Respirator while welding?

[Luckydevil]

I personally have never seen anyone wear a respirator while welding. I did a bit of reading though and it seems that the fumes created from welding are pretty toxic. Why does no one wear a respirator while welding?

Here is one of the sites I came across: http://www.afscme.org/health/faq-weld.htm

 

[byrdman]

Good question. I've always wondered this too. I guess if you've got decent ventilation and you're welding clean, non-galvanized metal you can get by with it?

 

[ranger_dood]

I was just watching a show on Discovery last night where they were building a big strip-mining scoop, and when they showed the guys welding the base together, they were all wearing heavy safety gear including what appeared to be some serious respirators.

 

[rjspitz]

I've seen a lot of articles and threads about the fumes also. Most of the welders have some type of fume evacuation setup next to or above their welding tables. Some do wear respirators.
For the DIY'r, I think just a 20" box fan blowing away from you will work fine. Don't want to blow towards, cause it will blow your gas away from the weld pool.

 

[avsfan733]

i do a fair bit of welding...the place i weld (my school) has one of those remote arm mounted sucker fans...however i don't like that because it screws up my gas. Back when I used my shop at home (basement) which i designed with a lot of welding in mind. What i did was to make a basically sealed room to prevent fumes leaking and bought myself one of these:
http://www.labsafety.com/store/prod..._id=147917&from_product_group=true&parent_id=
along with the remote filter canister and hose

if you want any respirators or integrated welding helmets and respirators this is the place to go. I choose that one because it was less bulky on my head and i was doing chassis work with a lot of inside/upside down welding. Like mentioned, a lot of it comes down to what your welding but safe is better than sorry. I was working on a watermelon launcher with a friend and he was welding without a mask on, failed to clear the weld area sufficiently and ended up in the hospital because old huffy bike paint is lead based.

 

[dodgecharger-fan]

Watermelon launcher?

Pictures please!!!!

 

[kgwld1]

Back when I was welding for a living I would have 25 min passes continuous in large tanks (5000 Gal) I would lay on a board hung in the tank while it would rotate around me I would wear a respirator and also have fume extractors going. But small welding like I do now I don't.


Kevin

 

[avsfan733]

ok wow...thats the wrong link i think they changed part numbers. The one i picked up was a forced air helmet that was much smaller and was only a half face one, i'll see if i can find the number i just pulled that link out of me bookmarks.

kgwld1: the personal reason i decided to go with a forced air helmet was because of my situation of welding in an enclosed space with very limited ventilation. For those out there with bigger more open garages, and doing small amounts of welding I would definitely say that small ventilation dans would be enough. I live by the theory of to much protection is better than not enough.