Really Cheap $19.98 Tungsten Sharpener

[JohnS]

I think most of us are very familiar with Jody Collier:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/

He has a nice write up on tungsten sharpeners here:
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tungsten-sharpeners.html

He mentions on his page “Are Tungsten Sharpeners really necessary? I mean seriously...” “But for the rest of us...(I include myself because even though I use a CK sharpener sometimes, I more often just sharpen on a sanding disc.) Just make sure to use a sanding disc no rougher than about 80 grit, and once you have your taper, turn the tungsten lengthwise to get the grinding marks going lengthwise. And BTW, sharpen a bunch of them so you will always have a sharp tungsten ready. An 80 to 120 grit sanding disc on a 4 1/2” electric grinder is a pretty cheap tungsten sharpener and you can use it for other stuff too.”

I trust Jody for the straight advice from a real professional so I’ll take his word for it that these tungsten sharpening methods are fine for normal everyday use. I just took it a step further using a 180 grit diamond blade that doubles as a cut off for bad tungsten ends.

The 4 1/2” angle grinder with a 180 grit diamond blade was a total of $19.98. Not only will it sharpen tungsten quickly but it can make a nice clean square cut off through a piece of tungsten without splitting or otherwise fracturing the tungsten.

I picked up a Harbor Freight 4 1/2” electric angle grinder on sale for $9.99. Item number 95578. BTW, it's on sale again January 14th ~ 17th.
http://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-half-inch-angle-grinder-95578.html

Harbor Freight sells replacement blades for their saw blade sharpeners for $9.99 too. I was interested in the 180 grit diamond grinding wheel part of the kit. Item 98862:
http://www.harborfreight.com/replacement-wheels-for-the-120-volt-circular-saw-blade-sharpener-98862.html

Technically the grinding wheel is rated at a maximum of 6,600 RPM but I found no problems at all running it at a much higher RPM on the 4 1/2” electric angle grinder. Use your own discretion and proper personal protection equipment.

The diamond blade arbor hole is 20 mm in diameter so has to be enlarged to fit a the standard 41/2” electric angle grinder's 7/8" diameter arbor. I simply used a Harbor Freight step drill bit (Item 9275). (Normally I use these step drills for deburring holes I had drilled with normal drill bits. These things are great for deburring.) I already had the step drills for deburring. But for those that may be interested see the following link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-titanium-nitride-coated-high-speed-steel-step-drills-96275.html

After enlarging the arbor hole on the 180 grit diamond blade to 7/8" with the step drill, it fit the angle grinder arbor perfectly. The taper on the step drill keeps the arbor hole perfectly centered when starting to enlarge the hole thus keeping the blade in balance when finished.

Since the total investment was only $19.98, I only use that angle grinder for sharpening my tungsten.

The diamond blade does cut the tungsten to a point fast. Normally I gently rotate the tungsten against the diamond blade by hand. Sometimes I'll chuck up the the tungsten in a battery powered drill and spin it with the drill while I am sharpening it. If I really contaminate the tungsten I use the diamond blade as a cut off wheel and cut through the tungsten leaving a straight edged uncontaminated starting point.

Attached is an extreme close up picture of a 3/32" thoriated tungsten tip sharpened on the diamond blade and by rotating by hand. It didn't come out like maybe a machine sharpener but it's fast and cheap and the tungsten tip is perfectly functional. Anyway, hope this helps someone.

Warmest Regards,
John S

[Gary]

Hey John,
tungsten sharpening has been a long running subject here on the forum for what to do and not what to do, but I alway do what works for me and the $799.00 dedicated grinder does not work for me, I would get another plasma or welder before spending that kind of money for a sharpener. I have posted on here what I use for sharpening.. I use the diamond wheels from harbor freight in my router, they are only $9.99
here is the link http://www.harborfreight.com/4-piece...set-32397.html
they work great for me , I put the tungsten in the drill motor and run really slow and gets a great finish.
I will post pictures on the finish I got a new camera that takes close ups too so I will get some pics of all of them out..
Gary

[Gary]

here are pics of the wheels..

[sschefer]

I also bought the HF diamond saw sharpening blade but switched up and went with a Bosch 4-1/2 diamond tile blade. I also use the concrete blades for back chipping. They are designed for 4-1/2" grinder and a simple arbor insert can be used to mount it on a 1/2" bench grinder shaft.

Just something I did not saying anythings wrong with your way.

[Wrenchtamer]

I bought those wheels too. they worked ok, but using the angle grinder I found to be tiny bit of a pain. I bought a 39$ bench grinder from aformentioned retailer. It has a very fine pink stone on one side and a fiber buffer on the other. it's much smaller than a standard bench grinder, and is adjustable up to 10,000 rpm. i just mounted it right on m cart and d ont use it for anything else. I had not considered mounting one of those diamond wheels to the other side in place of the buffer...

[JohnS]

This AM I was fooling around with the grinder and attached a fine grit paper to the backside of the diamond blade. The hook and loop paper sticks pretty darn good to the rougher diamond surface.

So I ground a tip this morning then polished it up a bit with the sandpaper side. I think it came out about as good as I could hope. It only took around a minute or two to go from a an uncut end to the point in the attached picture. Again, this is a piece of 3/32" 2% thoriated tungsten.

I really want to thank everyone for their suggestions and thoughts and sharing their techniques. Being retired now, I have a little more time to enjoy tinkering around with different ideas. You can bet I will be trying them. Thanks all!!!

Hmm, that small variable speed bench grinder sounds fascinating. Gotta find one of those

Warmest Regards,
John S

[sschefer]

I also have the small HF variable speed grinder. After I cut and grind a tungsten on the diamond wheel, I polish it on the scotchbrite wheel of the small grinder.

What I've found is that depending upon the application, it often matters less about the quality of the finished grind then it does the angle. A sharper angle with a sharp point focuses the arc tighter and a longer angle tends to make a wider arc that moves up the tungsten in a short period of time. I don't even like it like that for Aluminum where a wider flame is often preferred.

I think if you're doing very fine and delicate work then it pays to go to extremes other wise just following the basic best practices seems to be enough.

I can't count the times recently where I've burnt through my last tungsten and just sharpened it on the fly (so to speak) and finished the job without issues.

[JohnS]

I also have the small HF variable speed grinder. After I cut and grind a tungsten on the diamond wheel, I polish it on the scotchbrite wheel of the small grinder.

What I've found is that depending upon the application, it often matters less about the quality of the finished grind then it does the angle. A sharper angle with a sharp point focuses the arc tighter and a longer angle tends to make a wider arc that moves up the tungsten in a short period of time. I don't even like it like that for Aluminum where a wider flame is often preferred.

I think if you're doing very fine and delicate work then it pays to go to extremes other wise just following the basic best practices seems to be enough.

I can't count the times recently where I've burnt through my last tungsten and just sharpened it on the fly (so to speak) and finished the job without issues.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the "tips" Sorry, couldn't resist a little pun.....

My current project is "finally" organizing my garage. I decided to build the carcasses for a lot of enclosed shelving from 1 1/2" x 1/16' steel box tubing. I decided to TIG weld it together for the practice. Because of the size of the cabinet carcasses, using a foot pedal is out of the question. That's where the 2T function of the 250EX really comes in handy. Needless to say, with all of the different positions I find myself contorted to, as well as sticking the tungsten out of the cup further than normal for fillet welds, I contaminate the tungsten tips much more often than if I were working at a bench and could brace my hand on something. Anyway, that was the main motivation for finding a fast way to regrind the tungsten tip.

I did notice a long taper does burn back faster as you mentioned. I also opted to use a 3/32" instead of 1/16" tungsten even though I am welding butt, corner, and fillet joints at anywhere between around 6o to 75 amps depending on the joint. The 3/32" seems to hold up better.

Gotta run, the wife's laptop died and I tracked it down to the motherboard. It's cheaper to just buy her a new one, so off to the computer store we go..

Later everyone and thanks!!

[Gary]

Here are a few pictures of the way I have been sharpening tungstens, I am trying to learn how to use a new camera is one of the reasons I am posting pictures and stuff . I got it so I could get close up photos but so far not doing so well but You can zoom in on them too and I did a video if I can figure out how to load it too..








Gary

[Doug Wright]

Here is what I use. HF diamond disc about 3/4" diameter with their 1/4 inch included mandrel .A 30 year old Dremel with a PVC pipe fitting fitted on the nose and 80 degree hole for 3/32 and so on electrodes. CHEAP and SIMPLE. Oh yea does an EXCELLENT job too.

[JohnS]

Doug and Gary,

Thanks for sharing. Those are both extremely clever methods. I hope you don't mind if I "borrow" your ideas

BTW, Nice closeups Gary.

[performance]

This AM I was fooling around with the grinder and attached a fine grit paper to the backside of the diamond blade. The hook and loop paper sticks pretty darn good to the rougher diamond surface.

So I ground a tip this morning then polished it up a bit with the sandpaper side. I think it came out about as good as I could hope. It only took around a minute or two to go from a an uncut end to the point in the attached picture. Again, this is a piece of 3/32" 2% thoriated tungsten.

I really want to thank everyone for their suggestions and thoughts and sharing their techniques. Being retired now, I have a little more time to enjoy tinkering around with different ideas. You can bet I will be trying them. Thanks all!!!

Hmm, that small variable speed bench grinder sounds fascinating. Gotta find one of those

Warmest Regards,
John S

John,
Stop sharpening those bullets.

[Gary]

Here is what I use. HF diamond disc about 3/4" diameter with their 1/4 inch included mandrel .A 30 year old Dremel with a PVC pipe fitting fitted on the nose and 80 degree hole for 3/32 and so on electrodes. CHEAP and SIMPLE. Oh yea does an EXCELLENT job too.

\

Well I have to admit this idea here takes the prize in my opinion. Simple and repeatable on the angle , The diamond kit from harbor freight has 3 small wheels and an arbor in .125 for a dremel tool in the same kit I bought for 9 bucks so that is now my next project . Thanks Doug for sharing that idea ,
Gary

[Wrenchtamer]

heres a link to it. if it doesnt work, just go to the hf site and searh for bench grinders.

http://insidetrackclub.harborfreight...aft-43533.html

[everlastsupport]

Here is what I use. HF diamond disc about 3/4" diameter with their 1/4 inch included mandrel .A 30 year old Dremel with a PVC pipe fitting fitted on the nose and 80 degree hole for 3/32 and so on electrodes. CHEAP and SIMPLE. Oh yea does an EXCELLENT job too.

Nice Doug,

Think I will build one as well. I have 4 variable speed demel tools, so I can part with one. I think I will drill a number of holes and test for the angles I like, then sharpie the good ones with a note and fill the others. I like the built-in 2% thoriated shield too. Great idea. Can take it to the trash and lightly blow it out.

[JohnS]

John,
Stop sharpening those bullets.

Snicker, guess it shows I am one of those "gun fanatics" I reload all of my cartridges. For paper punching, I cast my own wad cutters

Again, I sincerely want to thank everyone for sharing so many great ideas on sharpening tungsten. The best way to learn most things is from other people's experience.

Brings back the time old question "How long does it take to get 30 years of experience?"

Did get to the computer store and bought the wife a new laptop. While we were there, she bought me a new iMac. Never had a Mac before so have been playing with this new toy for the last few days. Too cold to get any real work done around the house. That's my excuse and I am sticking with it

[Doug Wright]

\

Well I have to admit this idea here takes the prize in my opinion. Simple and repeatable on the angle , The diamond kit from harbor freight has 3 small wheels and an arbor in .125 for a dremel tool in the same kit I bought for 9 bucks so that is now my next project . Thanks Doug for sharing that idea ,
Gary

You are very welcome Gary. Glad you liked it. Very simple, very easy.
Doug

[Gary]

Hey Doug ,

I think I am going to get on the CAD program and drw something up that would have an adjustable holder for the tungsten, But I had also looked at the Harbor freight blade sharpener that was mentioned on this thread and it already has the degree atachment built on so I might go that way too , sometimes they are cheaper than my time to CAD and CUT stuff out and work just as good.
One of the things I liked about your design was if you pu a clear cap on it it would catch all of the dust from the tungsten so it would not be shooting around the shop, (like I have cared about that before) but I have been known to do a lot of stupi stuff in the shop anyway..
Gary

[jameswswanson]

I use a belt sander flipped upside down with a 120 belt. Works awesome!

[performance]

Belt sanders are full of aluminum oxide...the very thing you are trying to avoid.