[Spartan]

Just got an email ad for these Blue Demon flexible tungstens from Baker's. Anybody ever use them?? Seems pretty weird.

https://bakersgas.com/products/blue-dem ... 7627715686

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[Coldman]

Bwahahahaha

[DavidR8]

Surely this is some kind of April Fools thing...just a bit late...

[Oscar]

It's real. They have a video floating around. Too bad the argon doesn't know the tungsten is curved/twisted.

[DavidR8]

Is there also Jazzy 40 cup due for release?

[Spartan]

I imagine some company (probably not actually Blue Demon) sunk a ton of time and money into R&D for that. And to me it seems fairly useless...

Oh well. It's interesting, even if I can't think of a practical need for it.

[Toggatug]

Seems weird but the more I think it the more I think of times I could have used something like that.


Going down in a blind hole it could come in handy to direct the arc towards the edge rather than the center.


Or one time when I was trying to get between 2 aluminium manifolds that had a small tube joining them with approx 1/4" gap between. (Tube cracked off of one side due to leverage on the manifold from a much too long mounting bracket) Would have let me get a bead started in the center to build off of. Rather than my arc just wanting to bounce side to side from the stickout I needed to reach.





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[BillE.Dee]

Nooo good .... now I can't use my tig torch as a pin point hammer.

[LtBadd]

Sometimes there is a place that you need a bend to get to where you have to weld, I've done this some years ago, you can bend the tungsten using the arc and a pair of needle nose pliers.

The tungsten your bending isn't in the torch, hold one end in a vise and initiate the arc where you want the bend, and bend with the pliers to the angle you need, keep the tungsten in the post flow until cool, put it in the torch, clock to required position and weld. Very easy to do with 1/16" tungsten.

Only the last 1/4" to 1/2" is bent so you will need a #12 or 14 cup

[weldin mike 27]

I saw a video on bending tungstens a while back. Not sure if it's jodys or not. But they heated them up with the oxy and bent them. But you need the big ass champagne cup to cover the reach

[Poland308]

Looks interesting.

[BugHunter]

Seems weird but the more I think it the more I think of times I could have used something like that.


Going down in a blind hole it could come in handy to direct the arc towards the edge rather than the center.


Or one time when I was trying to get between 2 aluminium manifolds that had a small tube joining them with approx 1/4" gap between. (Tube cracked off of one side due to leverage on the manifold from a much too long mounting bracket) Would have let me get a bead started in the center to build off of. Rather than my arc just wanting to bounce side to side from the stickout I needed to reach.

I agree it sounds cool. But I have the weldcraft interchangeable head torches which do not require any bent tungsten to do just about anything. However, that said, I can still see where this is a pretty cool idea and I will bet you that I will have some of them in my toolbox.

[motox]

I have bent a few getting them unstuck.............
craig

[LtBadd]

I have bent a few getting them unstuck.............
craig

Best post so far

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[kiwi2wheels]

Having a selection of the lava nozzles that you can file to shape would be a useful complement to the flexis.

[EMForrester]

I work in the aerospace industry doing repairs on investment castings and bending the end of the tungsten is a fairly common and useful technique when welding in tight spaces. My quick/easy technique is to have a very short stick out, maybe even almost flush with the cup, strike an arc on a piece of copper for 5-10 seconds around 90-100 amps, terminate the arc and quickly grab the end of the tungsten with a pair of pliers and give it a little bend. A tight bend on the very tip stays within the shielding gas pretty well. I typically use a #12 cup. If you need a long stick out you may need to consider creating a purge pocket to help. Doing it this way may wear out the collet faster if you are bending tungsten all the time, but I don't wear out collets fast enough to think it is an issue. I'm also not paying for them so there is always that.