tungsten sharpener

[hooda]

Ok
I am about to build my own dedicated tungsten sharpener. using a trim router as a power supply. The router holds a 1/4 arbor and like the online idea I am following. I plan to use a 2 1/2" ro-lok system. what is the best grit and type of abrasive to use for tungsten?

Hey Ram, Do a search on my thread entitled something like "my $19.98 tungsten sharpener" (don't exactly got it, but it's in here. Here's a pic of what I did. Maybe you could get an arbor to fit the HF $9.99 diamond saw sharpening set wheel to fit your router motor. But first, a few words of caution: 1.those roloc discs are designed to have a different type of pressure exerted on them to stay put, like typically against a somewhat flat surface. 2.My limited knowledge of router motors has me at a disadvantage, but I believe they spin at 15-20,000 rpm...that's whizzin'! 3. roloc SANDING abrasives are almost universally aluminum oxide (the scotchbrite discs are typically silicon carbide), not the best choice for the application, but lotsa guys do it! 4. once it's fired up, and you start sharpening your tungsten, I see it cutting through the paper, making a 2"od x 1-7/8" id miniture, sharp-edged frisbee coming off the arbor at 20,000 rpm. with an unknown destiny. Please take no offense at this post, as without ideas, there's no innovation, just make sure the kids and the dog aren't in the vicinity on 1st fire up. Please keep us posted.

[Tritium]

Thurmond, I just wish I knew you well enough to thoroughly razz you on this post, but it's late, I've had a trying day, and I'm lacking the wit to even come up with a new nickname for you. But, If I stock up and send you 30 or 40 tungstens to put that mirror finish on, (for free, of course) would you? Pretty please?

Sure as long as they are not thoriated.

Thurmond

[hooda]

Sure as long as they are not thoriated.

Thurmond

Really? Honestly, I'd figure out a way of compensating you. I still don't quite get the fear over thoriated tungsten. If the radioactivity were such an issue, there would be TIG welders dropping like flies from cancer, etc. which isn't the case. But I guess in these times, I can agree with te logic of not tempting fate if not necessary. Before I had to sell Big Ethyl (the linde UCC-305) I had a chance to try out some 3/32-2% Lanthanated, and even on that old transformer machine, I'm thoroughly sold. I think my plan once my EXT comes in is to burn through the 3 dozen or so thoriated sticks I have left, save 2 or 3 for the archives, and switch to 2% lanth for all of my tungsten needs. I got a sample of the tri-mix from Diamond, and it was unimpressive as far as I was concerned, as was another "special" mix that I picked up from the LWS. But seriously, I would like a couple (2 or 3) of 2% lanth done up with that perfect mirror finish you're probably able to achieve just for that "special" project where it could make a difference. Thanks Thurmond!

[jerky]

the problem with thoriated is the dust from when you sharpen it. it wont give you cancer just holding the tungsten, but when you sharpen it and breath that dust in, thats where the health risk is. kinda like asbestos, ok in solid form, but soon as it is dust, thats bad.

[DVA]

The radiation from the thoriated tungsten is minimal but with all radioactive things it is good to practice ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable). A full time welder will receive about 16 mRem/year from working with throated tungsten but this would vary depending on the amount of welding and the control of the dust when grinding. In reality this is small in the scheme of things. The US law allows you to receive 5000 mRem/year as a rad worker. Most companies that work with radioactive materials administratively limit the workers to about 1500 mRem and allow for more with management approval. At 25,000 to 50,000 mRem there are small changes in the blood, but this must be a dose received in a short period of time for the change to occur with no long lasting affects other than a very minimal increased chance of cancer but this could occur from visiting California also.

The typical person receives about 500-650 mRem per year from radioactive material that naturally exist, you can go anywhere on earth and there is back ground radiation measurable with the proper instruments. For those of you who have had stress tests, you could receive up to 5000 mRem from that test, that is much more than the radiation I have received working at a nuclear power plant. Most dose I have ever received was 89 mRem in about a 10 minute period inspecting the reactor vessel flange prior to mating the reactor head with the vessel flange (joint holds 2250 psi for 18 months with zero leakage). I typically receive about 35 mRem performing this task and a total of about 50-100 mRem per year.

Use of throated tungsten is not bad if treated properly, control the dust and the impact is in the round off error for the typical radiation we receive from living on Earth.

[hooda]

Yeah, I kinda got that figured out. The point I was making was that it's a relatively low risk, dust or no. You're not gonna inhale a few microns of thoriated tungsten dust and the next day you're hair's falling out and you're callin the doc for viagra 'cuz things has shut down. I used to do a lot of machining of beryllium copper, where the hazard is exponentially greater. We had written prodedures for how every move was to be made while the stuff was in the area (mostly to prevent one of the lazy doughheads from strolling over to the belt sander and having at it), but again, it was a perspective thing. Just don't do anything moronic, and you're OK. As far as Thurmond goes, if he don't want anything to do with thoriated tungsten, I wouldn't dream of disagreeing with him, it's his body, his equipment, and his(obviously higher functioning than my) brain that will probably have him logging more years on this earth than me by a long shot.

NOTE** I started this reply in response to Jerky's post, Before DVA gave us the goods here. Thanks!!

[geezer]

The radiation from the thoriated tungsten is minimal but with all radioactive things it is good to practice ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable). A full time welder will receive about 16 mRem/year from working with throated tungsten but this would vary depending on the amount of welding and the control of the dust when grinding. In reality this is small in the scheme of things. The US law allows you to receive 5000 mRem/year as a rad worker. Most companies that work with radioactive materials administratively limit the workers to about 1500 mRem and allow for more with management approval. At 25,000 to 50,000 mRem there are small changes in the blood, but this must be a dose received in a short period of time for the change to occur with no long lasting affects other than a very minimal increased chance of cancer but this could occur from visiting California also.

The typical person receives about 500-650 mRem per year from radioactive material that naturally exist, you can go anywhere on earth and there is back ground radiation measurable with the proper instruments. For those of you who have had stress tests, you could receive up to 5000 mRem from that test, that is much more than the radiation I have received working at a nuclear power plant. Most dose I have ever received was 89 mRem in about a 10 minute period inspecting the reactor vessel flange prior to mating the reactor head with the vessel flange (joint holds 2250 psi for 18 months with zero leakage). I typically receive about 35 mRem performing this task and a total of about 50-100 mRem per year.

Use of throated tungsten is not bad if treated properly, control the dust and the impact is in the round off error for the typical radiation we receive from living on Earth.

I have to disagree with you when it comes to the amount of radiation you can have within a given time period, the dosage is calculated over your entire body .not ingested or inhaled,,,,,,,,,inhaled or ingested particles stay in one spot and the radiation works continuesly on the surrounding cells, as a result the smaller dosage can have a more dramatic effect and increase your chance of cancer,,,,,,,I know a lot about cancer,,,,been there done that........best to avoid the risk. Stats. on dosage put out by goverment and industry are just so much hogwash to placate the masses and keep the system running.

Wanna talk about rude wake up calls and attention grabbing conversation,,,,when your Oncologist says "perhaps you should spend some time and get your affairs in order" , that type of talk makes your eyes go wide open.

[jerky]

minimal increased chance of cancer but this could occur from visiting California also.

lol. thats just awsome.... nice poke.... anyways, i agree with hooda in that i dont think anyone will have a problem if he doesent want to use thoriated. but then again, like dva said, theres radiation all arounds us, like in bananas. its all personal preference when it comes down to it.

[Tritium]

Really? Honestly, I'd figure out a way of compensating you.

Will work for 3/32" 2% lanthinated which is my favorite.

Thoriated would contaminate my grinder with mildly radioactive dust.

PM me.

Thurmond

[DVA]

I have to disagree with you when it comes to the amount of radiation you can have within a given time period, the dosage is calculated over your entire body .not ingested or inhaled,,,,,,,,,inhaled or ingested particles stay in one spot and the radiation works continuously on the surrounding cells, as a result the smaller dosage can have a more dramatic effect and increase your chance of cancer,,,,,,,I know a lot about cancer,,,,been there done that........best to avoid the risk. Stats. on dosage put out by government and industry are just so much hogwash to placate the masses and keep the system running.

Wanna talk about rude wake up calls and attention grabbing conversation,,,,when your Oncologist says "perhaps you should spend some time and get your affairs in order" , that type of talk makes your eyes go wide open.

I am sorry that you have experienced cancer and hope you are doing well. I have had family members that have experienced cancer and neither of them ever welded or worked in an industry that exposed them to radiation. But knowing about cancer does not make one an expert on effects of radiation.

Yes the 16 mRem for the average worker using Thoriated tungsten is "whole body dose", this includes inhalation of fumes, and expected particles for the average worker. This 16 mRem is the total dose received and is minimal compared to the yearly dose we receive from terrestrial radiation.

I disagree with your view point of view on the industry is pushing Thoriated tungsten without a regard to the health effects to keep their business going. Plenty of peer reviewed studies back up the facts regarding the impact of using 2% Thoriated tungsten is minimal. Living in a brick house is more dangerous then using Thoriated tungsten due to the dose give off by some bricks in different parts of the country would provide more dose (hole body dose) than working with 2% Thoriated tungsten. Everything around us is radioactive, all elements contain some type of isotope, is-atone, isomer, isobar.... that can disintegrate by either giving off Alpha, Beta, or Gama radiation. The fact that I was pointing out that the increased total dose or health effects is small when compared to the health effects of living on earth. But with any radioactive material care should be taken to limit exposure. If this is done the use of Thoriated tungsten is inconsequential in the scheme of things.

[geezer]

DVA,,,at no time did I say the industry was pushing thoriated, what I said was :lndustry and Govt. cannot be trusted, exposure data recomendations change as time goes on,,,my experience with so called experts and professionals in both the engineering and medical field has left me skeptical of their being able to generate ORIGINAL THOUGHT, the vast majority of them can only parrot what they have read or heard....I deal with those types everyday in my work. To give a simple example of changing data....years ago electric blankets were the rage until the swiss did a study on the effects of radiation from the electrical wireing in them,,,nowadays it's hard to find them...A recent report says cell phones pose little or no hazard, that's the type of report I expect from Indusrty or Govt, yet common sense tells me you can cook a turkey in a micowave in a few hours, yet using a cell phone pressed up against your head radiating microwaves is not gonna cook your brain....try telling that to two of my friends, one deceased from a brain tumor on the side of his head he used the phone on and the other one got lucky and they removed the tumor.....I'm predicting that in the future brain tumors will as common place as the flu and govt and industry will keep saying there is no definitive link between the cell phone and that tumor.(Too many dollars at stake to readjust the exposer data).

Bottom line...trust no one ..and don't take risks you don't have to... as the Late great Geoge Carlin once said,,"I expect my Govt. to lie to me,,,It's their job"

By the way I use thoriated and I'm not worried about it, but I try not to breathe the dust.

[everlastsupport]

Written by Geezer.

Wanna talk about rude wake up calls and attention grabbing conversation,,,,when your Oncologist says "perhaps you should spend some time and get your affairs in order" , that type of talk makes your eyes go wide open.

Well, it has been a very very Merry Christmas for me, my family and friends. The following is not to scare anyone and I can say all too real and true for me.

This isn't funny and probably the best kept secret at Everlast until now, but "I" got the above call Geezer mentioned early this year. You have to be there to understand how serious that little quote is.

Seeing my wife break down as the Oncologist told us. He could not even look me in the eye as he told me it's a bad type cancer (SSC) and many tumors in the esophagus and stomach. Then add telling my kids, my folks and close friends, this was very hard at the time too. I did find I have a lot of real friends, so there was, though little, some good from it.

I am still waiting on my hair to grow back and to have at least 70% of my energy back would be nice (praise God I have a nice round, scare free, spot free head). I spent hours cleaning computers up, selling some things off, fixing some things, getting things in order for me not being here. Weird rounding up all your life insurance policies and read the details. The outcome for what I "had" is normally less than one year from diagnosis. Yea, there is a lot of truth in that quote...

I will not start on how bad chemo and radiation are other than to say I will not do it again, death at times seemed like a pretty darn good option. Yes, that bad. If not for my family and friends, I would not have made it through. No doubt.

Well on a good note, I just found out from the Doctor's, to date the cancer is gone other than damage from the radiation that shows on the pet scan like a small amount might still be there, they are pretty sure it is all gone.

In summary "for me". I can assure you "I NO LONGER" use thoriated, though they have no idea how I ended up with esophageal and stomach cancer (never smoked either). And I DID grind mine on a open bench grinder. So for the $30-40 to replace them with lanthinated, I did just that. Two of my sons weld side-by-side with me too. The fear of not being there for them was the number one fear, add to that a chance they could be getting cancer too, just to simple to switch.

[everlastsupport]

My son bought me a drill Doctor x350 (or something like that) from Sears for Christmas.

Quick review. It works beyond great on good bits, the Harbor Freight ones, well, they are still junk on metal after you sharpen them.

I plan to make an adapter to do my tungsten on the same diamond stone in the drill Doctor. HF also has a bit sharpener that looks like it will work well too.

If you use thoriated at least you can keep the dust better contained, I would even tape the shavings collector as well.

[Jake98]

Here's hoping you got it licked Mike.

[kenwhite]

We are here for you Mike and we hope you are 100% cured. Take care,

Ken