Tungsten Grinding

[that-guy]

i've been using my TIG welder now for about 3 years and have been grinding my tungsten with a 5" bench grinder i had laying around. until recently, i hadn't considered the harshness of the grinding wheel to have an effect on the arc. so all along, i have been using a 36 grit, which has given me pretty good welds, but not great. so i recently found a 60, and that has already shown great improvement, so now i am going to put a 100 on the other end to polish out the 60 to make it even better. i would have gone with a finer grit, but none of my local stores holds anything above 100

what grit of grinding wheel do you guys use to sharpen your tungsten???

FYI, i know all about buying a handheld tungsten grinder but don't want to pay that kind of money as i am only an enthusiast, so don't bother mentioning it

and yes, this bench grinder is dedicated 100% to only Tungsten

 

[makgreens]

i use the mini grinder from HF and it works good for it...not sure the grit though

 

[Graham08]

I have either a 60 or an 80 grit on my grinder. You might want to leave a coarser wheel on one side for roughing tungsten into shape and use the fine wheel for finishing/minor touch up only. Starting from a new tungsten or grinding off the inevitable blob of steel would take forever with a really fine wheel.

 

[that-guy]

I have either a 60 or an 80 grit on my grinder. You might want to leave a coarser wheel on one side for roughing tungsten into shape and use the fine wheel for finishing/minor touch up only. Starting from a new tungsten or grinding off the inevitable blob of steel would take forever with a really fine wheel.

thats why i said "put the 100 on the other side"

it was hugely noticablejust going from the 36 to the 60 when it comes to time. the 36 was so coarse it would just chip away at it, but the 60 actually "sands" the tungsten down where it actually starts to get pretty warm, which undoubtedly the 100 will do as well

 

[Graham08]

Apparently reading comprehension owns me this afternoon.

In my experience you will see diminishing returns as the grit goes up. I've sharpened a few on my belt grinder with a finer belt and didn't notice much difference. I usually run 3/32" tungsten. Things might be different on 1/16" or 0.040".

 

[paranoid56]

i did the same thing with a HF grinder, coarser on one side and 100 on the other. works great. also make sure you do not use this grinder for anything but your electrodes. I ended up picking up one of those hand held ones for 30 bucks at auction and ******** its awesome

 

[zkling]

For general touch up I use a ~200 grit belt on the belt sander, hold tungsten point down. For new tungsten or if dipped, <50grit belt sander or bench grinder. I primarily use 1/16" tung, so it is pretty quick to repoint.

Apparently reading comprehension owns me this afternoon.

In my experience you will see diminishing returns as the grit goes up. I've sharpened a few on my belt grinder with a finer belt and didn't notice much difference. I usually run 3/32" tungsten. Things might be different on 1/16" or 0.040".

Same here, I did a full polish a few times just for curiosity, and it didn't seem that much different compared to a ~200grit belt finished one. It was pretty though.

 

[that-guy]

i use mostly 3/32, but may bump back down to 1/16 dependent upon how the 100 grit works on it

 

[pepi]

Here is a grinder I made from a HF saw blade sharpener, has a diamond wheel . Scribed a line on the mount to have a measurement for tip consistency. This worked nicely, but I must add I did in the end opt for a tungsten grinder.









I still have the grinder, is in new shape, if interested I will sell it PM if you like.

 

[K13]

I have either a 60 or an 80 grit on my grinder. You might want to leave a coarser wheel on one side for roughing tungsten into shape and use the fine wheel for finishing/minor touch up only. Starting from a new tungsten or grinding off the inevitable blob of steel would take forever with a really fine wheel.

You shouldn't grind off the blob of steel you should cut it off grinding it off will contaminate the wheel just like grinding other materials on the wheel will.

 

[dr_clyde]

80 grit belts on the Kalamazoo belt grinder. Put the electrodes in a cordless drill and tune up a dozen or so at once. As the belt wears out, the finish gets nicer. Quick and works excellent.

I've also had good luck with a diamond wheel. Makes for the best finish. Kind of spendy though.

I have a techsouth hand held grinder for when the finish is super picky, like sanitary pipe work.

 

[BoostAddiction]

You shouldn't grind off the blob of steel you should cut it off grinding it off will contaminate the wheel just like grinding other materials on the wheel will.

QTT.

I had a problem with not being able to keep a decent arc at all with my Lincoln TIG. Tried everything, and finally called for help from the LWS.

He turned the machine on, sharpened a new tungsten with his portable diamond grinder, and made lovely welds. So did I, when I was handed the torch.

Turns out the whole problem was that I was using a grinding wheel that, while dedicated to grinding tungsten, was somehow contaminated. I thought it was clean, it looked clean, and made a nice tip. But apparently, every time I ground a new tip, it just passed the contamination to the new tip.

I bought a dedicated diamond grinder for tungsten, and haven't had a problem since...

Lesson learned.

 

[shawnspeed]

I have used this and it works great....I did ground my tung like the directions said, and with 2% thoriated it will make a needle point...Just my 2 c...and it is cheaper than a dedicated wheel /wheels...Shawn

 

[galute]

Anyone ever sharpen tungsten with a torch? Years ago when I did a lot of tig welding that's how I did it. Works great, leaves a smooth sharp point.

 

[brianpgriset]

80 grit belts on the Kalamazoo belt grinder. Put the electrodes in a cordless drill and tune up a dozen or so at once. As the belt wears out, the finish gets nicer. Quick and works excellent.

I've also had good luck with a diamond wheel. Makes for the best finish. Kind of spendy though.

I have a techsouth hand held grinder for when the finish is super picky, like sanitary pipe work.

I too sharpen on my 1"x42" Kalamazoo belt sander, 120 grit and it works great.

 

[Fcvapor05]

You'll also notice a difference if you sharpen the tip with the long axis of the cone vertical, instead of laying the rod flat on the work rest on the grinder like a lot of people do.

 

[ZRX61]

i use the mini grinder from HF and it works good for it...not sure the grit though

Ditto, little orange thing with 4in(?) wheels.

 

[theknurl]

I've used the same Baldor 7", for tungstens, drills and lathe tools for 38years.....still on the original wheels too

 

[ADSR]

Found this one one of these forums....

 

[BD1]

I agree with PEPI on the harbor freight wheel . I attached mine to the side of the existing wheel and it works great. Here's the wheel.
http://www.harborfreight.com/replac...-volt-circular-saw-blade-sharpener-98862.html

Here is a video someone did on it.

 

[longlivepunk]

I did a frame-building course at UBI (United Bicycle Institute) years ago, and they used a bench grinder with an abrasive wheel on one side, and a scotch-brite wheel on the other to polish. Not sure if that's entirely necessary or not, but I know that when I use the welder I have access to I only have abrasive wheels, and the arc-control isn't nearly as good.