Does Your Welding Helmet Need Glasses?

TIG is such a precise process that an extremely skilled welder could weld an aluminum can together without damaging the metal. So it’s no surprise that welding with TIG requires lots of skill and a keen eye.

But what happens when that keen eye starts to go?

Eye sight loss is a fact of life. With every passing year we all get a little older and our eyes get a little worse, especially under the strain of use. Watching eye sight slip further and further away from 20/20 is scary enough for anyone, but for TIG and all other welders whose career depends on detailed work, fading eye sight can be even more worrisome.

Glasses can help, but they are difficult to wear under a welding helmet. For many, the best solution comes in the form of special lenses that can be inserted into a welding helmet to help magnify the welder’s view or correct the welder’s vision. Think of them as reading glasses, but for high-powered, metal-melting, electric arcs.

Commonly called “cheater lenses”, these inserts help enhance your view of detail work and can improve your welding in general.

You can find a cheater lens to fit just about any brand of welding helmet. They also come in a variety of magnifications. The lenses are readily available online or wherever you purchase your welding supplies. In fact, many newer hoods come equipped with clips or lens holders specifically designed for attaching magnification lenses to your mask.

Magnification lenses are so easy to attach and remove that they’re an equally ideal solution for welders who use their own equipment, or welders who share equipment on the job site.

Because cheater lenses are essentially magnifying glasses, more eagle-eyed welders can also use them to get a better view of the work. The closer you can get to your work, the better your craftsmanship.

They aren’t called “cheater lenses” for nothing.

To hear more about cheater lenses from people who have some experience using them, reach out to your fellow welders at the AWS Online Forum. And if you’re looking for more blogs, online courses, virtual conferences and other digital tools to help you enhance your welding career, we invite you to visit AWS Learning.

Do you, or have you, ever used cheater lenses? Share your experiences and advice in the comments below.