TIG tungsten Question

[Earl]

How do you sharpen your tungsten for a TIG torch? Has anyone used the chemical sharpening process?

Thanks,
Earl

 

[xalky]

I use a cheap harbor freight diamond wheel outfitted to my bench grinder. I chuck up the tungsten in a drill and spin it as I sharpen it on the side of the wheel. Perfect point every time, and my fingers don't get hot.

 

[Earl]

Thanks for the reply. That sure looks like a simple and cost effective solution. Are you concerned about the toxicity of the dust?

 

[tarmo120]

I wouldn't worry about that. Because you only grind a tiny bit.
But if you want you could always wear a mask.

 

[Grumpy Gator]

Tarmo,
If you use Thoriated Tungsten please do a web search for the MSDS because breathing even a small amount of dust is really bad Juju.
********Get Informed***Please be Safe*******Gator*******

 

[xalky]

Thoriated is actually radioactive. I use mainly 2% ceriated, because it's more versatile, seems to work just as well on aluminum or steel, and seems to hold up better than anything else. A little bit more expensive than the others but then again you don't need 4 different types of tungstens to get the job done.

 

[John Hasler]

Tarmo, If you use Thoriated Tungsten please do a web search for the MSDS because breathing even a small amount of dust is really bad Juju. ********Get Informed***Please be Safe*******Gator*******

Thorium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium) is only very slightly radioactive: it has a half-life of 14 billion years. The hazard is minimal.

 

[Cheeseking]

We switched to orange stripe ceriated unbeknown to our welders a few years ago. They didn't notice and never said boo.
Main difference is the ceriated req running a slightly higher voltage for a given arc length. They actually work better than thoriated for aluminum welding (AC)
If you have the option to switch its sorta a no brainer.

 

[jamie76x]

You can sharpen your tungsten many ways. The most important thing is to use a dedicated wheel to finish grind the point. If you have globs of contaminated metal on your tungsten you do not want to use the clean wheel to grind it all off. I use a mix of ways (depending on what's closer) On the bench grinder I use the side of the wheel exclusively for tungsten. I also use a hand grinder or the dynafile very often. A belt sander works well too if that's what you have.

 

[Ray C]

I've used the 2% ceriated and lanthalated -they work fine. I also use the side of one particular grinding wheel. The important thing to remember is to always hold the rod by the side and not the end. One accidental jab into the wheel will certainly stick that rod right into your flesh -and probably hurt like heck.


Ray