Welding helmet shade chart
The minimum shade for your process and amperage, taken from OSHA's own table rather than from a forum thread.
Minimum protective shade by process and current
| Process | Arc current | Minimum protective shade |
|---|---|---|
| Shielded metal arc welding (stick) | Less than 60 A | 7 |
| Shielded metal arc welding (stick) | 60–160 A | 8 |
| Shielded metal arc welding (stick) | 160–250 A | 10 |
| Shielded metal arc welding (stick) | 250–550 A | 11 |
| Gas metal arc welding (MIG) and flux-cored | Less than 60 A | 7 |
| Gas metal arc welding (MIG) and flux-cored | 60–160 A | 10 |
| Gas metal arc welding (MIG) and flux-cored | 160–250 A | 10 |
| Gas metal arc welding (MIG) and flux-cored | 250–500 A | 10 |
| Gas tungsten arc welding (TIG) | Less than 50 A | 8 |
| Gas tungsten arc welding (TIG) | 50–150 A | 8 |
| Gas tungsten arc welding (TIG) | 150–500 A | 10 |
| Plasma arc cutting (light) | Less than 300 A | 8 |
| Plasma arc cutting (medium) | 300–400 A | 9 |
| Plasma arc cutting (heavy) | 400–800 A | 10 |
| Torch brazing | — | 3 |
| Torch soldering | — | 2 |
What welders actually use
The OSHA figures are minimums. In practice, most home welders sit one or two shades above the minimum for comfort, because the minimum is the darkest shade you must have, not the most comfortable one to work through.
For flux-core or MIG in the 60 to 160 amp range — which covers essentially all of Level 1 and Level 2 — the minimum is shade 10 and most people run 10 or 11. Below that you are squinting; above it you lose the ability to see the joint outside the immediate puddle.
OSHA explicitly allows going one shade lighter than the table where the specified shade is too dark to see the weld zone, as long as you stay above the stated minimum. That is worth knowing, because straining to see through an over-dark lens is its own hazard.
Why plasma cutting is lighter
It surprises people that cutting at 50 amps needs a lighter shade than welding at 50 amps.
Shade requirements track the radiant energy reaching your eyes, and that depends on the process, not simply on the current. A plasma cutting arc is largely confined within the torch nozzle and the kerf, so much less of it reaches you. OSHA's minimum for light plasma cutting under 300 amps is shade 8, against shade 10 for MIG at 60 to 160 amps.
The practical consequence: a helmet whose shade range stops at 9 is awkward for plasma work because its lightest dark state is darker than you want. Level 4 is where that bites.
The light state, which the table does not cover
Every auto-darkening helmet also has a light state — what you see through when no arc is present. Typically shade 3 or 4.
It matters more than people expect. A light state of 3 or 4 lets you position the gun accurately on the joint before you strike, which is most of what makes a weld start where you intended. Darker light states mean lifting the hood, positioning, dropping it, and hoping nothing moved.
The UV and infrared filtering is present in the light state too, because it is built into the lens rather than into the electronics. That is why a compliant helmet with a dead battery still blocks UV.
Variable shade, fixed shade, and what to buy
Fixed-shade auto-darkening helmets darken to one preset shade, usually 10. Cheaper, and fine if you only ever run one process at one current.
Variable-shade helmets let you set the dark state, typically across 9 to 13, and better ones start at 5 to cover plasma cutting.
For a home shop, variable shade is worth the small premium, because the first time you weld something noticeably thicker or thinner than usual you will want to move.
Sensitivity and delay, in one paragraph
Sensitivity sets how much light triggers the lens — turn it down if ambient light or a neighbor's arc is setting it off, up if it is failing to trigger at low amperage. Delay sets how long the lens stays dark after the arc stops; longer delay protects against the afterglow of a hot weld pool, shorter lets you see the result sooner. Both are comfort controls, and neither changes the protection the lens provides.
The shade that catches people out
Plasma cutting is the entry most often read wrongly, because the minimum is lighter than welding at the same current — shade 8 under 300 amps. A helmet whose weld range starts at 9 or 10 cannot reach it, and one fixed too dark leads to lifting the hood to see the cut line, which is the actual hazard. Helmets for plasma cutting covers which ones reach it.
Two companion pages use this chart rather than repeat it: best welding helmets for stick welding applies it to the process that sits at the darkest end of the range, and how to test an auto-darkening welding helmet covers how to confirm your lens is actually reaching the shade you selected.
What we would buy
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1. Covers the whole table
Lincoln Electric VIKING 3350
Shade 5 to 13 variable, so one helmet spans plasma cutting through heavy stick.
The practical consequence of the table on this page is that a helmet whose range stops at 9 cannot serve plasma cutting, where OSHA's minimum for light cutting is shade 8.
Lincoln publishes a variable 5 to 13 range on the VIKING 3350, which covers every row in the table below that a home shop will encounter — including Level 4.
What works
- 12.5 sq in of view at 1/1/1/1 clarity is the combination that makes a helmet stop being something you tolerate
- The external grind button means you switch modes without lifting the hood — the single feature you notice most every day
- Shade 5 low end covers plasma cutting, so one helmet spans all four levels
What does not
- Costs several times a budget auto-darkening helmet
- Physically large, and in a tight corner the shell finds things to bump into
2. Best for the low end of the table
ESAB Sentinel A60
Shade 3/5 to 13 plus a 2-amp trigger rating for low-current TIG.
At the low-amperage end of the table there are two separate questions: what shade you need, and whether the lens will detect the arc at all.
ESAB publishes shade 3/5 to 13 in half-shade steps, four arc sensors, and a DC TIG rating down to 2 amps. The second figure is what makes it usable at the amperages where OSHA's minimum for gas tungsten arc welding is shade 8.
What works
- Published DC TIG rating down to 2 A — the one specification that decides whether a helmet is usable on thin stainless
- 13.02 sq in at a full 1/1/1/1 optical class, which is a combination almost nothing else offers
- Half-shade increments and shade lock let you settle on an exact shade rather than jumping between whole numbers
- External grind button, so switching modes does not mean lifting the hood and losing your torch position
What does not
- The most expensive helmet on this site apart from the Miller, and much of what it adds over a VIKING 3350 is refinement
- Nine memory settings is more configuration than a home shop running one or two processes will ever use
- Replaces the outgoing Sentinel A50, so older reviews and accessory guides may not match this shell
Questions people actually ask
What welding helmet shade do I need?
It depends on process and current. For MIG or flux-core at 60 to 160 amps, OSHA's minimum protective shade is 10. For TIG under 150 amps it is 8, and for light plasma cutting it is 8.
Most people run one shade above the minimum for comfort. OSHA allows going one lighter than the table where the specified shade is too dark to see the weld zone, as long as you stay above the minimum.
What shade for MIG welding?
Shade 10 is OSHA's minimum for gas metal arc welding between 60 and 500 amps, which covers essentially all home MIG work. Below 60 amps the minimum drops to 7.
Many welders use 10 or 11 in practice, choosing by how clearly they can see the puddle.
What shade for TIG welding?
Shade 8 is OSHA's minimum for gas tungsten arc welding up to 150 amps, rising to 10 above that.
The bigger practical question at low TIG amperage is not the shade but whether the lens triggers at all — check the helmet's minimum amperage rating.
What shade for plasma cutting?
Shade 8 is OSHA's minimum for light plasma arc cutting under 300 amps, which covers all home plasma work.
That is lighter than welding at similar currents because much of the plasma arc is confined within the nozzle and the kerf, so less radiant energy reaches you.
Can a shade be too dark?
Yes, and OSHA addresses it directly: where the specified shade is too dark to see the weld zone, you may use the next lighter shade that still gives a sufficient view, without going below the stated minimum.
Straining to see through an over-dark lens produces poor welds and its own eye strain.
Sources
Read next
- The best welding helmets for plasma cutting
Plasma needs shade 8, not 10, plus a lens that triggers on an arc partly hidden in the kerf.
- The best auto-darkening welding helmets
Viewing area, optical clarity and low-amperage triggering, compared across four helmets.
- The best welding helmets for beginners
The purchase that improves a beginner's welds fastest, and where spending more stops helping.
- Level 4 · Plasma: cutting as accurately as you weld
The only rung on this ladder that is about shaping metal rather than joining it — and the one where the machine is the smaller half of the purchase.
- Passive vs auto-darkening welding helmets
Why the nod that drops a passive hood handicaps a beginner, and where passive still wins.
- Helmets and PPE: the gear that decides what you can see
Every level needs a helmet. What the right helmet is changes as the level changes — and a bad one is the most common reason a beginner's welds look worse than their technique.
Back to Helmets & PPE, or start over at Find Your Level.
Ryder M.
Ryder M. is the hands-on owner behind Magoo Media Group. He writes Arc & Bead's buying guides and picks every machine on the site. What every recommendation is based on — and what it is not based on — is set out on How We Pick.