Huntsman W20 490P Welding Helmet Review
If you don’t mind looking like the man in the iron mask, then this is an excellent welding helmet that offers a range of essential features for a low price. Sometimes pieces of welding equipment can be over-engineered, but this is one piece of kit that focuses on traditional no-fuss elements. Whether you’re looking for a budget buy or a basic model that is sturdy and well-made instead of being cheap and flimsy, then this is a great choice.
The Good: Carbon fiber body
10% of this welding helmet is made from recycled carbon fiber, which makes it both environmentally friendly and extremely durable. This strength means that it will resist everyday wear and tear for decades, so you won’t have to worry about spending out on a new helmet anytime soon.
Lightweight
Many professional welding helmets can be very heavy to wear for long periods of time, but the carbon fiber content makes this one a little lighter. It weighs just 2.3 lbs, making welding much more comfortable and pleasant than if you chose to wear another more massive helmet. This is something your neck will really notice at the end of a long day!
Fit into tight spaces
Huntsman has made this helmet to include a quick-slide filter plate holder, which makes it smaller and sleeker than many other models. As a result, it’s perfect for small or narrow working environments, where space is at a premium. Although its carbon fiber content makes this helmet much more resilient than others, bumping and scuffing it in tight areas isn’t something that you’ll have to worry about anymore!
Heat resistant
This helmet is really impressive regarding comfort while you’re actually working. It deflects heat, smoke, and particles, which keeps you remarkably cool and fresh, even after a long day’s welding. It’s fantastic to find a welding helmet that’s cool, comfortable and lightweight, at the same time as being protective!
Easy switching between lenses
You don’t even have to take off your gloves to switch between the dark welding lens and the clear face shield with this helmet! The welding lens is set to dark shade 10, which gives plenty of protection for the eyes. To return to the clear glass for grinding, there’s a lever on top of the helmet that needs to be swiped, and it’s as simple as that! Your helmet can stay in place the whole time, which will save you lots of time.
Heavy-duty welding
Some welding helmets don’t stand up to high temperatures or heavy-duty welding, but this helmet is far sturdier than you might think. It is suitable for heavy-duty welding, withstanding years’ worth of work, which makes it ideal for professional welders who are looking for a long-term helmet that won’t need replacing anytime soon.
Auto-darkening option
Although this welding helmet is made with a fixed shade lens, it is possible to adapt it to become an auto-darkening helmet if you wish. This can be done by adding an auto-darkening insert, which performs the same job as a regular auto-darkening lens would – except that it’s not permanently fitted to the helmet. You should be aware that this insert would add considerable extra bulk and weight to the mask, but it’s a great option to have if you don’t mind strengthening your neck muscles a little more!
Inexpensive
One of the best parts about this helmet is that it doesn’t cost the Earth! Being priced very reasonably, it offers excellent quality at an affordable price for beginners, while being excellent value for money for professionals.
The Bad: Not suitable for overhead working
Caution should be taken if you attempt to wear this helmet while doing overhead welding. It hasn’t been designed with that purpose in mind, which leaves you exposed to burns and splashes. However, some users have reported that it is possible, so it does just require some care and common sense!
Not suitable for damp environments
If you do a lot of outdoor welding, then you’ll know how important it is to have a welding helmet that can withstand all the elements. Sadly, this helmet isn’t really suitable for use in damp or wet environments. That said, this will be a triviality for many people, as it’s difficult to get a lot of welding done in the wet anyway!
Not auto-darkening
With so many auto-darkening helmets available on the market, it might seem like a step backward for Huntsman to have made a mask without this feature. However, in doing so, they have dramatically reduced the price, making it much more affordable. With the option to add an auto-darkening insert if required, this problem can easily be overcome, giving you the same effect as a more expensive auto-darkening helmet but without the hefty price tag.
Doesn’t flip up
This helmet isn’t fitted with a flip-up lens, which means it just takes that little bit longer to inspect your work each time. Over the course of a day or a week, those few extra seconds quickly add up, costing you valuable time. However, on the flip side (pun fully intended!) this design feature has made the helmet much smaller and more compact than others which do have flip-up lenses.
Prone to breaking
Some users have noticed that the quick-slide filter plate holder is prone to breaking relatively easily – withstanding far less wear and tear than you’d expect. At first, this might be frustrating and disappointing, but if you’re willing to put in a small amount of effort, this can be fixed very quickly, significantly increasing the lifespan of your helmet.
No magnifying lens
The fixed shade lens that comes as standard on this helmet is pretty basic; it does what it says on the tin, and that’s about it. If you want to try some close-up welding, then you’ll need to pick up a magnifying lens separately. This is an extra hassle that you could really do without, but these lenses aren’t particularly expensive or trying to find.
Style
Some people have suggested that this isn’t the most appealing helmet to look at. It doesn’t come with a glossy finish or a range of color choices. However, functionality is more important than looks – and ultimately its appearance is a matter of personal preference anyway!
See customer reviews on Amazon.com.
Features and Specifications:
Weight: 2.3 lbs (1 kg)
Dark shade 10
Material: 10% recycled carbon fiber
Lens size: 2″ x 4.25″ (5.1 cm x 10.8 cm)
Color: black
Fixed front mounting
Made in the USA
Conclusion:
All things considered, this is a fairly basic model with a range of traditional features. It doesn’t come with all the bells and whistles that you might be familiar with in newer designs, but sometimes something simple and straightforward is all you need.
Regardless of whether you find this helmet adequate regarding features or not, one thing’s guaranteed: with a name like Huntsman, you’re going to get good quality. It’s stood the test of time, so although it might be prone to everyday wear and tear (what helmet isn’t?), it’s very durable overall.
Being so inexpensive, this helmet offers great value for money, especially regarding quality and the fact that it’s designed for heavy-duty welding. Finding such a tough, resilient mask for such a low price is very rare, which makes it a worthy purchase if you’re able to overlook its lack of top-of-the-market technology!
Our Metal Fabrication Supplies 5” Angle Grinder & Cutting Disc Combination promises to save you time, increase production and make your operator safer.
What are 4 1/2” Angle Grinders used for?
The most common small angle grinder purchased in the UK is the 4 1/2” Angle Grinder. 4 1/2” Angle Grinders are suitable for light duty tasks, or when access could be a problem. Due to the smaller size, a 4 1/2” Angle Grinder will never be as productive as a 5” Angle Grinder. 4 1/2” Angle Grinders are also more compact which makes them easier to grip and maneuver for some applications. 4 1/2” grinders are purchased more often because they appear to have a lower initial cost when compared to a 5” Angle Grinder. However, when it comes to cost against performance, the 4 1/2” Angle Grinder may not prove to be the best value product when compared against the 5” Angle Grinder.
In a comparison test, we used a Metabo 4 1/2”” Angle Grinder against a Metabo 5” Angle Grinder with the same bond Speedgrit 1.6mm cutting discs. We carried out two cutting comparisons on 8mm x 150mm carbon steel plate. We recorded the number of cuts and average time taken per wound to establish what would be the difference in performance.
How much money would I save using a 5” Angle Grinder?
The average UK labor rate for a Fabricator is £10.25 per hour. This means the 5” Angle Grinders could save a reasonable £1.83 per every hour used. Maintaining the optimum cutting speed also helped to achieve a 21.81% increase in product (based on an average charge out rate of £25 per hour), the 5” Angle Grinders would deliver an extra £5.45 profit per every hour used.
In most industrial applications the larger and more powerful 5” Angle Grinders will quickly give a return on the extra investment made when purchasing. They could save you money, help you make money and in the case of our Metabo grinders and Speedgrit discs, they are designed to be much safer.
Will all 5” Angle Grinders and disc combinations give the same performance and safety?
To deliver a high performance, Metabo angle grinders are fitted with several features.
New patent-pending Marathon Motors which deliver up to 50% more torque, 20% more output power, and 20% more overload protection compared to most other brands.
The S-Automatic Torque Limiting Clutch ensures no kickback arises should a disc jam or snag unexpectedly. This allows for the immediate continuation of work afterward.
Auto-Balance ensures up to 50% less hand-arm vibration in surface grinding and stock removal applications. This allows for longer trigger times without the need for further action, it also contributes to doubling the working life when used with grinding discs.
Side handle Vibratech handle vibration damping for convenient continuous operation.M-Quick System for tool-free disc change at the touch of a button using M-Quick flange nut.
Restart protection prevents unintentional start-up after a power supply interruption.
Electronic soft-start for smooth start-up.
Our Maxitek Speedgrit range of cutting discs are manufactured and tested based on the European safety standards, and the Osa trademark clearly signals to the user the high-quality manufacture and high stands of the safety testing.
The video below shows the difference between our Metabo and Speedgrit Combination compared to our competitor’s combinations. Look and see the results for yourself!
A similar blog post we wrote:
Aluminium Welding: How to Weld Aluminium
Australian General Engineering is a Melbourne based General Engineering business that provides a comprehensive range of complete sheet metal fabrication Services
