Tungsten sharping

[GaryM]

Ok got some 1.5% lamthamated tungsten today and well did not have very good luck.

What i want to know is at what angel should a general hand sharped tunsten be? So how long is the tapper. 3/16 or 1/4???.

The tungsten just balled up on me every time no matter what I did welding aluminum.

50/50 Ar/He
75-80A when welding(wife was watching it for me)
ballance from 50 to 70
frequency 125 to 175

No matter what changed it still balled. Looked like little balls growing around the tip. It would not spit them into the weld pool just make the end ball.

Tell you what i dont like sharping tungsen after ever 6" weld.


Gary

[dyn88]

what diameter is the tungsten you are using? you may have to step up one size. 3/32 is the most common

[GaryM]

its 3/32

Gary

[fun4now]

HAWK sent me this

words from the guru himself (HAWK)

Let me tell about current capacity with lanthanated tungsten and the Dynasty inverters. I recently sold my D200DX to a friend and am keeping my 300DX Dynasty. I mainly use 3/32” 2% lanthanated tungsten. I weld aluminum, stainless, and titanium. I occasionally work with mild steel, but not often. Anyway, I use this tungsten for everything from 30 amps to 300 amps. I even run a 75% helium/25%argon mix on aluminum at 300 amps and the tungsten does not melt down. I do use the 35 degree taper and a .030” end flat for everything over 120 amps. I have the Diamond Ground Piranha II tungsten sharpener which makes it easy to adjust taper and end flat in a flash! You can also do it with a bench grinder by hand and eye. I did it for many years that way. A plain jane aluminum oxide wheel works wonders. Do dedicate a wheel to tungsten only. Don’t grind other material on this wheel as the contamination will play havoc on your welds!



i left out the part on the dyn200 as you have the 300 hope it help's

[Blown S-10]

my tips are about 2 1/2 times the diameter of the tungston, ith a flat of about .050. i normaly run in the 90 to 140 amp range, 65-80 balance, 60-250hz, 10-15 scfh, about 1/8" stickout(on flats). i only had a problem with balling when i tried low amp setting.