Try a cheater lens like Little John suggested. I remember playing around with magnified hood lenses when I first started production welding, but eventually went with lined bifocal lenses in my prescription safety glasses. I did have the line raised a little bit so that it was easier on my neck. Maybe 1/4" or 3/8"? And I have seen guys who put their up-close correction not only on the bottom of their lenses, but also at the top. I liked the concept but never tried it.

Ambient lighting is a biggie, for sure. Some lighting there is little to no ability to control, but as you said, it may be coming in from the backside of your hood. And possibly from down around your chin area. Check to see if there are cloth extended coverage options specific to your hood or you might have to go with generic.

I see on Facebook they are advertising bifocals on top for guys shooting pistols. Interesting but they are out of my price range.

I wear glasses but my prescription is such that I can't buy off the shelf reading glasses or a cheater lens. I weld enough that I bought a pair of prescribed glasses specifically for welding. Can't see sh!t more than six feet away but I see up close really well !!

I generally have my Lincoln helmet set at 9.5 - 10 and I weld mostly 3/16" material in a well lit shop. I have no trouble seeing the weld. Almost all my welding is done right to left with the torch close to vertical to the weld - this means I'm welding towards me, not away - so the weld puddle is always visible. However, once you develop your technique, speed, etc you will pretty much be able to produce welds blindfolded. Really, as long as you have the tip at the right height, the proper angle and your speed is correct and consistent, you only need to worry about where to start and stop - the weld will be fine.

But back to the lighting issue ..
So I sometimes have a problem with spatter flying over my helmet and into my hair and sometimes getting very close to my eyes. To solve this I took an welding jacket and just made a simple hood that I tape to the top of my helmet. So the besides keeping the spatter off my head it also block any light from above or behind.

I

Who is welding here outside and windy and/or on rusty metal that wants a quality finished weld enough that they are here asking for advice?

You left out one other use of a flux core only machine, they are usually the cheapest machines.

i have this problem occasionally. i tape a shop rag to the top of the welding helmet and let it hang down to the middle of my head. this removes any light from behind hitting the view window.

to help see the weld puddle get your head on a right angle to the weld torch and actual weld area. then pull the weld torch towards you. this will help you see the puddle and the weld joint you are welding. it also gives you a good view of the amount of stick out you have when welding. more, to much, stick out = less penetration and power into the weld making poor welds.
i also like to steady the weld torch with my free hand when welding. this will help from wandering off the weld joint and maintain proper stick out when welding.


i remember my welding class when i went to votech college for autobody classes. the teacher took 2 pieces of thick steel at right angles to each other. he set the welder to get minimal penetration. them we had to lay a 2" bead on the joint. the teacher put the 2 pieces in a vice and snapped the 2 pieces apart by hitting with a hammer on the opposite side of the weld. because there was low power you only got a little penetration.if there was penetration it would remove a nugget of steel from the bottom plate. you can also see the amount of weld penetration on the other piece when you look at the weld nugget. if you were off the joint slightly you wouldn't get any penetration on both pieces of metal and it would be easily seen if you looked at the snapped joint. you couldn't weave between the 2 metal pieces it had to be a single bead straight weld.
to pass the class you had to have 1 3/4" of perfect penetration of the 2" weld. it took me a while to accomplish this task.
this is a good exercise to improve your welding skills and help you see the weld puddle when welding.

I solved the problem of seeing the weld puddle by using a drop light in front of the helmet, pointing at the weld area. With the auto darkening lens set @ 10, and with a "tru-color" helmet, I can clearly see the weld area. My current helmet is a $129 Hobart true color auto darkening helmet (often on sale for $99), it is about 2 years old now, and has replaceable round batteries. Adding that light above the work area sure helped as well (been doing that for 10 years or more). I'm 65 and have been welding full time for over 30 years.

One more thing I've noticed, my prescription glasses have the sun darkening lenses, sometimes they will darken if I'm doing a lot of welding in a short time. I've noticed sometimes they are about 2 shades darker when I lift the helmet. Gene

if you want use a proper light use one of these. they work great.

https://www.amazon.com/Steck-23240-Mig-light/dp/B002YKIM6S

I like that and think it would really come in handy under the race car. Should be here Saturday. Thanks.

your welcome.
for clarification i have never used one. i have heard from several people i have talked to at body shop training classes they work pretty good.

I’ll find out soon.

I'd like to sincerely thank all that replied with the helpful suggestions. I'm going to cut and paste them onto a seperate sheet so i have the handy next time I do some welding which should hopefully be later this week

Two handy charts from a Linde manual that I've kept taped to welder.

Just saying that flux-cored has a purpose.'
A MIG is basically a flux-core machine with gas components added.

I had at the time the best 110 Lincoln mig they sold I used it a few times on sheet metal and I do ok. My friend says I am better than I think but tgats not saying much.
A storm hit and wiped my friends large body shop out. He moved to a small 2 garage door tgst held 6 cars and a large enough outside yard. Lost every thing large Lincoln 220 on a nice cart everything gone.
He calls me and says can I borrow the small 110 mig to do some sheet metal and weld up gates to secure the yard.
He needed to get a few jobs under his belt to get back on his feet
I told him keep it he needed it more than me.
That was 8-10 years ago and the Lincoln is still going but looks like hell after body shop has dirty use.
He did have to change the gun as the trigger wore out.
He welds basic sheet metal to the deck on his mower to cut the grass there.
He proberly needs a bigger one but says he will get one when that one dies.

Handy charts

Yes, flux core has its place. Sometime you have to weld outside, not everything can be brought in to the bench.

Must have never worked in a steel mill. 90% of our welding was stick welding. 6010 and 7018.

No I've never worked in a steel mill, but yes I've burned a bunch of 6010 and 7018's. The OP asked about welding sheet metal, not many people stick weld body panels.

i have an old 1972 AirCo "Dipstick" [name fits me perfectly. ] mig, tig, stick welder i bought back in 1996. it's 200 amps on tig and stick, and something above 160 on mig. [the adjustment crank goes about 1/2" above the 160 amp mark]
it has either .030 or .035 wire in it all the time, and the only service i have done is replace the liner twice, and the usual tips and gun barrels.
that thing is HUGE, and is on wheels. it has a lifting ring on the top, and it took my engine crane to unload it.
i have a new tig torch setup still in the box i have been going to try for years now, but i never get around to it.
for exhaust work or body panels, i have a century 110v that has .023 wire in it.
for big stuff, i have a 1970 lincoln "tombstone" i bought new. there has been many 6010, 6011, 7018, jet rod, and others burnt through that thing over the years, and i'm glad i kept it all this time. i have had to do nothing to it service wise.
my one peeve is guys throwing an arc on the ground clamp before they start. why do guys do that ? that sure dicks up the clamp !
if i need to do a test, i have lots of scrap to use for that. boneheads !

for a lid, i started out with an HTP Stryker. that thing worked great for many years, but as my old eyeballs got some mileage on them, i bought a lid [i can't remember the name or model] that had a JUMBO viewing screen. that is larger than the common BIG screen. it also has a knob on the outside left side that can fine tune the lens color number.

if i need extra light to see the weld joint when using the mig, i tape on one of those small, round Hobo Fright "freeby" flashlights to the mig torch.

I have a Miller 350p. Sometimes I hate it and wish I still had my Hobart 140 handler.