Tungsten sharpening

[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

[Paul Seaman]

Turboglenn the marks should cause no major effecgt except when you grind further up the tungsten later. I the marks are really deep it could cause an issue with tightening the collet onto the tungsten but otherwise NO PROBLEM.

Peace,
Paul

[HAWK]

I sharpened tungsten for many years on a dedicated grinder, but finally switched to a unit made by Diamond Ground Products. Great stuff. Check them out: http://www.diamondground.com/

I use the Piranaha III, LRamberson uses the P II, and KB Fabrications uses the P III as well.