Tungsten sharpening

[mark4561]

if it's worth it I'll try to keep one end for aluminum and the other for carbon pipe,I use a soap stone and a little arch flash for undernieth the pipe. Would like a see through or florecsent stone if you know where to find one,also anyone ever try those pen's they sell on ebay for turning the tip's.

[ridesideways]

There are loads of times I don't do hardly ANY prep whatsoever on the base material. AC cleans good enuff to lay down acceptable welds in many situations. Not everything is the freakin' space shuttle

heheh ain't that the truth.

i hand-hold my tungsten and grind on an alum/ss/steel loaded bench grinder, rotating the tung with my fingers. i've even done it on little shorty tungs with my fingers just a few mm's from the grinding wheel. whatever though-- it works, the arc is plenty stable enough, and my alum welds don't break.

[griff01]

A dedicated tungsten grinder will offer a consistent taper, for example, which will eliminate at least one variable in an automated welding application... Also some of the machines also offer dust collection which may be a concern in some shops. For some folks, a machine like the Sharpie (which is our most popular, btw) is just a terrific tool for convenience-- its not that you can't prep your tungsten with other methods.

That said, I always say, if it works don't fix it... :-)

I purchased a Sharpie 3 weeks ago and I am impressed with the tool. Thanks Arc Zone.
I had developed a very good touch using a belt sander but I like the Sharpie better. Also, I can tell a difference in the initiation of the arc on DC and AC.

Griff

[tasslehawf]

The only thing that makes the Sharpie useless is when you have a big bead of "dip" on the end of your tungsten. If I'm patient, I'll stick my tungsten into the side of Sharpie and grind it down and if I'm impatient, I'll just break it off.

[Craig in Denver]

FusionKing and Ridesideways:
LMAO!! Sometimes, there is NO mystery.

[10x]

When you dip your tungsten into the puddle and have to regrind it won’t the dipped on metal contaminate the grinding wheel you are using?
Is this scenario a good reason to break off the tungsten instead of just regrinding the contaminated end?

[Andy]

I like using roloc sanding discs on a die grinder. I remove the disc and store it in my small tackle box of tig consumables. This keeps the shop idiots (sometimes including myself) from contaminating it. If it does get contaiminated, a new one is only about $1. They're cheap enough to keep a dedicated one for steel and one for aluminum. Sometimes I chuck it in the cordless drill. Sometimes I freehand.

[fun4now]

When you dip your tungsten into the puddle and have to regrind it won’t the dipped on metal contaminate the grinding wheel you are using?
Is this scenario a good reason to break off the tungsten instead of just regrinding the contaminated end?

i always cut off the glob on the end when i dip my tung. but i don't know if its needed. i just went by the thought it would contaminate my diamond disk i sharpen with.
i'm no pro, so i could be wrong. i just went with better safe than sorry.

maybe one of the pro's will step in and let us know for shore????

[FusionKing]

When you dip your tungsten into the puddle and have to regrind it won’t the dipped on metal contaminate the grinding wheel you are using?
Is this scenario a good reason to break off the tungsten instead of just regrinding the contaminated end?

i always cut off the glob on the end when i dip my tung. but i don't know if its needed. i just went by the thought it would contaminate my diamond disk i sharpen with.
i'm no pro, so i could be wrong. i just went with better safe than sorry.

maybe one of the pro's will step in and let us know for shore????

If you are welding on the space shuttle then you must cut the contaminated area of the tungsten off.
If you are doing "average" jobs working for me I would prolly show you to grind it back so it sparks on all the surface on a belt. IOW grind all the aluminum off untill you hit all new metal. The belt works best for dipped tungsten IMO because it doesn't load up like the wheels do.
If you grind dipped tungstens on a bench grinder then you need to have a place you take off the aluminum before you do the final grind. I have a bench grinder wheel with 2 grooves wore into it and one has a bunch of aluminum and one doesn't.
I actually like the belt sander best and I use the cordless drill to hold the tungsten almost all the time nowadays...it just works so slick, whether using wheels or belts or flapdiscs or a freekin' rock (not really)

[turboglenn]

I'm not near as goos as some of you pobably area ( i'm only 31..migging for 12 years tigging for a few here and there until i bought my 200dx a few months ago)

The Rep from my welding store came to hook it up and use the functions (never had access to adjustable frequency, pulsing etc..)

ANYWAY... HE ground my tungstens on an old dirty 4 1/2'' grinding wheel and layed beads just fine.. I continued this for a day or two until i read up on using a grinder. Now i have the "rough" wheel for de-burring, grinding etc... But have teh smooth wheel for sharpening when i'm at the shop or home. Then i final dress the tungsten with a sanding wheel on the same 4 1/2'' Grinder so there's no "scratch marks" left on the tip and it works beautifully.. I found that if you can't see teh grind marks from dressing the tung then arc stability and welds improve.

But in the real worl, when I'm out on a job and have to get things done i use whatever is available as long as i don't see chunks of foreign metals on it and the beads are just as good..the sharpening isn't as perfectly shaped but it works just as if i used the "stand alone" setup i have at the shop and home.

The biggest differences i've noticed is the shape of the tip, the flat on then end and if there are any grind marks on it. Where i contaminate with a blob or some AL wicks up the tung, even when i just try grinding it off the tung just breaks where teh wicking or blobbing stops so i just go ahead and break them off... You can tell its weak anyway because it takes very little effort t break it where it contaminated and a whole lot more force to break it where it's not.. At least in terms of force used to break a tungsten that is.

One question though...Someitmes i "slip" and the tungsten slides off teh side of the grinder leaving scratch marks about an inch up the side of the tung past the point...Does this hurt anything

But in all reality