Nice looking set up.
Wear the helmet. Unless you want a sun tan. Plus most burning goggles, if that's what you want to use won't protect your eyes properly.
Thanks Ray! I was messing around with it a little earlier, seems to spark and feed the wire pretty well. Excited to do my "first weld."
As far as the helmet, you got it! Maybe I'll swing by Lowes and see if I can get the "head piece" part of a hardhat to swap out. Or I'll make shift a solution to tighten this one.