know what I learned today ? TIG burns

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It was in the high 80's and even hotter in the garage so I was working shirtless and making a stand for my new TIG 185 and using my new Plasma too...I did all the cutting and tacking without a shirt on and then put on my leather welding jacket for doing the actual welds.  Came in for dinner and the inside of my arms and upper chest area is bright red.  I can't believe how much I got ?sun? burned from just doing the tack welds and very little welding before I put protection on. It stings worse than a regular sun burn too     so protect yourselves, it does not take much TIGging to turn red and owwey The other thing I learned is that I am going to need a lot of practice with my new TIG machine, but this stand sure won't fall apart, it may not look good but it will stay together.
Reply:All I have to say to this is hahahahaha.  For reals this is something weve all done.  It really sucks.  Especially when everyone else gets to laugh at you.  But you do get a killer tan from it   Plenty of aloe vera.   Keep makin us laugh CHRIS
Reply:I can sympathize with ya Mike....couple years ago I was stick welding a new part for my weight bench and had been sittin on a stool doing the welds. Little did I realize that my wranglers had split at the crotch...I go on welding and welding thinkin everything was fine...untill an hour later..DAMN that hurt...sunburned them puppies pretty damn bad. The worst was goin into work the next day and havin everybody ask...Why ya walkin so funny?....all I could do was to growl at'em and tell them to FO. Lesson from this...always keep yer family jewels covered up when yer weldin...LOL.Rod
Reply:lmao...I was at work bout 5 years ago and had recently been promoted to fabricator at the shop I was working at.  There was a guy there whod been there a while longer then me, but wasnt even really a welder.  He had been trained on the job at this company.  Only thing he could build though were them steel ladders that you find on the sides of buildings.  The type with a guard around it to keep ppl from falling back I guess.  Anyway, this is all he can build, and he was slower than molases on a winters day so he had it all tacked up and Id finished my tank and the foreman told me to help him to finish his welding.  Well I get over there with a stinger and he says,  Mig?  I said  go f'n weld, I weld stick you weld mig shut up and weld.  Well he cant weld with a stinger so I guess he wanted to watch me.  I see him behind me and I yell at him,  quit watchin me you moran, get to work.  After a couple welds, he starts watching me for technique again I guess.   I knew he was there so I just gave up,  and then I hear oh FAWK, and it went on for like 10 minutes.  I kept on welding.  Laughing too, but welding.  He went off and came back as I was carrin the ladder to the outside, he says, you burned me...you burned right on the tip.  Apparently the bb burned right through the crotch of his jeans and he claimed right on the tip of his wanker.  I gotta say after all this time Ive never heard of ssomeone with such luck since.  Ive personally burned a few crotches out on my jeans and coveralls.  It sucks, but it comes mostly from not keepin your body clear of the falling sparks.  Ive never actually had a burn that was bad.  A couple small ones, and a lot of holes in my shorts.  But never right on the jewels.  Guess that makes me lucky lol.  Well we gotta keep it true lolGood luck to y'allCHRIS
Reply:Congrats with your new TA185!!! Pay no attention to the way those morons Tig weld on TV with no gloves or personal protection. That UV coming out of the torch is some nasty stuff. Way stronger than the sun. That sunburn could be the least of your problems with prolong exposures....Millermatic 210Dynasty 200DX Fisher CZ-5Trek 5500
Reply:I didn't pay attention to the TV guys and I knew better but it was hot and I thought, well its just some tack welds I will be ok.  I was not. I am very surprised at how little it took to burn me, I did put on my leathers before I did any real welding, I know better now.  It still stings. TIG must be worse than MIG because in the past, I have done this and not been burned.
Reply:ive been welding with tig a while and myself I dont usually bother wearing too much clothing when I weld whether it be tig, mig stick.  Fluxcore I generally tend to suit up just a pinch more.  That **** gets hot.  But it all depends.  I dont go making no full welds with a tshirt or tank on, but if im tacknig and fitting you betcha.  If im just making a few quick welds or whatever, you betcha.  I do get my fairshare of burns.  But they tend to tan and then once they tan they dont burn.  The spatter burns do hurt, but you learn to keep outta the way of the spatter and they for the most part stop hurtin.  Tig is funny cause Ive heard it a more concentrated arc.  Not sure if thats true, but I do believe theres something to be said for the lack of sparks that fools your brain into thinkin its pretty harmless.  Either way, them burns are gonna get you.  I find its too difficult to always work in leathers, or even longsleeves.  Personally if I have to wear longsleeves I like cotton.  Flannel does get a bit warm, but I like it better than leather.  That leather just too heavy and hot.  The flannel does well to lvie a little longer, and they so cheap too.  I like denim shirts too, but then I hate ruinin a good shirt at work.  As I said I dont mind tacking in tshirts.  Its simple, you just cant escape the rays all the time. If you do a lot of fab you might as well just not worry too much.  If the rays really bother you, apply sunblock.  But either way your better off getting a tan when you feel like it, then when its too hot to wear longsleeves for donig work like tacking and stuff where you spend  very little of your time welding and most doing other things you dont get a hellacious burn cause you dint have a tan    Again the sun block is really the best option.  Beats the heck outta having a red chest and having all your buddies and your wife slappin ya.  Anyway, just my point of input.  Oh and if you go with sunblock, youll want a shower at the end of the day,  all that dust tends to stick to your sunblocked skin....hence why I dont wear either sunblock or longsleeves lol.  Good luck y'all and try not to turn into lobstersCHRIS
Reply:On one occasion, I was welding overhead, sitting on the ground cross-legged.  At some point, a huge chunk of molten spatter hit the ground and rolled right into my crotch.  I jumped out of that hole pretty damned quickly.I mig without gloves or sleeves sometimes and usually end up with a nice tan on my forearms.  I've never really been burnt that way, but I'm aware of the risk.  Spatter burns can suck if you're in a position where you just can't get out of the way.Regarding protection, I have some Carhartt flannels that work really well in mild weather.  I've never had anything burn through 'em.  I had a friend back in Texas that was a pipe welder that would wear what I think were called "brush poppers" which were essentially western-style denim shirts.  He'd send all his shirts and his jeans to the cleaners and get them to put as much starch in his clothes as they could.  apparently, the spatter would just bounce right off the starched denim.
Reply:I just tigged an aluminum box together last week in shorts with no shirt for over an hour. SOB! That hurts! It's turning into quite a nice tan though.
Reply:Live and Learn!!!...
Reply:thanks for posting that, I really never thought about it, but now I will. I am just beginning on the tig thing.
Reply:When I was leaning to TIG, the instructor was showing us around the machines, and set the torch on his lap as he pointed out various things in the booth.  I asked him about the operation of the amp pedal, and he reached over and tapped it with his foot.  The HF came on and shocked him in the balls, and the stinger nearly welded his zipper to the chair.  Whats a day without flippin' like a trout?
Reply:corvus, just curious how the hf shocked him,  my experience is hf is high volt, low amp, you might maybe get a tingling.  and ive never heard of hf shocking someone.  also, how and why was the chair grounded to enable his zipper to nearly be welded to it?just thought id ask,  learn something new everyday on herechris
Reply:Corvus....gotta go with TxRedneck on this one...I fer one would love to know how he grounded himself out in the first place because his zipper would have to be in direct contact with the ground since clothing aint a good electrical conductor (unless he was soakin wet). Also high frequency low amp shocks (Like TxRedneck stated) aint nothin more than the same kinda "shock" ya get from an electrostatic discharge (ESD)..ie..walking across the carpet and touchin the door knob..ZAP!! Besides a little tinglin sensation around the balls every now and then can be a good thing...LOL!! Well I'm gonna be TIG welding this Sat so I might try and duplicate what ya described....Lord knows I could use a little tingle...heh heh heh.....I'll let ya'll know if I weld my zipper to the chair!!!!Rod
Reply:lmao Rod...love to get a good laugh!  chris
Reply:Originally Posted by NavyGuyWell I'm gonna be TIG welding this Sat so I might try and duplicate what ya described....Lord knows I could use a little tingle...heh heh heh.....I'll let ya'll know if I weld my zipper to the chair!!!!Rod
Reply:HELL...i'll do anything to advance the science of welding....lol....well ALMOST anything
Reply:Hey Guys I just thunk of sumthing.  SPF 1000.  Anybody ever thought of Tig'in nude and trying out some really good sunblock.  I can see a whole new marketing avenue for coppertone, with a big hairy guy and an areowave.  They could even put it on moist towelettes.  If your shop doesnt have air conditioning, the sunblock method seems actually like a good alternative to long sleaves.  Any thoughts?Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:well heres the deal,  if your like me you sling your torch across your leg while you arent welding....witha good pair of jeans you will give yourself a nice layer of protection...its not idiot proof, but thats ok.  No jeans,  you will tag yourself.   Good luck guys, but I aint tryin itCHRIS
Reply:Well Chris that sounds like good advice...I hope that smithboy aint really thinkin bout tiggin nude..OUCH!!!! ....LOL....I sure as hell would'nt do it....but maybe I'm just a little to "normal"...heh...heh...heh...BTW wonder why we havent heard anything from Crovus yet...LOLOL
Reply:lmao...yeah..well and besides if I was naked nudey I think id get attention I dont want lolCHRIS
Reply:I'm not going to try unless I can get my wife interested in welding, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. I'm just always thinking of ways to combine different activities and I know lots of folks pay pretty good money to sit in a tanning bed when they could just by a cheap tig machine and get some work done at the same time.  Datona Tig units might have real marketing advantage here, but you're right fella's, safety before humor.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Well when I think of safety, there are some exceptions here.  Like if your all into that sorta thing, and so is your wife, get yourself a leather apron...give her some big black leather boots and a regular jacket, unbuttoned...lemmie tellya now if I cuold my ole lady to go for that yeehaw, but that will happen when pigs fly!  Good luckCHRIS
Reply:LMAO....Chris...GREAT IDEA!!!...you aint been talkin to my ex-wife now have ya???....she promised she would never tell....heh..heh...hehRod
Reply:Hey guys,I tried the sunblock idea (without the wife and just on my arms, by the way, so no pictures to post).  But anyway, SPF30 was enough to stay burn free for 3 hours of fairly continuous tig work.  Because the direction of the light is upward, I always used to get burns on the bottom of my arms (less hair there also), sometimes in less than an hour of work.  Do you think sleevless with sunblock is terribly unsafe?Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.Naw...it aint unsafe...especially with TIG. With TIG all ya mostly have to worry about is the ultraviolet radiation from the arc and if ya got sunscreen on then I'd say yer well protected. I weld all day at work in a t shirt (mig mostly) with no sunscreen and all I get is a little better lookin tan on my arms...just end up with funny lookin tan lines from my gloves..lol. If ya got any other concerns feel free to post'em.Rod
Reply:yeah,  im with rod,   i wear shortsleeve for the fitup.  mig/tig/stick.  when im making full welds, or atleast more than several continous mins, ill throw on some sort of sleeve otherwise my fair skin turns well done lolchris
Reply:oh, but as i was gonnna say,  this still means spending most of my time in short slleveschris
Reply:I can't say much because I am just getting into welding but...you may get a great tan but how about the the possibility of the big "C".  Can the UV from these welding methods increase the chance of getting skin cancer ?ltrNnF
Reply:I would imagine the uv off a tig machine would be as likely or more likely to have that result, because of the exposure distance and concentration.  But, I am not looking for a tan, just for comfort and some degree of safety. I'd use higher spf if I had it handy.  I have been using the tig setup I have for over 15 years now, but only recently started noticing the heat in the summer (...age, right?)  I used to think the old guys sitting around the cow sales complaining about the heat were just using that as a conversation starter.  I now see that, with a little age and some bad experiences, heat matters.  I just wanted an alternative (cheap that is) to insulating and air conditioning my shop.  You might notice that in many of my posts, "cheap" or "inexpensive" comes up again and again.  I am the last of 5 children from parents that were kids in the depression...It has an effect on spending.  If I put ac in my shop, my dad would ride me like a shetland pony.  "Back when I was your age, we had to run around the yard to get cool." Last edited by smithboy; 07-28-2005 at 12:06 PM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:The risk of cancer Is in most cases worse with welding arc of any type compared to the sun.  The Sun is bad,  we all know that.  Its brighter than the arc.  However, the ozone layer does an amazing job to screen out UV.  Thats not to say a lot gets through, but a lot is held up.  THat arc has nothing holding it back.  Every bit of UV coming off it goes strait to your skin.   It scares me when I look at my grandfather and the skin cancer problems hes had.  But its soo hot its hard not to wear shortsleeves.  For me the sunlotion is not practical because the welding and grinding dust sticks to my skin and makes me feel really icky.  I cant stand it.  Ok,  thats just what I have to say.  Good luck y'allCHRIS
Reply:I know what you mean. I did taht a time or two in past but last night I was tig welding aluminum for 2 periods of about 30 minutes each at 250 amps. Took my t-shirt off that night and had fried my stomach and chest.  To hot to wear any more clothes.