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Posted: 4/9/2006 12:23:53 AM EDT
So my wife comes to visit me here at work earlier tonight. I'm bored, so I go the the maintenance shop to clean up a 1 7/8" ball hitch on the grinder/wire brush. Found a piece of 3/8" steel lying on the metal rack, so I fire up the welder and play around for a while (using nearly 15 year old welding rods that we bought by the case and never use).
I finish a bead and flip open my helmet. Wife is standing there looking at me. Yep, she stood there for almost a minute watching me weld. She was 'fascinated' by the bright light. She didn't know that you aren't supposed to look at the arc without shielding. I thought this was common knowledge. So now she is afraid she is going to go blind. |
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Me too. I had it drilled into my head by dad from an early age. Heck, I'm afraid to weld while wearing my contacts due to a bulletin dad had posted in his welding classroom when I was a kid. Something about unshielded exposure to the light of the arc fusing the contact lenses to your eyeballs. But then again, with the proliferation of these shows like American Chopper, most people think you can just close your eyes and be OK. Nothing like welding for an hour in short sleeves (stupid I know) and getting a good tan on your arms. |
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explains why my prescription changes every 3 months...............
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if a person does not know about this rule the flash burn they get will eventually educate them.
edit: NOT FUN |
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I told her that if she went blind, I'd put her out of my misery. |
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It's the first thing I thought of! |
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Flash burn on your eyes is no joke... it hurts, feels like you had a hand full sand thrown in your eyes that will not wash out and your eyes will be extremely sensitive to light for several day's.
with a full min of exposure your wife will likely not be very happy the next few day's... eye drops will help as will buffered eye wash, take her too or call an eye doc... there are some OTC/script products that will help ease the healing process. Flash burn of the eye is one of those things that you NEVER FORGET...at least I never havehad John |
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Did the same thing, my eyes have never been the same. |
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I don't think she was looking at it continuously, just a couple of shots. Probably no more than 20 seconds. Said her eyes felt fine.
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There is still a good chance that she will be complaining about sand in her eyes this morning.
I have done a quite a bit of welding and it seems like my eyes are getting more and more sensitive to it. Now, just short periods of time of reflection flashes can make my eyes hurt in the middle of the night. |
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Burley,
That's good to hear... she will probably be fine then... IIRC it was several hours(4 to 6) before my eyes started to blister bad(sand feeling) once that happened it was down hill from there... constant burning, dry, itching eyes(DON'T RUB THEM) and I could not stand to have ANY lights on... god did it suck big time. Hope she's ok... John |
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Well, it has been almost 3 days, her eyes haven't bothered her at all. Guess she got lucky this time.
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I thought everybody knew that.
I knew a guy who would weld outside in shorts and a wifebeater, always wondered why he got a sunburn at night. He did wear a mask, though. |
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That is disturbing. |
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Joke--just a joke. "Don't do that--you'll go blind." |
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Idiots in shop class that tried to flash burn me when arc welding piss me off.
Of course, I've flashed myself on accident a few times... Sounds like she got just a little dose, nothing more than most kids get when learning to weld. |
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Hmmmm....
I burned my eyes after a day of lighting off a couple of hundred pounds of thermite. That hurt. I got over it though. |
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HA!
i was welding one day and my buddies girlfriend did the same thing, turns out noon ever told her not to look into the light... i finish up a bead and she was staring directly at it, eyes wide open (duh). she deserves to go blind anyways. when i weld smaller jobs i dont bother using a helmet, just close my eyes and hope for the best :)!! but, i do use my helmet when im going to be doing alot of welding (over 5 minutes worth) |
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I did a whole arc job once, wearing only welding goggles. My eyes were fine, every other exposed skin had 2nd~3rd degree "sunburn". Blistered up and hurt for days.
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This was common knowledge in the days when more folks did for themselves and didn't throw everything away.
Now, the average person around here doesn't have a clue. I even have a set of "supervisor's" glasses for watching gas welding from a distance - they can't be used up close because they are not glass, but work well out of range of pops and spatters. Good for visitors. |
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I was gonna say - will she go blind if she plays with it? |
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even if you didn't know it was bad, wouldn't you look away any way due to it hurting?
at least it always hurt my eyes to look at it and from the title I thought this was about the arc of the convenant and was a raider of the lost arc question |
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I'd suggest you refrain. It'll go over like a turd in the punchbowl. |
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If you're ever unfortunate enough to get welding burns in your eyes, try (and I know this sounds stupid) cutting a raw potato in half and holding the exposed part over your closed eye. It really does help.
Don't ask why I had to find out. |
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Flashburn sucks....
So does mig welding over sholder level with nothing covering the top of your head...... So does slag in your EAR.... So does scratching an itch on your forehead with a 10 fuking billion degree tungsen... and to top it off.... a red hot tungsten falling from the torch, landing in your lap, burning through your pants, and trying it's hardest to burn a hole in your nutsak.... Other then that welding is cool... |
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Edited to complete the statement of fact. |
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Back when I was a young-un most Dads had received at least some shop classes in HS and they passed on the knowledge that you didn't look at the arcs in welding or in arc lamps in movie projectors or the big arc searchlights.
Most kids don't have much chance at getting too close to any kind of arc these days. |
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I thought you meant The Arc of the Covenant |
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I think I can top your "common sense stories"
My sister asked me if two babies are carried in the womb at the same time but one is born Dec.1 2005 and the other is born on Jan 1, 2006, are they still twins? She thought no because they were born on different days in different years. Another one from her (just the other day) Me: What is the only letter not to be used in the name of a state? (from a snapple cap) Sister: ummmmmmmmmm..........K Me: Like North Dakota Sister: Nothe Dakota is a state?????? Me: Try again Sister: H Me: Like Hawaii Sister: Hawaii is not a state it's a island Me: Your dumb. forget it, it's Q Sister: oh.....ok |
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I don't think you can "hold it" for a month. |
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If she was 20' or so away from the arc, then she would be OK. It's if you are right on top of the arc as you weld that it hurts you. Farther away, there is less damage because there is less energy. Root-mean-square stuff, right?
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Tell her that if she goes deaf, that'll make a three-fer.... |
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When I was about 9 yrs old my old man was welding on a trailer, I was helping out. He caught me off gaurd and I got a split second shot before i could turn away. By the end of the day it hurt pretty bad. Dear old mom had made an appointment to have a family picture taken that night, she was not going to cancel at any cost. Every time I am over to the folks house I still notice the pic of me in a god awful suit and bloodshot eyes. I honestly had a blister you could see on my eyeball!
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The problem is that women are incredibly naive about the world around them. And pretty stupid overall. Oh well.
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Had to take my brother to hospital once with weld-eyes. They have a gel they squirt into your eyes and it takes the pain away quite effectively. He learned his lesson
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I'm a little disappointed that YOU weren't responsible enough to make sure she knew not to look at the light. Every single time I weld, if anyone is around, I tell them not to look at the light. Just to protect them. When you took your wife shooting for the first time, did you hand her ear protection, or fire off a large caliber handgun and laugh when her ears were ringing? |
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Does she wear glasses or contact lenses? I've had the UV coating from them save my eyes from flash a few times. Thought I was gonna get it good, and should have, but never did. |
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Dad did welding on various projects when I was a kid, so I always knew to never look at the arc. Same with cutting torches.
Kharn |
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+1. |
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