Really NOOB question about plasma cutting

I had my plasma cutter out this afternoon cutting some aluminum. The thing I discovered was that I really couldn't see what I was doing with my auto-darkening welding helmet. The torch is between the arc and the helmet most of the time so the helmet just stays dark. This is unlike welding where the arc still provides enough light to turn on the helmet and enough to allow me to see where I'm working. I took the helmet off. I made much nicer cuts and only "flashed" myself occasionally. Even still, the flash wasn't enough to be painful like it is those times when I forget to turn my helmet on when welding or accidently strike an arc.

Am I wrong? I haven't done this that much so please fill me in.

can you set your helmet to torch cutting mode ? it's like a pair of super dark glasses … does fine for protecting your eyes when cutting with a torch, but will flash the E36 M3 out of you if you forget to turn it back when you switch to welding

Perhaps it's time to upgrade helmets. Mine is from the late '90s and has no such mode.

order these for $10 and feel better about yourself

http://www.eastwood.com/plasma-shades.html?srccode=ga220010&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=zzproduct_ads&adtype=pla&kw=&matchtype=&network=g&creativeid=27631103247&placement=&producttargetid=54067466247&gclid=ck-_2--eml0cfq2hogodzaoa-g

Or do the (possibly dumb) thing that I did and just wear your darkest pair of sunglasses.

I use some dark glasses (safety) from the welding shop probably for gas cutting.

Welding requires a shade #10 lens. Cutting, either plasma or torch, only requires something like a shade 5 or 6. Welding equipment is way too dark for cutting. Usually a good pair of dark sunglasses is fine for plasma cutting. http://www.grainger.com/content/lss_EyewearGuide http://www.chem.purdue.edu/chemsafety/training/ppetrain/shades.htm