DIY welding mask brought to you by the WWII-era

In a time when many are taking on DIY face mask projects at home, welders also can make their own welding masks with instructions from a World War II-era Popular Science magazine. Images provided by Josh Welton

With the ongoing pandemic having a depressing impact on both the economy and the soul of our country, occasionally history helps give some perspective. Despite travel restrictions and lockdowns nationwide, we can get pretty much anything we need via shipping. In fact, it’s hard to remember a time when we couldn’t just hop online, find the tool or part we need, order it, and have it delivered to our door in a matter of days.

As COVID-19 sweeps through the U.S., one of the items we were all caught short-handed with are masks. Luckily, it’s a simple enough thing to make, and it’s been pretty cool to see everyone, from private individuals to small businesses to huge manufacturers, pitch in on the effort. Seeing all the different DIY instructions and patterns for masks pop up reminded me of articles in my collection of World War II-era Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines that presented readers with ways to make common items that the war had rendered scarce for one reason or another. And one of those DIYs, in particular, jumped out at me.

In the August 1942 edition of Popular Science, W.A. Conway published his own instructions for a mask. This wasn’t a mask for breathing, though, it was a welder’s mask.

There were measurements and a pattern, and he even suggested that the tin from a discarded 50-lb. lard can could be used for the shield. Another option was using “fiber” as the tin might get heavy over time or hot with close-up work. The tin could be assembled with soldering and rivets, the fiber with rivets.

There are detailed drawings of the slot to hold the standard 2- by 4-in. filter and protective glass, the adjustable headgear, and a threaded mechanism to attach the headgear to the mask.

Nowadays welding helmets are easy to get from multitudes of brick-and-mortar and online stores, so making one doesn’t make much sense. Still, it’s nice knowing that if worse comes to worse and we have to make our own welding masks, we have a blueprint to do so. And if one of y’all wants to try your hand at these directions, I’d love to see the results!

Editor's note: It is not recommended that you use this mask while welding.

Slide Show | 7 Images