Yes, I used my arc welding shield. I have an auto-darkening helmet that I use for arc welding, but decided that the hand-held welding shield with thick dark glass is better for observing the eclipse.
Using it for a short duration is fine. What you don't want to do is extended exposure of the eclipse. Ten to fifteen seconds with a shield at a time won't do harm to your eyes. People are crazy to stare at the Sun for an hour with inappropriate glasses, and risk damaging their eyes. I've never had a problem looking at the Sun for a couple seconds unprotected, ever since I was a kid. Long duration is a problem.
There is a particular problem that occurs when looking directly at a partial solar eclipse, that doesn’t occur at any other time. The eyes dilate, because the light level is low. But the portion of the sun that is still visible behind the moon is as bright as any other time, only over a much smaller angular diameter. So it will burn tiny little holes in the retina.