Thank you Sir for another excellent video. I’m just starting my middle aged journey to scratch a lifelong itch to learn welding. I appreciate all of your content.
I have been a registered welder in Canada for 45 years and guess what? I am new to tig welding .I picked up a New dialarc 250 for $200 bucks and pedal and torch new and having fun with it .You have been a great help with slowing me down and using a lower amperage with some tips I am doing OK. I have run a lot of big dual shield wire 1/16 to 7/64 so for me to go down to a little tig machine is ???? where is the deposition lets go Thanks for the help .
Got my first TIG box arriving tomorrow. This video really set my mind at ease about practical ways to grind electrodes. You know, since I'm not working in aerospace XD
Jody, I've used your videos over the last few years to help me learn to use my MIG welder. I just bought my first TIG welder and came back here to get the same great information for TIG welding that made learning to MIG weld much easier. Thank you so much for all you do and have done! Chuck. Oh yeah, wish me luck! 😜
Jody, I love your videos! You are single handedly the guy responsible for what I can do with a TIG welder... mind you, I won't blame you for the all the TIG stuff I can't do yet :) Your videos are outstanding, and I love your honest, unbiased, straight forward way of presenting things. Keep up the good work! BTW, I use a cordless drill and belt sander (grit 120) on mostly 1.6mm tungstens. In my own humble opinion I feel I get pretty decent consistent results over time, holding the drill in one hand, using low drill revs, and using the other hand with a glove to guide the middle of a long tungsten to control the pressure of the tip against the sanding belt. Just my 2 cents :)
Another great video! It is incredibly helpful to see both the best practices as well as the other options which some of us home garage welders are likely to use.
Thanks for the video, I'm just getting started and this is good information. One item worth mentioning is there are 6" diamond wheels for bench grinders if one is concerned with contamination or would like the smooth grind for their electrodes. They're a lot more expensive than normal grinding wheels but are a lot less than the sharpening tools.
Jody would you give us a toolbox and shop tour and specialty tools as well. This will help in knowing what is needed and how your setup is for us planning on building our own shops. I would love to see your layout and tools/equipment because I value your experience and I think it would be very beneficial. thanks man
You rock. I'm still learning to weld with tig. Thought it was close enough when I sharpened it, but after using the cordless with the grinding wheel...so nice! Easily welding 22 gauge stainless. Thank you so much.
Just got a $15 angle grinder from Harbor Freight and a diamond wheel for $4. I made bench mount from a piece of angle with a hole for the grinder handle. That vise grips to whatever handy surface. Added several holes and notches to stabilize the electrode and I can get very pretty tapers of varying lengths. The marks are a little rough, but I can take a diamond hone and smooth it quickly by hand if it seems necessary. It is incredibly fast so you have to have a light touch. If I ever see a finer diamond wheel it will be super. I can commit the cheap grinder to electrode only service.
as a welder I find you're videos helpful and easy to learn from, I just purchased a Lotos tig 200 and was wondering if you could do a demo on it and help understand the machine better. so far it has done good on aluminum with 3/32 2% ceriated at 100 amps with the foot pedal, but when I tried to use the pulse feature without the foot pedal I ended up with a mess. I have a very important weld to make on the back of a boat and wanted to use the pulse feature but I'm not comfortable with the unit, it is on a outboard bracket that holds twin 250's let me know what you think, it's 1/4 material.
i've heard from so many people..."ya have to point upwards on the bench grinder..." blah blah. i see you at 3:45 going the other way like i was taught on the job 20 years ago. done it both ways, don't see any differences. A properly sharpened electrode will make your welding go more smoothly, but a good welder can still work wonders with an improper tip. "...I also live in the real world..." amen brother!
The fact Is that if you sharpen tungsten sideway, It Can starting vibrate and It Can internally crack and After 3/4 beads your tungsten Can split in 3/4 parts longitudinally. Don't get me wrong, i Do It All the time too lol, but a couple of times my tungsten broke for this reason (i had a metal Bowl on my tip and to sharpen faster i Just pushed It sideway a Little too much). This thing has sense if your boss tells you at work (you avoid to break your tungsten, so he avoid to waste money, Also considering that, at least in my country, welding factories pay 1 box of 3/32 electrodes around 60 dollars, not like me that i buy from Amazon for 20 dollars lol); But at home you Can Do what you want obviously.
The thicker gray wheels that come in Dremel kits work quite well. They have a finer grit. I clamp the Dremel in a vise and grind the tungsten my way. I could probably hook up a cheap vacuum cleaner to get the dust. For exhaust work, and car related stuff, that method is pretty nice!
Jody , Use a bench grinder with a really nice Norton grinding wheel of your choice. Its 1000x better than a regular rock you would get at the home improvement store. I happen to have one on a grinder I use to sharpen HSS tool bits and carbide I couldn't believe the difference it made.
Armand Tomany I'll usually just grab my lineman pliers to cut them or get a glob off where I bumped my wire into it. Usually the tungsten will crack and you'll have to grind a little extra off (maybe 1/8") to get past where it cracked
Some mention (even very brief) of the nature of the hazards associated with grinding (and especially oxidizing with a torch) tungsten would be appropriate. . Although many people are aware that breathing dust with alpha emitters might be hazardous, the people that would be most interested in how to sharpen tungsten are most likely not to be aware of the hazards or aware of the alternative non-thoriated tungsten available. . Putting a brief warning at the beginning of the video would be great. At the very least, please put a brief warning and link in the description.
The comment Is pretty old, but: dunno in U.S.A. but in Italy Red tungsten can't bè used anymore for work, even if Can use It at home. Anyway the big problem Is at work, where 20/30 ppl sharpen tungstens everyday in the same bench grinder. At home, unless you work at home everyday, 8 hours per day, you won't have issues from tungsten dust. The issues you Can have at home (if no proper ventilation)are about welding fumes and metal grinding dust breathing in general (not Only tungsten)
I bought a 3d printed enclosed tungsten sharpener on ebay, sharpened a 10 pack, the instructions didn't mention to empty out the dust. The dust went in the dremels bearing and seized up. I told the seller about it and was kind enough to send me extra diamond cutting disks for my troubles.
Hi Jody, thanks so much for your many videos. I have yet to start practicing welding but I'm missing a good welding table. Speaking of which, right at the 5:12 min mark I see you have one quite unlike those I've seen in the market. Do they still make them? Thanks ...
Hi Jody, Thank you for the great uploads! I have learned so much from your experience. I wanted to know if you have any concerns about the mild radioactivity from some of the electrodes? Greetings from Arizona.
That's awesome. That Chem sharp reminds me of a time in Grad school I tried to attach a platinum wire to various metals with higher melting points than platinum. I can't remember now which metal it was but I put one in our hydrogen oxygen flame and it produced the nastiest stinkiest smoke. Probably lost a bunch of brain cells which is why I can't remember which metal it was. Might have been molybdenum all I really remember was afterwards I felt like crap for a while. Tungsten is used for ultra high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV STM) and with that they use a chemical etchant with a small amount of current as well. I wonder if that would work for Tig as well. Probably take way too long as it took a while to etch STM tips and they are circa 0.5mm in diameter or smaller. Sorry it's been a long time since I done any of this stuff. Interesting but completely and totally unmarketable.
There are a few different diamond grinder attachments for dremel type motor tools on eBay, really cheap compared to the price of professional handheld sharpener. Getting ready to buy one or two today.
The best way I’ve found with sharpening tungsten with a torch is to have a carburizing flame (oxygen rich), make the flame squeal a little bit and then you don’t have to hit the oxygen feed on the torch. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to do this in the field welding. My preferred method is a diamond wheel on a piranha grinder, but you don’t always have one available, or sometimes places are too cheap to buy new wheels for them when they get worn out.
Hi Jody Great vids. I'm learning. I made a welding table. My question is do I have to grind the mill scale off? I also made a third hand do you have to put silicon bronze on ends? Thanks for letting me pick your brain.
mill scale will prevent rusting but will not transfer a good ground. most people dont grind the mill scale. You might want to weld a ground tab under the lip that is ground clean and then use a jumper ground cable for certain jobs. third hand works better with silicon bronze but its not completely necessary...it does prevent arc marks on critical parts....thats the main reason for it
Fantastic! The consistent theme is using a cordless drill to turn the tungsten rather than fingers. Why didn't I think of that? I'm going to use a drill and belt sander. Economical and looks like one can make a really nice point. Thanks!!
If you have a tungsten that was contaminated because you dipped it into the puddle do you have to cut the contaminated blob of metal off of the end of the tungsten before sharpening it? I just got an AHP 200x off of Craigslist a few day ago and have been trying to practice on mild steel. Being a newbie I am contaminating my electrodes a couple of times a day during practice welds and have been just grinding the blob off while sharpening. It dawned on me last night that the blob is probably contaminating my cheap diamond wheel from HF. Is there a way to clean the contamination off of the diamond wheel? Or, in the long run, am I trying to be too critical for a newbie doing non-critical work?
Jody. your to cool, yes i have shapened tungsten most of those ways, includeing oaw.but never with one of the fancy ginders.never even seen one except in ads.and i can tell you I have done some very high quality welding with out it. You are one of the few welding videos that i recomend to my weld classes. Enjoy your vids very much keep up the good work.PS. may try one of the harbor freight wheels,thanks..
I learned a lot from you and now I can tig weld pretty good or acceptable some might say. I do appreciate the videos! Going to grab a tig finger for my support. Keep them coming. Oh by the way. Your camera on the puddles is phenomenal
I use an old drill doctor, it has a diamond wheel and gives a nice clean point. Atleast I get some use out of it and a lot cheaper than a tungsten grinder
The power plant that I worked at as an electrician the safety nannies would fire the weldors for sharpening the electrodes with a angle grinder but they would always seem to try it.
belt sander....I used a used ($30) 1x42 belt sander for several years to sharpen tungsten/s....ran regular alum-ox belts...but the blue zirconium oxide will cut faster and last longer...cost more too.....
Yeah, I too found it insane to buy an electrode grinder that was almost the same price as my Everlast 160sth. Why do they charge so much, are they gonna teach you how to weld too? Lately I use my bench grinder with a cheaper($40) diamond cutter chucked onto it, and even though I've yet to have any mishaps, I do like the idea of drilling a support hole with maybe a little tubing tacked on for a sleeve to support it. Thanks again for the laughs, I'm still looking for my left-handed wrench to loosen my muffler bearings on my board stretcher!
It's probably for the convenience. I'd imagine that the type of people that buy those are the type that are in the top paid or most critical positions such as nuclear.
I also use sometimes a simple grinder to sharp my tungsten, but I'd never use a red thoriated ones. You just send radioavtives dusts all around the place and everyone (including kids) can breath them even later. Not good...
I remember reading somewhere that chem sharp is a type of salt (potassium) that is used by the food industry to keep meat in the grocery store or butcher shop looking fresh.
We are 100% xray on all our tig welds and all we have is a 4 inch grinder and spin the tungsten with our fingers. carbon, chrome, inconel, duplex, ss of different qualities.
Dejay Rezme the thorium electrodes emit alpha particles, which are only dangerous if they get inside your body, as your skin blocks them. If you were to use a grinder to sharpen them you would be completely fine if you used a shop vac to suck up the dust
pretty much the same stuff gamma radiation can do minus the severe physical mutations but unless you ground a couple electrodes and ate the dust I doubt it would do much to you because the radiation is so weak
Bucket of tack welds sky hook arc start sheet strecher slag remover buck shot repelant or when your having a hard time tell the helper to grind off the never weld that someone must have sprayed on the metal
Jody, been following your videos for years. I wanted to throw in my 2¢. Following in your advice about polishing off the fine scratches with a piece of 3M scotchbrite to get the arc to come off the tip a little better, I used that principle with the Harbor-Freight #43533 mini-bench-grinder. I use the grinding wheel to get a nice long taper on the tungstens, then I use the polishing wheel on the left side to get a darn near mirror finish (by holding the tungsten from above so the wheel surface goes away from the tip). Much, much faster than manually running scotchbrite on the tip. Here are some pics: i169.photobucket.com/albums/u235/musico79/welding/100_8055_zpsok2tyopw.jpg i169.photobucket.com/albums/u235/musico79/welding/0308161936a_zpsyxho156s.jpg i169.photobucket.com/albums/u235/musico79/welding/0308161935_zpskohp0eis.jpg
"But I also live in the real world" And THAT is why I like your videos!
Thank you Sir for another excellent video. I’m just starting my middle aged journey to scratch a lifelong itch to learn welding. I appreciate all of your content.
I have been a registered welder in Canada for 45 years and guess what? I am new to tig welding .I picked up a New dialarc 250 for $200 bucks and pedal and torch new and having fun with it .You have been a great help with slowing me down and using a lower amperage with some tips I am doing OK. I have run a lot of big dual shield wire 1/16 to 7/64 so for me to go down to a little tig machine is ???? where is the deposition lets go
Thanks for the help .
I just re-uploaded this video with better sound this time around. First try sound was in one ear only...Oops!
Got my first TIG box arriving tomorrow. This video really set my mind at ease about practical ways to grind electrodes. You know, since I'm not working in aerospace XD
MOM HE'S GRINDING THE ELECTRODE SIDEWAYS AGAIN. lololololololololol
Jody, I've used your videos over the last few years to help me learn to use my MIG welder. I just bought my first TIG welder and came back here to get the same great information for TIG welding that made learning to MIG weld much easier. Thank you so much for all you do and have done! Chuck.
Oh yeah, wish me luck! 😜
Jody, I love your videos! You are single handedly the guy responsible for what I can do with a TIG welder... mind you, I won't blame you for the all the TIG stuff I can't do yet :) Your videos are outstanding, and I love your honest, unbiased, straight forward way of presenting things. Keep up the good work!
BTW, I use a cordless drill and belt sander (grit 120) on mostly 1.6mm tungstens. In my own humble opinion I feel I get pretty decent consistent results over time, holding the drill in one hand, using low drill revs, and using the other hand with a glove to guide the middle of a long tungsten to control the pressure of the tip against the sanding belt. Just my 2 cents :)
I have watched a lot of welding videos on youtube and you are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by a country mile !!!!!!!!!!!!
Another great video! It is incredibly helpful to see both the best practices as well as the other options which some of us home garage welders are likely to use.
You are the man because the rest of us(like it or not)also live in the real world. Great info! Keep it up.
Thanks for the video, I'm just getting started and this is good information. One item worth mentioning is there are 6" diamond wheels for bench grinders if one is concerned with contamination or would like the smooth grind for their electrodes. They're a lot more expensive than normal grinding wheels but are a lot less than the sharpening tools.
You're the best, Jody. All respect.
i really like this guy's style. Been getting a lot of info from this channel!
So do scratches in the electrode change how the arc behaves? What is the idea? Smooth as possible?
Thanks for the video!
I really enjoy your videos and appreciate the time you take to explain what you are talking about Thanks so much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you made a video on how to decide which cup to use in various situations and why?
Jody would you give us a toolbox and shop tour and specialty tools as well. This will help in knowing what is needed and how your setup is for us planning on building our own shops. I would love to see your layout and tools/equipment because I value your experience and I think it would be very beneficial. thanks man
You rock. I'm still learning to weld with tig. Thought it was close enough when I sharpened it, but after using the cordless with the grinding wheel...so nice!
Easily welding 22 gauge stainless. Thank you so much.
Just got a $15 angle grinder from Harbor Freight and a diamond wheel for $4. I made bench mount from a piece of angle with a hole for the grinder handle. That vise grips to whatever handy surface. Added several holes and notches to stabilize the electrode and I can get very pretty tapers of varying lengths. The marks are a little rough, but I can take a diamond hone and smooth it quickly by hand if it seems necessary. It is incredibly fast so you have to have a light touch. If I ever see a finer diamond wheel it will be super. I can commit the cheap grinder to electrode only service.
as a welder I find you're videos helpful and easy to learn from, I just purchased a Lotos tig 200 and was wondering if you could do a demo on it and help understand the machine better. so far it has done good on aluminum with 3/32 2% ceriated at 100 amps with the foot pedal, but when I tried to use the pulse feature without the foot pedal I ended up with a mess. I have a very important weld to make on the back of a boat and wanted to use the pulse feature but I'm not comfortable with the unit, it is on a outboard bracket that holds twin 250's let me know what you think, it's 1/4 material.
Another great, timely lesson. Thanks Jody. just ran across this online. I expect it is in your DVD set I just bought. Double the useful information!
i've heard from so many people..."ya have to point upwards on the bench grinder..." blah blah. i see you at 3:45 going the other way like i was taught on the job 20 years ago. done it both ways, don't see any differences. A properly sharpened electrode will make your welding go more smoothly, but a good welder can still work wonders with an improper tip. "...I also live in the real world..." amen brother!
The fact Is that if you sharpen tungsten sideway, It Can starting vibrate and It Can internally crack and After 3/4 beads your tungsten Can split in 3/4 parts longitudinally.
Don't get me wrong, i Do It All the time too lol, but a couple of times my tungsten broke for this reason (i had a metal Bowl on my tip and to sharpen faster i Just pushed It sideway a Little too much).
This thing has sense if your boss tells you at work (you avoid to break your tungsten, so he avoid to waste money, Also considering that, at least in my country, welding factories pay 1 box of 3/32 electrodes around 60 dollars, not like me that i buy from Amazon for 20 dollars lol);
But at home you Can Do what you want obviously.
I put my Dremel pointing up in my bench vise with a diamond wheel on it. Works really well. Use the same wheel to cut electrodes.
great video, I'm brand new to tig, is it really that dangerous to be in close contact with tungsten dust?
Thank you for the video very clear on methods to sharpen the tig electrode.
The thicker gray wheels that come in Dremel kits work quite well. They have a finer grit. I clamp the Dremel in a vise and grind the tungsten my way. I could probably hook up a cheap vacuum cleaner to get the dust. For exhaust work, and car related stuff, that method is pretty nice!
Jody ,
Use a bench grinder with a really nice Norton grinding wheel of your choice. Its 1000x better than a regular rock you would get at the home improvement store. I happen to have one on a grinder I use to sharpen HSS tool bits and carbide I couldn't believe the difference it made.
Where I work we use a 4 inch flap wheel and a cordless drill. Works well for pipe.
How about a companion video to this one covering methods of how to cut tungsten welding rod for use with short back caps and really small torches?
Armand Tomany I'll usually just grab my lineman pliers to cut them or get a glob off where I bumped my wire into it. Usually the tungsten will crack and you'll have to grind a little extra off (maybe 1/8") to get past where it cracked
Some mention (even very brief) of the nature of the hazards associated with grinding (and especially oxidizing with a torch) tungsten would be appropriate.
.
Although many people are aware that breathing dust with alpha emitters might be hazardous, the people that would be most interested in how to sharpen tungsten are most likely not to be aware of the hazards or aware of the alternative non-thoriated tungsten available.
.
Putting a brief warning at the beginning of the video would be great. At the very least, please put a brief warning and link in the description.
The comment Is pretty old, but: dunno in U.S.A. but in Italy Red tungsten can't bè used anymore for work, even if Can use It at home.
Anyway the big problem Is at work, where 20/30 ppl sharpen tungstens everyday in the same bench grinder.
At home, unless you work at home everyday, 8 hours per day, you won't have issues from tungsten dust. The issues you Can have at home (if no proper ventilation)are about welding fumes and metal grinding dust breathing in general (not Only tungsten)
Eastwood has a tungsten grinder for $124 plus shipping. You can also get an extended warranty on the tungsten grinder.
I bought a 3d printed enclosed tungsten sharpener on ebay, sharpened a 10 pack, the instructions didn't mention to empty out the dust. The dust went in the dremels bearing and seized up. I told the seller about it and was kind enough to send me extra diamond cutting disks for my troubles.
Hi Jody,
thanks so much for your many videos. I have yet to start practicing welding but I'm missing a good welding table. Speaking of which, right at the 5:12 min mark I see you have one quite unlike those I've seen in the market. Do they still make them?
Thanks ...
Hi Jody, Thank you for the great uploads! I have learned so much from your experience. I wanted to know if you have any concerns about the mild radioactivity from some of the electrodes? Greetings from Arizona.
That's awesome. That Chem sharp reminds me of a time in Grad school I tried to attach a platinum wire to various metals with higher melting points than platinum. I can't remember now which metal it was but I put one in our hydrogen oxygen flame and it produced the nastiest stinkiest smoke. Probably lost a bunch of brain cells which is why I can't remember which metal it was. Might have been molybdenum all I really remember was afterwards I felt like crap for a while. Tungsten is used for ultra high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV STM) and with that they use a chemical etchant with a small amount of current as well. I wonder if that would work for Tig as well. Probably take way too long as it took a while to etch STM tips and they are circa 0.5mm in diameter or smaller. Sorry it's been a long time since I done any of this stuff. Interesting but completely and totally unmarketable.
There are a few different diamond grinder attachments for dremel type motor tools on eBay, really cheap compared to the price of professional handheld sharpener. Getting ready to buy one or two today.
Good stuff. being an apprentice its handy knowing all the little tricks to the trade. good video
Does the tip need scratches or does it need to be smooth? 🤔 Belt sand with 120 grit them polish with finer or no?
great information debunks a lot of old wives tales you hear about tig welding. i look forward to your videos, your camera work is the best. stacks
This is a great channel.
The best way I’ve found with sharpening tungsten with a torch is to have a carburizing flame (oxygen rich), make the flame squeal a little bit and then you don’t have to hit the oxygen feed on the torch. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to do this in the field welding. My preferred method is a diamond wheel on a piranha grinder, but you don’t always have one available, or sometimes places are too cheap to buy new wheels for them when they get worn out.
Hi Jody
Great vids. I'm learning. I made a welding table. My question is do I have to grind the mill scale off? I also made a third hand do you have to put silicon bronze on ends? Thanks for letting me pick your brain.
mill scale will prevent rusting but will not transfer a good ground. most people dont grind the mill scale. You might want to weld a ground tab under the lip that is ground clean and then use a jumper ground cable for certain jobs. third hand works better with silicon bronze but its not completely necessary...it does prevent arc marks on critical parts....thats the main reason for it
Very good touched on a little of everyway of sharpening.
Jody, That was great. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and time.
Chuck.
You amaze me in what you can do with a welder. TIG welding especially.
Fantastic! The consistent theme is using a cordless drill to turn the tungsten rather than fingers. Why didn't I think of that? I'm going to use a drill and belt sander. Economical and looks like one can make a really nice point. Thanks!!
If you have a tungsten that was contaminated because you dipped it into the puddle do you have to cut the contaminated blob of metal off of the end of the tungsten before sharpening it? I just got an AHP 200x off of Craigslist a few day ago and have been trying to practice on mild steel. Being a newbie I am contaminating my electrodes a couple of times a day during practice welds and have been just grinding the blob off while sharpening. It dawned on me last night that the blob is probably contaminating my cheap diamond wheel from HF. Is there a way to clean the contamination off of the diamond wheel? Or, in the long run, am I trying to be too critical for a newbie doing non-critical work?
man i must have watched your videos 10 times over
Jody. your to cool, yes i have shapened tungsten most of those ways, includeing oaw.but never with one of the fancy ginders.never even seen one except in ads.and i can tell you I have done some very high quality welding with out it. You are one of the few welding videos that i recomend to my weld classes. Enjoy your vids very much keep up the good work.PS. may try one of the harbor freight wheels,thanks..
always enjoy your videos man! thank you. I just learn two new ways to do that! Really appreciated.
Do you have to change tungsten if your welding mild steel to ally to staintless do you need a separate one for each or can you use the one for all 3
thx for the tipp with the diamond cuting wheel
it works just fine
Standard Dewalt angle grinder with cut off wheel plus your drill to spin Tungsten. Hard stone for shaping new tungsten/wolfram, if you feel like it.
nice, the bench grinder is the best for home but I don't have a place to set it right now so it's jimmy rigging and angle grinder for me
I adore chemical sharpener from Dynacorp, because the tapered surface is as polished and left no scratches as all other methods.
I learned a lot from you and now I can tig weld pretty good or acceptable some might say. I do appreciate the videos! Going to grab a tig finger for my support. Keep them coming. Oh by the way. Your camera on the puddles is phenomenal
Hi jody, Do you use a heavy duty scotch brite?
More good tips and tricks. Thanks Jody!
I use a drill doctor. Chuck the tungsten in a drill and use the diamond wheel in the drill doctor.
What's the difference between grinding it sideway and vertical?
I use an old drill doctor, it has a diamond wheel and gives a nice clean point. Atleast I get some use out of it and a lot cheaper than a tungsten grinder
The power plant that I worked at as an electrician the safety nannies would fire the weldors for sharpening the electrodes with a angle grinder but they would always seem to try it.
belt sander....I used a used ($30) 1x42 belt sander for several years to sharpen tungsten/s....ran regular alum-ox belts...but the blue zirconium oxide will cut faster and last longer...cost more too.....
Any tips on Food Grade SS tig welding?
Thanks......... I always learn from you.
Great "down to earth" real videos A+
Yeah, I too found it insane to buy an electrode grinder that was almost the same price as my Everlast 160sth. Why do they charge so much, are they gonna teach you how to weld too? Lately I use my bench grinder with a cheaper($40) diamond cutter chucked onto it, and even though I've yet to have any mishaps, I do like the idea of drilling a support hole with maybe a little tubing tacked on for a sleeve to support it. Thanks again for the laughs, I'm still looking for my left-handed wrench to loosen my muffler bearings on my board stretcher!
It's probably for the convenience. I'd imagine that the type of people that buy those are the type that are in the top paid or most critical positions such as nuclear.
I also use sometimes a simple grinder to sharp my tungsten, but I'd never use a red thoriated ones. You just send radioavtives dusts all around the place and everyone (including kids) can breath them even later. Not good...
Great real world info THX
The torch method the cem sharp are way to slow the drill and bench grinder been my go to for yearsss
Thanks for shareing.
I just saw this. Thanks for posting.
I remember reading somewhere that chem sharp is a type of salt (potassium) that is used by the food industry to keep meat in the grocery store or butcher shop looking fresh.
Good on tacos too!
Huh, never thought of using a cordless drill to turn the electrode. I use a diamond wheel on a dremel tool mounted to the wall
the main thing is, (don't get excited) 10-4.
Thanks, that info was helpful!
Very interesting video thanks.
Breathing that (any) fine tungsten dust ("W" symbol) is no joke. Just a sincere word of caution.
Thanks for the video!
Goddamn it. I haven't welded since May and now this stupid video MADE ME REALLY WANT TO TAKE IT BACK UP AGAIN!
Finish needle tip with grey wheel if you nothing else better to do
Great video thanks a lot .
Jody you the Man
Most informative.
We are 100% xray on all our tig welds and all we have is a 4 inch grinder and spin the tungsten with our fingers. carbon, chrome, inconel, duplex, ss of different qualities.
moOOom! HE'S SHARPENING THE TUNGSTEN SIDEWAYS AGAIN! Best joke line ever.
Can you make a video on how to set up a tig torch. Please
ANother great video thank you very much. :D
зачем такое большое усиление?
Hi Jody do use a mask when sharpening your electrodes??? Is this a risk?? Iv been using a bench grinder no mask just wondering if I should be?
I've just read the thorium doted electrodes can emit (slightly) radioactive dust. So personally until I know more, I will just avoid those :)
Dejay Rezme the thorium electrodes emit alpha particles, which are only dangerous if they get inside your body, as your skin blocks them. If you were to use a grinder to sharpen them you would be completely fine if you used a shop vac to suck up the dust
Thatgood Nutt: And what do these 'Alpha Particles' do if they do get into your body?
pretty much the same stuff gamma radiation can do minus the severe physical mutations
but unless you ground a couple electrodes and ate the dust I doubt it would do much to you because the radiation is so weak
Bucket of tack welds sky hook arc start sheet strecher slag remover buck shot repelant or when your having a hard time tell the helper to grind off the never weld that someone must have sprayed on the metal
You forgot the metric pipe clamps and the wood tip for your torch.
Did I miss out on "your" favorite way of doing it ?
CHEM SHARP FOR THE WIN.. IT'S THE ONLY METHOD WHERE YOU DONT HAVE TO TAKE THE TUNGSTEN OUT OF THE TORCH..
Jody, been following your videos for years. I wanted to throw in my 2¢. Following in your advice about polishing off the fine scratches with a piece of 3M scotchbrite to get the arc to come off the tip a little better, I used that principle with the Harbor-Freight #43533 mini-bench-grinder. I use the grinding wheel to get a nice long taper on the tungstens, then I use the polishing wheel on the left side to get a darn near mirror finish (by holding the tungsten from above so the wheel surface goes away from the tip). Much, much faster than manually running scotchbrite on the tip.
Here are some pics:
i169.photobucket.com/albums/u235/musico79/welding/100_8055_zpsok2tyopw.jpg
i169.photobucket.com/albums/u235/musico79/welding/0308161936a_zpsyxho156s.jpg
i169.photobucket.com/albums/u235/musico79/welding/0308161935_zpskohp0eis.jpg
I use angle grinder and cut off machine too sharpen my tungsten
I need to learn how to lay a bead like that 0.o
I have several of those shirts as noticed by my wife while watching. Lol. They breathe well.
That chemical stuff is expensive here in the UK looking at £16 with £2.60 delivery wtf
I've always viewed sharpening tungsten for my powertig welder as a mystery until this video
great video. I guess I'll wait for a China Discount (Harbor Freight) tools to make a hand held grinder.