Thoriated vs Lanthanated Tungsten

We switched from Thoriated to Ceriated awhile back due to employee health concerns and didn’t notice much difference so it was an easy switch. Now if you happen to be an uber-skilled/picky welder doing some technical and exact welding in a nuclear plant where the specific properties make a noticeable difference in performance or req to meet a code spec there may be some reason to use the Thoria but for the home hobby hackers gluing this n thats... Go orange and be safe.


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I know this is a question from a welding noob who has yet to unpack the welder, but please explain "dipping".
The word in UK culture means pickpocketing.

I am so anticipating getting the welder out of storage .. :)
 
Smoke detectors (americium-241) and Coleman lantern mantles (thorium that turns to fine dust when stared too hard at) are other sources we use without always knowing it. It's all about the dose, and these sources don't offer much of one. At least not for home users.

@graham-xrf Dipping means making inadvertent contact with the tungsten into the weld puddle (or filler rod, same effect).
 
Breathing the dust from grinding thoriated rods is probably the worst danger. As already stated, alphas are more biologically damaging. But alphas have short range, being absorbed even in a few inches in air. But if the dust is in your lung, cells are probably getting exposure from alphas. So a respirator and vacuuming or otherwise collecting the dust seems useful . With the material outside of the body, the worse exposure is gamma radiation, since gamma-rays are more penetrating.
 
Radon is an alpha emitter and that's the reason for concern about it. Without all the radon mitigation we did, our basement would be in the 500+ pico-Curie range. Mitigation is desirable for anything above 4. At least, that's the EPA's guideline. I think other countries are even more stringent.

My shop is in the basement so I'm highly interested in keeping the mitigation system running!
 
We're leaving chrome-6 and cobalt out of the discussion, yep, I use a respirator, the most important is that us old guys set a good example.
 
Cr-VI is a thread unto itself! But don't you worry over cobalt, it's practically inert.
 
r-mm said:
Here is the Y axis bracket I prototyped on the 3D printer. View attachment 354471
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homebrewed said:
Radon is an alpha emitter and that's the reason for concern about it. Without all the radon mitigation we did, our basement would be in the 500+ pico-Curie range. Mitigation is desirable for anything above 4. At least, that's the EPA's guideline. I think other countries are even more stringent.

My shop is in the basement so I'm highly interested in keeping the mitigation system running!
Click to expand...
I had to blast for my basement shop. The cracks in the ledge let in some RADON so I had to put in a RADON-IN-AIR mitigation system. Brought it right down to nearly zero. Everyone spending a lot of time in a basement shop should check RADON levels.
 
Alpha radiation is blocked by a piece of paper. The danger is when it is inhaled or ingested as the surrounding tissue wuill absorb the alpha radiation from dust particles. Of the two, the inhaled particles are the most dangerous as ingested particles will most likely pass through the digestive system before they can do much damage. In contrast, inhaled particles could remain in the lungs for a lifetime.

Long lived isotopes present the greatest hazard. Certain forms of cancer are treated with short lived alpha emitting seeds. The isotopes are highly radioactive but their activity can drop to near zero in a matter of hours, rendering them harmless. The long lived isotopes maintain their activity virtually unchanged for years,
 
pontiac428 said:
For DC, I'm not picky. Temperature range is a consideration for lanthanated, that stuff works better on thinner work. Thoriated and ceriated work best with my archaic Miller Dialarc HF because the arc start isn't as smooth as the new, electronic transformer welders.

Thoriated tungsten has a higher melt temp, which is why it's more "resistant" to dipping. The metals that stick to the electrode will quickly oxidize and migrate to the tip, degrading arc performance. The best solution is not to dip. Do they make training wheels for a tig torch?
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I've done a lot of welding at fairly high amperage for most folks. I compared thoriated to 2% lanthanated running 250A and there is no question that lanthanated holds up better, so I'm not sure why you'd say it works better on thinner work. That's also not just using just one machine either...both inverters and transformers. My main machine is a Syncrowave 250DX but I've done the same work with older Syncrowaves before the digital versions, a 330 A/BP, a transformer Lincoln, a Hobart TIGWave 250 and a couple of new inverters.

I can't imagine how thoriated tungsten can have a higher melting temperature when it doesn't handle the same amount of amperage as 2% lanthanated....lots of references out there that show thoriated handles less current than 2% lanthanated.
 
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