High Polished vesus 20RA Finish

[HAWK]

This is to klsm54 and anyone else wondering which finish worked better. Many of you have read my recommendation on Diamond Ground Products and their preground tungsten samples. It seems to me the 2%lanthanated with a 20RA finish performs the best with the Dynasty 200DX and 300DX. The high polish finish works well on the D300DX. However, I did not notice any signifigant difference between this finish and the 20RA finish.

[Engloid]

The arc will primarily come off the section of the tungsten that you have to grind to a point anyway, so I can't see that it would do any good. The 20RA stuff isn't going to make anybody a better welder. I'd not spend the money on it.

[HAWK]

The 20RA is a rougher finish than the high polish. It gives easier arc starts on most machines and is the less expensive of the two finishes. Nice work.

[Engloid]

I don't buy my own welding supplies...I really have no idea what the stuff costs.

[HAWK]

Engloid,

I used to Sylvania or one of the German made tungsten brands and hand sharpened on a diamond wheel bench grinder. There came a point where I was consuming mass amounts of time sharpening tungsten when doing lots of higher amperage aluminum (AC and DC). I researched preground tungsten and tungsten sharpeners. I settled in on Diamond Ground Preground tungsten to my specs and one of their Piranha sharpeners. I use their 3.5" 2% lanthanated ground on each end. When an end needs sharpening I reverse the tungsten in the collet. Sometimes the worn end is too big and won't enter the collet so I start with a new piece. This does not happen often. The next time I change it out with a new piece, reverse, etc. At days end I sharpen all the tungsten on both ends. 50 pieces takes me about an hour to sharpen both ends. The sharpener produces consistent tapers and flats. It's a systems that works for me.

Even though I do my own purchasing the customer ultimately pays the price. I did an odd ball job for a client yesterday. He want a credit card swipe machine holder. He supplied the material and waited for the completed job. He paid $150 cash for 2 hours work. That is my minimum as well as my hourly rate. I've done all his work (shop and mobile TIG, SMAW, and MIG) going on 5 years now.

Unlike you I must do stick and mig as many of my clients only need and will pay for TIG part of the time. The other work is not critical and just needs to be done. Sometimes the money expended to build purge dams, etc. cost more than the weld on non critical applications and I will choose MIG to save the client money and me time.

[klsm54]

Thanks for trhe reply on that HAWK. I was guessing exactly what you found. I imagine in a real high tech, automated application, the high polish may show its value.

I still remember when we sold tungsten with what was called a "Cleaned finish". It was pretty rough looking stuff, very dull, I guess it was chemically cleaned. When "Ground" tungsten starting being the norm, we still had a few customers that insisted on the cleaned finish as it was cheaper. My how times have changed.

Of course, we do a large Farm Show with Miller every year, and last year the Dynasty 200DX was the hottest commodity there. 20 years ago, I would never have dreamed of selling a Tig machine at a farm show. Now, in three years of doing this show, with 60,000 people filtering through, we have yet to sell a Buzz Box. Yep, times have changed.

There i go, getting long winded again....

[HAWK]

klsm54,

I really do like the high polish finish better on the Dynasty 300DX, but I think its real value is in applications like orbital GTAW. Can I tell a difference? Yes. Signifigant? Yes it is to a point. No pun intended. Is it worth the price difference when talking about quantities of 50+ sticks per order? No. Besides when it needs sharpening I can only put a 20RA finish back on it. Let's be logical.

[whatter]

Picture worth a thousand words

**** that is some nice welding! Gives me something to strive for.

W. Hatter