How the heck can I see the puddle?

California

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Sonoma County
Practice, Practice, Practice
Yeah. (y)

With more practice I'm getting a lot better at tuning in the welder settings and not veering off the chalk line. Two years after starting this thread, I'm a better welder.

A drape around the back of my head to keep light out of the helmet interior made a big difference.

And one aspect I hadn't thought of in 2020 - I've started using INE flux core wire. It doesn't make the clouds of smoke I was experiencing with random brands.

When I bought the HF MIG 180 used, from someone who was more an experimenter than a welder, he included several partial and full rolls of FC wire. A variety of well known brands and a couple of no-label generics. Obviously he hadn't found a brand he liked. I finally used up that stockpile plus the Forney and Blue Demon wire I had bought locally.

On the suggestion of someone here I bought INE flux core wire (made in Italy, Amazon) and the difference is remarkable.

With the suggestions in this thread and better wire, I now have a better view of what I'm doing.
 
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