between lines and puddle.I'm suffering the seeing problems too.  Fillets are easy because you have 2 highly defined surfaces for the light to bounce off of.  Flat welds are the pits, same as you're dealing with.Another trick on a multi pass beveled butt joint is to make the root pass small, and leave enough unfilled bevel to not have destroyed the top shoulder.  You still have a line to follow on the second pass, and you can completely fill the joint on the second pass."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Thanks samm!I left it as is to make it as hard as possible for the test, to see how well I could see without any extra guiding lines!I was amazed that I could see so much!When was the last time you was able to see the puddle swirl as the rod metal mixed with the parent   metal, or watch the whole weld as you formed it from end to end?As that is what this lens has done for me!#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:Hardest thing for me has been to force myself to move my head away from the weld.No more closeup looking to see good.  It's in reverse now  I see better from around  24" away.  Pretty soon I'll be using an extension pole to hold the stingerI tried the glasses thing.  SO FAR, BEEN A DISASTERI usually keep my #5 cutting glasses in my hip pocket, flip up the hood, then put them on to chip the slag.  My reading glasses don't cover enough of my eyes to be safe.So now I got 2 pairs of glasses out there.I'm right handed, so only one can hang in my rear pocket by the temples.  So it's usually the cutting glasses, and the reading glasses get set down somewhere.AND WHICH ONES DO YA THINK I STEPPED ON!!!!Clarence went in the house right after.  Didn't come out for the rest of the afternoon"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:When I first started wearing glasses(bifocals)15 yrs ago I bought some cheaters for the hood and torch goggles. I was amazed at what I'd been missing out on for several yrs!!!! What finally clued me in to needing glasses was the inability to read fine print in low light conditions. Still have that problem w/ graduated trifocals. Optometrist explained it's because your eyes work just like a camera, as the pupils close up in bright lite conditions, it makes the depth of field greater. I don't even try to cut or weld w/o my cheaters!!!  And yes, my wife also claims I have selective hearing. After 32 yrs of crushing rock what does she expect!!!!                              MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:I know I'm going astray............How do you like the standard factory rod holder that comes with crackerbox?I prefer 'em.  Easier to open.  My hands don't hurt.  Arthritis settin' in.I bought a 200amp Weldmark holder for the portable welder, and it's pretty stiff, and gonna take some getting used to.Only downside to the factory holder is it is the pits when you start to stick a rod.  Can't break it away without the rod coming out of the holder.  Good reason not to stick a rod  (one of these days I'll get it right)"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:It works well enough. I can't see no reason to go out and shell out hard to come by money these days, for a more expensive one.Maybe one of these days, after I win the lottery or something, I might go out and buy one of those gold plated, ergonomically designed, finger tip controlled, air conditioned models with silk tassels and diamond studded pin wheels, but for now, this one will do! Yup!Stuck one good yesterday, while trying to do a filler on an open hole in that trailer where I cut some brackets off and had to dig into the frame rail, stuck good enough I had to let it loose from the holder and grab it by hand and yank it loose!#1. If you don't like what I wrote, or if it offends you, then don't read it!#2. I am living life the way I see fit, if you don't like the way I'M living, tough sh**!
Reply:One more geezer story for the pile hope this may give some one help. I have an eye doctor that had me show him what a welding position would be and then he set up my bifocals up so that they had a smaller area for distance at the top and say 2/3 of the lens to work with my cheaters. What this did was gave a larger field to follow the "angry eye" and yet I could flip up and walk. This made it a tri-focal idea. The biggest differance was the low amp/volt stuff but also helped with overhead as well.