Published October 6, 2026
What to wear when welding
OSHA’s filter-lens guide in 1910.252 is organized by operation and electrode size. The calculator prints a rod diameter. That is the join.
The helmet rule
The selection paragraph is not a suggestion about comfort. Helmets or hand shields shall be used during all arc welding or arc cutting operations, excluding submerged arc welding. Helpers or attendants shall be provided with proper eye protection. Helmets and hand shields shall be arranged to protect the face, neck and ears from direct radiant energy from the arc. Helmets shall be provided with filter plates and cover plates designed for easy removal. Lenses shall bear some permanent distinctive marking by which the source and shade may be readily identified. Those sentences are 1910.252(b)(2).
The same section says the shade recommendations may be varied to suit the individual’s needs. Varying them is still a shade choice under that guide. It is not permission to weld an arc with clear glasses.
Shade numbers OSHA actually printed
1910.252(b)(2)(ii)(H) is a guide for shade numbers. The arc rows this calculator can meet are:
| Welding operation | Shade No. |
|---|---|
| Shielded metal-arc welding — 1/16-, 3/32-, 1/8-, 5/32-inch electrodes | 10 |
| Gas-shielded arc welding (nonferrous) — 1/16-, 3/32-, 1/8-, 5/32-inch electrodes | 11 |
| Gas-shielded arc welding (ferrous) — 1/16-, 3/32-, 1/8-, 5/32-inch electrodes | 12 |
| Shielded metal-arc welding — 3/16-, 7/32-, 1/4-inch electrodes | 12 |
| Shielded metal-arc welding — 5/16-, 3/8-inch electrodes | 14 |
The rest of that guide covers atomic hydrogen welding, carbon arc welding, soldering, torch brazing, oxygen cutting, and gas welding. Those rows stay on the OSHA page. This site does not calculate them.
Worked example from the stick tab
Enter 250 mils on the stick tab and choose clean. The function prints 1/8 inch E7018. One-eighth inch is inside OSHA’s first shielded metal-arc row, which is shade 10. Enter 125 mils and choose clean. The function prints 1/16 inch E7018. That diameter is in the same row, still shade 10. The largest rod the function stores is 5/32 inch, which is still shade 10 on that row. The calculator never prints a 3/16 inch electrode, so it never lands on OSHA’s shade 12 stick row by itself.
TIG is gas-shielded arc welding in that table. At 125 mils the TIG tab prints 3/32 inch tungsten for steel and for aluminum. Three-thirty-seconds is one of the diameters OSHA lists. The ferrous row is shade 12. The nonferrous row is shade 11. The table is by operation and electrode size. It is not a column of amps, so a 90-amp bead and a 140-amp bead on the same 1/8 inch stick electrode are the same shade row in this regulation.
- Run the stick or TIG tab and read the electrode or tungsten diameter it prints.
- Find that diameter in the 1910.252(b)(2)(ii)(H) row for the process you are actually running.
- Use that shade. Do not build a shade from the amp number. The regulation’s table does not.
The diameters the stick tab stores, and the amp windows that go with them, are on the stick welding amperage chart.
Clothing
1910.252(b)(3) says employees exposed to the hazards created by welding, cutting, or brazing operations shall be protected by personal protective equipment in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.132. Appropriate protective clothing required for any welding operation will vary with the size, nature and location of the work to be performed. This page does not add a glove thickness, a leather grade, or a jacket weight on top of that sentence.
1910.252(b)(2)(iii) covers people standing next to the arc: where the work permits, the welder should be enclosed in an individual booth painted with a finish of low reflectivity, or enclosed with noncombustible screens similarly painted. Workers or other persons adjacent to the welding areas shall be protected from the rays by noncombustible or flameproof screens or shields, or shall be required to wear appropriate goggles.
A common mistake
Picking a shade from an amp chart that is not the OSHA table, then calling it 1910.252. The table in the regulation is the one above. Filter lenses must also meet the transmission test in the consensus standards listed in 29 CFR 1910.133(b)(1). A darker number is not automatically the requirement, and a lighter number is not automatically enough.
Limits
This is the federal shade guide and the helmet rule, tied to a diameter the calculator prints. It is not a shop hazard assessment, a respirator selection, or a substitute for 1910.132. If the metal is coated, galvanized, or stainless in production, the fume rules are a different subsection. Galvanized fume controls on this site are on how to weld galvanized steel safely. The stainless ventilation sentence is on how to TIG weld stainless steel.
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Frequently asked questions
What shade does OSHA list for a 1/8 inch stick electrode?
Shade 10. In 29 CFR 1910.252(b)(2)(ii)(H), shielded metal-arc welding with 1/16-, 3/32-, 1/8-, and 5/32-inch electrodes is shade 10. The stick tab’s largest rod is 5/32 inch, so every rod it prints is in that row.
Does OSHA’s table in 1910.252 sort shades by amperage?
No. The guide in 1910.252(b)(2)(ii)(H) is by welding operation and, for the arc rows, by electrode size. This page does not invent an amp-to-shade column.
Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below. Spot an error? Email [email protected].
Sources
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.252, Welding, Cutting, and Brazing. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.252. Accessed October 6, 2026.