Hot Rods Tungsten sharpening

Going to try my hand at TIG welding after years of MIG. I got the basics down I think but I would like to know what you guys are using to sharpen the point of the tungsten. Seems like a critical path to me.

 

I tried about every possiable way for a number of years before finally getting a tungsten sharpener. I find it faster and much more convenient and consistent.

 

I use a very old little grinder that has a fine stone, that I keep well dressed. It just takes a few minutes to learn the technique.

You want to sharpen it well, but it's really not going to keep you from welding if it's off a little bit.

 

I have a belt sander that I use to sharpen the tip

 

I use a tungsten grinder as well. So much more convenient. You can have it right beside you when you are welding so if you have sharpen in the middle of some work you can do it right there and not have to disturb what you are doing to get up and go over to a grinder.

 

i use a fine stone to shape it, and a cheap diamond blade from HF to finish it. the little blade is 4" flat thing made for sharpening carbide saw blades, cheap, like 12 bucks or so, i mounted it on the outside of the stone

 

I keep 5 fresh tungstens with me, so I dont have to get up and grind quite so often

A good welder would only need to touch it up occasionally, but that's not me.

 

Me too.

 

I use a green wheel for carbide.

 

I don't own a Tig machine the days, thanks to an ex wife, but i had a fine stone on my bench grinder, and i would chuck my tungsten up in the battery powered drill and spin it while i put it against the stone.

 

I have always done it this way...

 

If you are using 2%, Thoriated (red tipped) tungstens, just be aware that the dust produced by sharpening is radioactive and can be harmful if ingested into your mouth, nose, lungs etc. Thorium, (Th) atomic number 90 is a proven carcinogen. Always wear gloves, a respirator and safety glasses. We had a dedicated grinder that had a vacuum catch bag and once a month it was removed and sent to a hazardous waste facility. Also, don't sharpen both ends of the tungsten to save bench time. Once you remove the identifying color band you will have no way of knowing what tungsten you have.

 

Big Duece is correct, dedicated wheel. By the book there should be a small flat on the very end, not to a point.

 

OK, the topic is sharpening tungsten. On both fossil fuel and nuclear powerhouses when I was welding high pressure heavy wall tubing, we would chuck up our tungsten in a drill motor, fire up a 4 1/2 inch grinder, point the tungsten in the same direction as the grinder was turning and grind the tungsten to a needle point, 3/8 " long, for carbon steel or stainless. We would not use the same grinding wheel or tungsten for both metals to avoid carbon contamination of the stainless. If you use tungsten that has been used to weld carbon steel to weld stainless, your weld will rust. If you use the same grinding wheel on both carbon and stainless, the stainless will rust. If we weren't sure about what the last material the tungsten was used for, it got trashed. We used up lots of tungsten but we didn't have any welds fail because of carbon contamination.

 

Oh Crap! After doing it wrong for 40 years I suppose now I'm going to die. I thought the dust bag was for the Shop Vac.

 

I have a small bench grinder, with fine stones, bolted to the top of the TIG welder. I only sharpen Tungsten with it.

 

A lot of good suggestions. I'm going to add that I use a cordless drill motor to spin the tungsten while sharpening them on a dedicated 6" bench grinder.

 

I do it like Big Deuce, but my dedicated stone has a slight groove down the center now which makes slowly spinning the tungsten easier to make a point.

I have a LOT of experience grinding tungstens. Not because I weld a lot, but because I can sure stick the tungsten into the weld.

 

you are not supposed to spin the tungsten that fast. the electrons flow off the point in a straight pattern, this is why most photos folks have shown show the tungsten running straight onto the grindstone, not spinning

 

Yeah, I was raised to never do the drill thing. Just fingers, and slowly, at that.

 

I made a support thing, so I get the "right" angle.

 

I have a cheap HF 6in grinder bolted to my welder, course and fine stone works for me....

 

Been doing it that way for over 40 years and never failed a certification so far. Maybe I'll start spinning them counter clockwise to make up for my evil ways.
https://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/sharpening-tungsten-electrodes.html

 

Bought one from Eastwood for tungsten grinder hand held and diamond disc.Think it was $79

 

6" grinder with a fine stone here. If I really mess up the tungsten with a big blob of molten steel or aluminum, I'll cut the contaminated bit off with a cutoff disc before re-dressing the tungsten.

 

Thanks every boby for all the great information. I guess I will use my bench grinder as shown and see how it works.

 

Lots of good information!

 

sounds like a lot of work, compared to just breaking it off with a light hammer blow, over the edge of the bench.