Fall is just around the corner, and schools are getting ready for the next batch of students so we thought it would be a great time to make a few back-to-welding-school suggestions.
Welding Safety First
Welding can be dangerous, after all you’re working with flames and sparks and hot metal, not to mention fumes and heavy equipment. The best way to protect yourself is to always make safety a priority. This is especially true in welding school!
Eye injuries–arc flash, flying particles, molten metal, grinding dust–are the most common welding injuries. If you can’t see it you can’t weld it! So you want to make sure you protect this important asset–your eyes–at all times.
Even when you’re not welding, a good pair of safety glasses can make a big difference, especially in an environment where lots of folks are fabricating something (in a welding classroom, for example). Arc-Zone carries the ArcArmor safety glasses from Miller in a variety of colors (nothing wrong with lookin’ good!) and in both clear lenses and shade 5.0 lenses.
You’ll also want to have a welding helmet. You don’t have to spend a lot of money–you can get a passive welding helmet for around $35, or a basic fixed shade auto-darkening helmet for a little more than a hundred bucks.
Here our buddy Mr. TIG explains the difference between the various welding helmets:
And we’ve put together a more comprehensive paper on selecting a welding helmet (.pdf). It includes a guide to the lens shade you’ll need depending on the type of work you’re doing, information on fixed versus variable light filtration, auto-darkening versus flip helmets, and for the over-40 welder information on cheater lenses.
If you do get injured, have on hand this white paper, Eye Care for Welders (.pdf) for information on what to do, what NOT to do, and when to go to the emergency room.
You’ll need your hands when welding also, so be sure to have a good pair of gloves, or two or three. From heavy duty metal working gloves, to gloves for TIG welding, and even welding gloves sized for women Arc-Zone’s got ’em! And to make sure you get the correct size glove, check out this Guide to Finding the Right Welding Glove.
And to carry everything you need? Check out our favorite helmet bag–actually to call it a helmet bag is to do it a disservice. This back back holds so much more than a helmet! 
Check it out: helmet, gloves, thermos, some rod, a TIG Calculator, a spare shirt…. there may even be a lunch box down there! This welding gear pack from the folks at BSX is stylish and more functional than any welding helmet bag on the market.
So learn as much as you can to make yourself as valuable as possible in this unpredictable job market!
