AUTO DARKENING FILTERS FOR SERIOUS WELDERS

2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of auto darkening filter lenses to the welding industry. In 1981, Hornell International based in Sweden introduced their patented SPEEDGLAS in Europe and the US market. Soon after, Hornell, partnered with The Fibre-Metal Products Company, the leading manufacturer of welding helmets in the USA at the time, for Hornell to use their ADF technology to produce an exclusive line of ADF's to fit Fibre-Metal brand helmets. The Fibre-Metal brand and tradition of quality lent some credibility to the new product and together, Fibre-Metal and Hornell pioneered the conversion from passive filter lens to the new ADF technology.

From the beginning, Hornell and Fibre-Metal presented the ADF as a serious welding tool designed to increase safety and improve productivity for production welders. Soon after the first movers penetrated the market, the other major welding helmet manufacturers at the time, Jackson, Sellstrom, and Kedman (Huntsman) followed with their versions and technologies and the market expanded rapidly. Each of them also positioned their ADF's as a serious piece of equipment for the production welding industry.

As the industry grew, every significant improvement in ADF's,  from their inception right through today, came from the original pioneers. But over the years, as the market grew, a glut of lower quality ADF's hit the market, mostly from obscure manufacturers in China and Taiwan. Before long, welding machine manufacturers, welding supply distributors with store brands, and a host of Internet Marketers were in the ADF business; but with a different focus.

Somes primary goal was cheapening up the product to drive the price to the lowest possible level. Others proliferated gimmicks and gadgets that did nothing to advance the technology, improve welder safety or increase productivity. Still others turned to graphics to divert attention from inferior ADF's. Perhaps those things have some appeal to part-time welders, or occasional or home welders. But they do nothing for serious, production welders. The welders who weld all day every day and need the best possible tools to keep them safe and productive. That is why you hardly ever see them in real fab shops, or any place where welding is a serious business.

Unfortunately, over the years there was not much innovation or improvement in technology from the serious ADF producers either - until recently. Sellstrom recently introduced their innovative
MAGSENSE lens that responds to either the light from the arc and/or a magnetic field created by current flowing through the workpiece. The dual mode filter improves switching stability and prevents flickering. They are important advances.

But the most significant advances in ADF technology and performance are coming from the Fibre-Metal by Honeywell brand. Their new High Performance "ADC"(Angular Dependency Compensation) series ADF lenses provide major advances in optical quality - the ability for a welder to see his work more clearly. After a long and successful partnership with Hornell, a number of years ago Fibre-Metal began a new partnership with what has turned out to be the best and most innovative ADF technology in the world. Today, the Fibre-Metal brand ADF technology has produced the ONLY ADF lens in the world with a perfect score of "1" in every optical quality phase of the DIN standard, including angular dependency. The new lenses also improve color recognition which can be an important thing to a production welder.

These advances help keep real production welders safer, and are big boosts to welder productivity. And they are the things ADF's were developed for in the first place. So just as it was in the beginning, the major, top brand welding helmet producers are advancing the state of the ADF art, while the rest of the pack continues to see who can produce the most gaudy graphics, cram in the most useless gadgets, and push prices to even lower levels. None of which helps a production welder or the company that employs him.

If you are in the market for welding helmets with ADF lenses, limit your choice set to the major brands of welding helmet manufacturers you have relied on for years. They are the serious producers of ADF's for real production welders.They are pushing the performance envelope; they are making all of the real ADF advances. You will find what you need from one of them.