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Question on grinding Tungsten for TIG

mickeyf

mickeyf

Super User
Complete newbie, TIG-wise. Everything I've seen suggests that a 60 deg included angle is the most typical, penetration etc changing when you alter this. Does anyone have experience with this type of grinding fixture? (Amazon, Princess Auto, other places carry these.) I see that they only go to 22.5 deg., which presumably means 45 deg included angle. Or maybe everyone just eyeballs it on their bench grinder? Or maybe the angles available on this thing are just fine and it doesn't make all that much difference? TIA

Tungsten jig.png
 
That's a clever design, I've never come across it before.
I just eyeball it or put the tungsten in a hand drill, power the drill up at the same time as the grinder or sander.
I know, you're not suppose to use either or it will contaminate the tungsten but honestly, I never noticed any difference.
 
mickeyf said:
Complete newbie, TIG-wise.
Click to expand...

skippyelwell said:
I just eyeball it or put the tungsten in a hand drill, power the drill up at the same time as the grinder or sander.
Click to expand...
As a welder by trade that is pretty much how all field tungsten prep is done and how I do it at home.

Some of the fancy companies buy portable tungsten grinders but it's more for the dust that comes off grinding tungsten as it isn't good for you like many aspects of welding.

I would recommend using 2% thoriated (my go too) or Lanthanated or ceriated tungsten.

Thoriated holds tip the best and doesn't splinter as fast as some of the other tungstens when your able to weld with it for long periods of time without dipping it lol.
 
Thoriated tungsten is the radioactive one - a mask while grinding is recommended. I'm sure the others are not great for you either, but at least you shouldn't glow in the dark.
 
The youtube video was interesting. I like his improvements - the dust port and attachment point, but I don't do 3D printing. I see that he has generously uploaded the files. Anybody want to make me one in trade for...(gee, what have I got that I'd be happy to part with??)
A couple of votes for "just eyeball it", but no comments on how critical the angle is or what the "best" angle (for a given task/material) would be. I notice that his youtube design does include 60 deg, unlike the one I pictured.

Glowing in the dark might be kinda cool - you know, an ice breaker at parties. ;)
 
I have a similar unit to the gizmo pictured in the OP.
It's mounted to a cheapo Tactix rotary tool from Her Magesty's Tool Crib...
The kit includes an arbor, and some mesh style grinding wheels.
Does it work? Is it a bit finicky? Yes. lol But I do get a nice tip out of it...
Where it fails sort of, is if you dip a tip, and end up with a glob on the end, you STILL have to knock it off before the tungsten will fit through the guide hole...I guess it's a pick your battles kind of scenario....I paid 15 bucks for it on Amazon I think.
It doesn't have those brass threadserts in the wall though, those would be nice so the barrel doesn't get wore out from the tungsten spinning. One of mine is ever so slightly oblonged from my first couple tries at using it.
 
Slightly tangential to the original topic:
What material is the grinding wheel/blade/bit you use for your electrodes?
I have an 80 grit 6” aluminum oxide wheel I’ve been using, mostly because it’s surplus and the cheapest of the wheels I have available. But the electrodes chew through the stone pretty quickly so I’m trying to decide what I should replace it with.
 
Jswain said:
Cordless drill and bench grinder. Sharpen with the point up
Click to expand...
I made a pair of spark coil electrodes that way: used a Dremel cutoff wheel to cut a stock electrode in half, then the drill & 4x36 belt sander - worked great.
 
bench grinder is really all you need, i have done it with an angle grinder in the field as well, thats a bit tricky and requires some contortion, or a helper to hold the grinder on

one of those sharpeners would be handy in the field when you may not have access to a bench grinder, but for shop or home use, kind of a gizmo

the angle of the tip isnt critical, so long as its pointy it will weld

i used to always use thoriated, now i seem to always have lanthinated, it all works
 
Jswain said:
Cordless drill and bench grinder. Sharpen with the point up
Click to expand...
Testify! Amen!

Suggest that you dedicate a bench grinder to the job. One wheel is used to clear off the bunged up goo, and clear it off, the other for the finish grind. But I have got reasonable enough results, using a cordless drill and a crappy used angle grinder disc, that I will opine that, for as much as is written about the need for absolute perfection, most of us just are not good enough welders to demonstrate it, so we gotta stick to our groove, eh? :)

Seriously, it ain't rocket science or brain surgery! And, especially if you are new to TIG, the smart money says sharpen the whole box of electrodes, otherwise its gonna be a long day in front of the grinder, instead of learning to not dip the tip in the puddle! BTDT!

It matters a LOT less if you have the "Perfect" angle, than if the electrode is actually CLEAN!

Really. "Close Enough", is!
 
mickeyf said:
couple of votes for "just eyeball it", but no comments on how critical the angle is or what the "best" angle (for a given task/material) would be.
Click to expand...
I'm with @phaxtris and @trevj on the angle being not that critical. Even really is the tungsten you use for most part.

I think unless you get to the point were every weld you make is weld porn I think the small details like tungsten angle are not that critical.

I would focus on getting the basics perfected then start playing around with all the other factors that take ok Tig weld to "weld porn"

When your first starting out you'll spend more time grinding tungstens then actually welding anyways lol.

I personally like more pointy tungstens but I've seen guys use like 30° to not use up the tungsten as fast lol.

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I would recommend buying gas lens and run larger cups #8-#12 range maybe buy stubby style torch consumables and maybe a tig finger if you like to use your pinky for positioning. And if your feeling rich maybe a weld craft flex neck.

You can get knock off Tig fingers off AliExpress for like 3$ a piece or buy fiberglass exhaust tubing sock from autostore if they carry it and make one yourself.

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This what I used weld with the other day to make splash guard for wifey's cabbing machine I've been poking at.

It's 1/16 aluminum I welded at 72 amps and with 80/20 ballance and I think looking at my machine 200 Freq and 3/32 tungsten Using 1/8 tig rod that's probly open longer than I've been a welder? I don't Tig as much as I used too but I'm still ok at it I think? Also argon is expensive when you buy it yourself so I'm usually on the lean side of gas coverage when I'm at home eg. The blue tungsten lol :)

Also don't make fun of my shitty sheet metal bending as I don't own a brake of any sort ATM and used a rubber mallet and my table to form the splash guard. :(
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IMG_20250131_175511243_HDR.jpg
 
Jeebus! Crocs?

Like one of my trainees (seriously, I was supposedly HIS trainer, a guy with infinitely MORE experience than I had !) said, you only drop one spark into your ear, welding overhead, before you really understand the value of ear plugs!

I don't wanna be that, but I hope you don't mind if I laugh, OK?
 
So it looks like the guy who has a habit of overthinking things was .... Maybe Overthinking Things. I figured that with zero experience I should eliminate as many variables as possible to more easily see which of the many possible things I was doing wrong, but apparently those variables are not the big ones. I'll just jump in, hope for the best, and go from there.

Thanks all for the advice and insights!
 
trevj said:
Jeebus! Crocs?

Like one of my trainees (seriously, I was supposedly HIS trainer, a guy with infinitely MORE experience than I had !) said, you only drop one spark into your ear, welding overhead, before you really understand the value of ear plugs!

I don't wanna be that, but I hope you don't mind if I laugh, OK?
Click to expand...
I always wear ear plugs when welding for that reason as it's not a pleasant experience did it once and lucky didn't damage anything but ye no fun.

As far as Crocs go laugh all you want I don't mind ;) they make poor welding shoes but they do leave cool patterns in your socks.

There my go too when just doing small task shoes but I generally wear my steel toes when doing normal shop activities.
 
mickeyf said:
So it looks like the guy who has a habit of overthinking things was .... Maybe Overthinking Things. I figured that with zero experience I should eliminate as many variables as possible to more easily see which of the many possible things I was doing wrong, but apparently those variables are not the big ones. I'll just jump in, hope for the best, and go from there.

Thanks all for the advice and insights!
Click to expand...
I would say material prep and cleaning will help you eliminate a lot of various issues.

Another thing is to stop welding once you dip your tungsten or the tungsten gets too dull and makes welding less pleasant.

Feel free to post your journey and ask questions as there are A FEW welders on this forum who give solid advice. ;)

If you were closer I would offer some shop time as having someone watch you weld goes a long way in fixing the stuff you can't see.
 
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