Welding related reviews

[Mr. 250r]

I was a little bored and i figured i would make some reviews on the stuff i use for welding and i wasn't sure to put it in the review section of tool section but i put it here. Anyways i have seen some people ask about helmets and welders but ill try and review everything i use which is basically all mig welding based

My helmet - Lincoln 3350 Mojo
Continuously variable control – For shade and sensitivity.
6-13 shade control.
Internal
Sensitivity – Adjustable for different welding environments.
Delay – Adjustable from dark back to light state.
Light weight – 21 oz (595 g)
Grind mode – Great for weld prep or post-weld clean up activities.
Magnifying ‘cheater’ lens capable
Hard hat adapter capable

Helmets i own or have used

Hobart Bonehead XVS - Decent helmet *First helmet, got flashed a decent amount of times possibly due to only 2 sensors*
Speedglas - I personally don't like these helmets even though many people do, i tried it and it didn't feel right and i couldn't get used to it but i know many people that would recommend them
Miller MP-10 - Decent to good *Not a fan of passive lens at all but its a big lens so i liked it for that*
Miller Classic helmets - Decent helmet
Miller Digital Pro-Hobby - Decent to good helmet
Miller Digital Elite - Good helmet *Two friends from work ordered them and both had bleeding on the cartridge by the buttons and didn't work but that could've been shipping problems*
Lincoln 3350 - Good to Great helmet *Second and current helmet i use, i mainly bought for the screen size but it had much more to offer*
Large screen passive lens - Decent helmets but not a fan of passive lens
Old rivet style helmet - Decent but too small of a screen for me and its passive

Gloves - Revco BSX BM88 Xtreme Pigskin MIG Welding Gloves

Man these gloves are just pure awesome i wouldn't trade them for any other gloves if i was doing mig welding, you can bend each individual finger instead of most average gloves it tries to bending two at a time. They have great heat resistance and hold up for a long time if you aren't picking up hot metal and what not which ruins gloves pretty fast. I'm about to order a third pair because the finger is down to the liner on one of the gloves because i usually pick up and handle hot metal which is my own fault. They feature a drag and rest patch which is nice but i use drag patch as a rest patch instead and the fit on them is perfect its not too tight but not too loose.

Heat shield - Weldas aluminized 7x8 leather shield

I started using these when i got switched over to pipe welding because i wasn't able to move my support hand as opposed to when i was in fabrication *I do no free hand weld* so i started using these and man they work great. I only use this on my gun hand and so far i only went through one and currently on the second one but the first was my fault. Once it burns through the aluminized piece it still has leather below it which protects better than bare glove and i currently use the burnt through side. They have elastic bands on both ends so they hold well and can be reversed in case you burn through one side

Jacket - BSX Flame Resistant Cotton Welding Jacket

This is the version that doesn't have the leather on it which is fine, i just got it cheap but the regular green jackets will suffice even though i went through a lot of those. I think they are thinner so grinding towards the jacket will eat through them pretty quick and this jacket has no problem with that.

Welding tools

Ryobi corded long handled 4.4A 4.5in grinder - This is okay for light grinding but once you put weight on it it bogs down to nearly useless. I will be buying a more powerful grinder soon
Typical long handled brush
Harbor freight pliers - For some reason only mine cut wire in on certain spot but everybody Else's HF pliers cut fine but other than that they work fine
Flap disc/Tiger wheels or whatever you want to call them usually 40 grit for majority grinding and a hard wheel for grinding stuff out and sometimes grinding stuff down

Now i could review some welders but i only personally only own a harbor freight one which was half off but it doesn't seem to work well....go figure. At work when i was in fabrication i extensively a millermatic 251s and 252s and i really like them both once they're dialed in they are smooth we did everything from 1/8in 1x1 square wall tubing to 1in plate with them but it was mostly 3/16 angle iron and 1/4in stuff. When i went to pipe i was switched to a miller XMT 304 CC/CV which can do quite a lot and once those are dialed in which usually are much harder to find the sweet spot they work amazing but they are priced out of basically everybody but a companies range.

Here is some welds both old and new and the first two are test plates
3/8in thick plate
1/4in gap
1/4in backing strip
45ish degree bevel

The first one i have is one of my many practice pieces and I no clue what the settings we're its probably a little cold welded the second one which only has a root and fill pass looks cold welded and not very tight but its must be the angle of the picture because its the opposite of that and the last picture is an old pipe fit up picture