sharpen tungsten

[Rodsmachineshop]

Been seeing all the sharpeners for the tungsten on the internet . What is cheaper is just buy a dremel and a diamond wheel and the little arbor that holds the wheel works awesome to sharpen a perfect point on your tungsten . only cost about 25 dollars for the dremel and diamond wheel set up on ebay . The one i use is even cordless so i don't have to plug it into a wall socket.

[performance]

Chem sharp is the best.

[Gary]

Just to chime in on an old post , but I use a belt sander with a new 120 grit aluminum oxide belt and put my tungsten in a drill motor and run the drill kinda slow and get perfect tips and no contamination on aluminum or stainless..I dont take the credit for that one I found it on another welding forum ( I forget which one)
Gary

[performance]

Key words: aluminum oxide...though you don't realize it, small particles of aluminum do get into the metal tungsten.

[trackmaster]

I agree Mark, but i have throw in that YES certainly if your doing critical welds that will be subject to X-ray, magnaflux, or some type of certification. But for most shop welders the belt sander as long as it's used for sharpening tungsten exclusively will work pretty fine! I like to use a dedicated grinding wheel, then a fairly "well used" 120 grit belt sander to almost more "burninsh" the tungsten point. Gary, remeber the "spinner" sharpeners work nicely, but the ideal would be a series of "straight line" grinds or sands, around the circumference of the tungsten, ..... imagine if you could index the tungsten some 500 or more times around the circumference! The more you spin, the more candy cane (spiral bound) is the grain of the tungsten. Max arc stability from straight grain to a focused point. - One caveat, ..... Anytime you dip the tungsten youve put the oxide elements into your weld for sure! - Lou

[Gary]

Thanks Guys,
I use the drill real slow like the slowest it will turn and have not had problems with contamination , but one thing I dont do welds that are needing to be x-rayed or real critical welds. But have used a well worn 120 grit belt has done fine for me. Just throwing out what I use.
Thanks
Gary

[Longlasting]

Get yourself a grinder and resurfacing wheel, doesn't have to be an expensive grinder but one with a light is good.Hold the tungsten between your finders to steady and with other hand turn the tungsten, also use a bunch at once, so you are not running back and forth.

[Gary]

I have a regular bench grinder , but I do not have a diamond wheel to sharpen tungsten with. I sharpened a few times with thee regular wheels and just wore big grooves in it , So I tried then handheld belt sander method and since I can keep it near where I am welding it makes it a lot easier to get to when I need it.
So far I have been lucky I dont have to re-sharpen as often as I was when I started TIG welding , I dont have as many "accidents" as I had when starting to learn. But I still have a few and like most people I keep a few ready to go in my case so when I do have a dip then I just switch it out. But I have had problems finding a diamond wheel for sharpening to fit my grinder so I went to the belt sander.
I might get a diamond wheel for my dremel tool that someone suggested that sounds like it will work fine as well.
Gary

[Gary]

Just found this video on sharpening electrodes from Jody's site. Thought it might interest a few people here.
Here is a link to the video its the second video on the differences between electrodes
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...-supplies.html
If you dont want to watch the whole video skip to the end
Gary

[Gary]

Well I was at harbor freight earlier today and saw the had a set of 3 different diamond wheels with an arbor for either .125 or .250 shank and rated to 30k rpm for like 9.99 so I grabbed a set and chucked one up in the router and sharpend all of my tungstens with it. I have not welded with any yet but it does have a nice smooth finish to the tip than with the belt sander. I am going to give them a try tommorrow to see if they dont wander at lower amps like the ones I have sharpened on the sander. Hey 3 diamond wheels for 9.99 cant be too bad..
Gary