Welding Curtains and Screens are Just plain Necessary

Steiner Welding Screen Module — Orange Transparent Vinyl, 6Ft. x 6Ft., Model# 53666

Welding curtains are a necessity for any welding contractor. Can you imagine doing a welding job at a job site and having some young administrative assistant walk by and get flash burns because you did not shield your arc with a welding curtain?

What a nightmare that could turn into?

An on the job injury (OJI) report with your company name listed along with the words “unsafe practices” .

Its much easier to just use a welding screen whenever there are people passing by... everyday people who may not be familiar with the hazards of a welding arc.

Sure You and I dont think much about it and we know to just put up a hand to block the arc, but children and even adults who have never been around welding just dont know... They might even stare.

YOU NEED A WELDING SCREEN.

Welding screens need to be made from a transparent material that is dark enough to block the rays of a welding arc but not too dark to see a forklift coming at you. Orange, blue, and yellow seem to be popular colors.

Sparks from a grinder are also a hazard and welding screens are a good way to block and particles flying thru the air from a high speed grinder.

I have made several sets of temporary welding curtains in my career out of uni-strut and conduit, but now they are readily available in kit form from welding supply stores as well as online stores like Northern Tool.

In fact, I just bought a set myself so that when I am welding in my garage... I can set it up in front of the door so that the grand-kids wont get flashed if they wander down the stairs to see what Papa is up to. ( a note if you are thinking of buying one from Northern...the ad shows a set of 3 curtains...you only get one 6ft x 6ft curtain for around 80 bucks.)

It cost me about 80 bucks from Northern Tool and I put it together in like 10 minutes. The good thing is that I can take it apart and store it if I want. All I have to do is snip the zip ties that hold the welding curtain to the frame and then pop the metal frame apart….

That is a really good feature for contractors who carry all their stuff with them from job to job in a small trailer.

I know some of you are thinking “ I could whip a frame together in less than an hour myself and save the 80 bones”. Yes you could but you still have to buy the curtain material and your frame will probably not disassemble as easily. And unless your time is free, you aren’t going to save much money.

Personally, I am a busy man. I could have made one myself but for the money, I am glad I just ordered it.

Its light as a feather, and will also make a good backdrop for all the video I am going to shoot in 2010.

…stay tuned for the weekly videos.

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