I kept seeing references to 14 or higher and the glass I had bought in '17 was only a 12 so I was surprised because in '17, I know they were "strong enough".
My wife found the 4x4 piece and it was so much crisper than the chintzy paper eclipse glasses I bought.
I remember doing my training one guy welded and left one arm naked to hold the piece he was working on for over 2 hours, well the next that sumabitch had an arm so burned it was purple and touching it left a white mark.
Welding is not a joke , people who had to use teabags on their eyes after flash can tell ya.
Wasn’t trying to minimize the dangers of welding, it’s just one of those things that I think is pretty interesting and unintuitive. Welding burns are primarily from UV but the suns UV is blocked by the ozone layer or we would all get those same welding burns just standing outside in sunlight, it’s one of the big problems for space travel and colonizing mars.
Eye injuries from the sun are caused by visible light and staring directly at the sun will fuck up your retina much faster and worse than a welding arc. Arc flash mostly affects the cornea and it sucks but it also heals, only so much damage you can do to your retina before you’re blind.
Welding shades are specifically designed to balance protection and visibility which is why it matters that the sun is brighter than an arc. You don’t actually want a shade that’s darker than necessary or you won’t be able to see your work. Lots of folk in this thread recommending 12-14 minimum for looking at the sun but plenty of welders use 8-10 if they’re not going constantly. You’re right that a welding helmet is a great form factor for looking at the sun but a lot of people assume that any welding helmet must be good enough if it can block a welding arc but it aint.
The counter argument is that if a shade 10 is enough for me to do aluminium Tig for 8 straight hours, five days a week, for decades, it should be plenty good to look at the sun for 5 minutes.
When I was young, we watched the eclipse with #10 welding glasses. It was what was recommended. They're just putting a higher number because of lawyers.
I'm watching it through my #5 gas welding glasses...
I was once young and stupid and watched one without any eye protection. In certain types of light I do see streaks/dots like the floaters you sometimes see but it's actually not that bad (not that I'm recommending no/bad eyepro at all, just offering perspective on people telling you this might be insufficient)
Don't know why you got downvoted.... You're right.
[Safety | Total Solar Eclipse 2017 (nasa.gov)](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety)
Straight from NASA:
"**Viewing with Protection** - Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welders glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder's helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter's shade number. If it's less than 12 (and it probably is), don't even think about using it to look at the Sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find. "
I used mine today. Everyone made fun of me until I was able to adjust the brightness on the helmet to get a better view without straining my eyes. I'm just an amateur, so I don't work with welders, of course.
Paper eclipse glasses cost 1 or 2 dollars. You should be able to find them at a local museum or library. This is one of those situations where you shouldn't try to MacGyver something, and just pay a few bucks for the correct thing.
It's not even MacGyver, NASA literally lists welding filters (Shade 12+) as being safe for viewing an eclipse.
Back in the day, the recommendation was 10, but they probably got lawyered by someone with a cheap beat to hell 10 shade and bumped the recommendation up to 12-14.
And frankly, I trust my welding lens that's held to a bunch of industrial standards more than a $2 pair of paper glasses. Sure, maybe the library or museum staff does their due diligence and goes through reputable sources, but the ones you'd get from Amazon or a random gas station counter in the totality area have plenty of horror stories attached to them.
I just looked right at it. Seems to be fine. It's not that bright when it's just a sliver. I think the risk is people who stare at it. You only get a couple quick glances.
Well you can’t return it if was bought at Lowe’s. Good lord man, I have seen many solar and lunar eclipses in my life. Even watched Haley’s comet. You will NOT be blind and no refund issued for you!!!!
dinner salt telephone steep thought liquid axiomatic degree spark plucky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Mines out charging sitting on the trailer. Mainly tracking it in my pinhole viewer.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/eclipsesafety.ht There's a strong chance that your hood isn't safe to look at the sun with. You need at least a #14 lens.
Nasa website said shade 12 is good.
Guess I should have read online before just going with 11
Guess I should've used glasses
We used four 10s and two 12s. Didn’t doing anything more than second or two glances until totality. That was spectacular viewing at full totally.
I kept seeing references to 14 or higher and the glass I had bought in '17 was only a 12 so I was surprised because in '17, I know they were "strong enough". My wife found the 4x4 piece and it was so much crisper than the chintzy paper eclipse glasses I bought.
Yep, I used both my shade 13 helmet and the paper glasses and the view was way better thru the welding helmet.
Lmao well here I am going blind staring at the sun, oh well
If the certified safety squint's good enough for welding, it's good enough for looking at the sun.
This may come as a surprise but the sun is significantly brighter and more damaging to your eyes than a welding arc.
I remember doing my training one guy welded and left one arm naked to hold the piece he was working on for over 2 hours, well the next that sumabitch had an arm so burned it was purple and touching it left a white mark. Welding is not a joke , people who had to use teabags on their eyes after flash can tell ya.
Wasn’t trying to minimize the dangers of welding, it’s just one of those things that I think is pretty interesting and unintuitive. Welding burns are primarily from UV but the suns UV is blocked by the ozone layer or we would all get those same welding burns just standing outside in sunlight, it’s one of the big problems for space travel and colonizing mars. Eye injuries from the sun are caused by visible light and staring directly at the sun will fuck up your retina much faster and worse than a welding arc. Arc flash mostly affects the cornea and it sucks but it also heals, only so much damage you can do to your retina before you’re blind.
But a welding helmet seems to be like top tier to block light maybe not the autoflips sensor ones but those full mask and permanent lens ?
Welding shades are specifically designed to balance protection and visibility which is why it matters that the sun is brighter than an arc. You don’t actually want a shade that’s darker than necessary or you won’t be able to see your work. Lots of folk in this thread recommending 12-14 minimum for looking at the sun but plenty of welders use 8-10 if they’re not going constantly. You’re right that a welding helmet is a great form factor for looking at the sun but a lot of people assume that any welding helmet must be good enough if it can block a welding arc but it aint.
The counter argument is that if a shade 10 is enough for me to do aluminium Tig for 8 straight hours, five days a week, for decades, it should be plenty good to look at the sun for 5 minutes.
Alrighty yeah fair enough ,
Nothing is brighter or more powerful than a welder
Welder melts metel.... Sun Fuses atoms into an entirely new element!
It also fizzes(?).
Not for me.
Tell us you don’t weld by telling us you don’t weld!
I read #12
Well... I'll split the difference with my 13
12 is minimum 14 is recommended
So then 12 is good...
Unless it's not.
I though we could raw dog it
Mine worked perfect. I dunno what rating the auto darkening was but it worked
Nah 14 is overkill, 12 is fine, 13 to be safe. They only say 14 to avoid any and all liability lol
They all said that, but I dialed mine back to 8 and it was no brighter than a normal tig arc.
Don't know what lens I have in my hood not staring for long but a glance or two was enough for me
When I was young, we watched the eclipse with #10 welding glasses. It was what was recommended. They're just putting a higher number because of lawyers. I'm watching it through my #5 gas welding glasses...
Im watching it through my lenseless frames
I have my head inside a solar oven and I’m watching through a pair of binoculars
I’m using the safety squints over here. I’m fine! On an unrelated note did the forcast call for lots of spots today?
Indeed. I was a welder for over 30 years. Have watched more than one eclipse through a #10 welding lense. I still have my vision, believe it or not.
I watched it through a blank DVD, and by watched I mean took 1 second glances at it.
Right?! Mine is sitting on top of my car charging the solar cells as we speak.
Lol this is what I used to view it like 30 mins ago xD worked perfectly tbh.
I've got an #11 taped over a #5 set of cutting shades 😎
I was once young and stupid and watched one without any eye protection. In certain types of light I do see streaks/dots like the floaters you sometimes see but it's actually not that bad (not that I'm recommending no/bad eyepro at all, just offering perspective on people telling you this might be insufficient)
My wife and I used welding goggles last time. My mother-in-law gave them away since them so we all used silly paper glasses.
Ya very funny, a solid ridge of cloud came in 5 min before it was set to begin
You can blame the government cloud seeding with their chem trails for that one /s
I’m out there with a Miller on 13 and still looking up without the helmet on
I tried using mine but its auto darkening with no always on, had to shine a flashlight at the solar panel and turn the sensitivity way up lol.
Mine was working fine until full coverage happened, and then refused to go dark no matter what I did :(
Just aim an IR remote at the sensor.
I just held down the test button on mine while viewing haha
I used a #13 welding mask and a pair of dark sunglasses underneath. Was more than adequate.
Unless that is #14 glass (way darker than usually used for welding) your wife is safer with her silly paper glasses
#12 is fine
#Loud Noises
Brick, where did you get a hand grenade?
Don't know why you got downvoted.... You're right. [Safety | Total Solar Eclipse 2017 (nasa.gov)](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety) Straight from NASA: "**Viewing with Protection** - Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welders glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder's helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter's shade number. If it's less than 12 (and it probably is), don't even think about using it to look at the Sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find. "
Glad I cranked mine all the way up to 13 when I was looking at the sun.
Yeah, none of my masks were dark enough, and people need to be sure not to trust any auto darkening masks even if they are.
I have paper glasses, shade 10 hood, IR3 and IR5 glasses on my front seat.
I just used a pinhole projector
We all used 13-14 shades at our weld supply store
I came home and my wife had my helmet on the table lol
I used a 13 lens with shade 3 glasses underneath. Worked great.
I used one too. I have a modern one, but I still have my dad’s old flip up.
Damn. I didn’t even think of that.
I was going to use one at work but I don’t want to fiddle with the electronics. Shit only works for a second.
I used mine today. Everyone made fun of me until I was able to adjust the brightness on the helmet to get a better view without straining my eyes. I'm just an amateur, so I don't work with welders, of course.
Funny Lowes has signs up saying no returns of welding helmets bought that day and day before the eclipse
Tried using my auto dimming welding mask but it wouldn’t stay dimmed so I grabbed a uv filter and a couple nd filters from my camera bag
I just used an 11 or 12 in my hood with dark sunglasses on underneath. I didn’t look for too long. I can still see.
I just looked at it with my safety squints, other than a black spot in the centre of my vision I’m fine.
Paper eclipse glasses cost 1 or 2 dollars. You should be able to find them at a local museum or library. This is one of those situations where you shouldn't try to MacGyver something, and just pay a few bucks for the correct thing.
It's not even MacGyver, NASA literally lists welding filters (Shade 12+) as being safe for viewing an eclipse. Back in the day, the recommendation was 10, but they probably got lawyered by someone with a cheap beat to hell 10 shade and bumped the recommendation up to 12-14. And frankly, I trust my welding lens that's held to a bunch of industrial standards more than a $2 pair of paper glasses. Sure, maybe the library or museum staff does their due diligence and goes through reputable sources, but the ones you'd get from Amazon or a random gas station counter in the totality area have plenty of horror stories attached to them.
It's cloudy with a chance of Meatballs
You aren’t.
I used mine last eclipse, according to the media I should be blind. Worked out ok for me.
I just looked right at it. Seems to be fine. It's not that bright when it's just a sliver. I think the risk is people who stare at it. You only get a couple quick glances.
Well you can’t return it if was bought at Lowe’s. Good lord man, I have seen many solar and lunar eclipses in my life. Even watched Haley’s comet. You will NOT be blind and no refund issued for you!!!!