Welding Tips and Tricks

Was wondering the best way to cut your tungsten so you can grind them. I tried from my grinder cutting wheel and 1/8 tungsten didn't cut so well. I cut them with bolt cutters and some of them fractured, broke and split up the center lengthwise. So trying to minimize wasting tungsten whats the best way to cut them?

I don't cut them. I just grind a point by rolling it on the face of the wheel of an angle grinder.

Not the ultimate in precision, but it gets done.

I hold them over a sharp edge on my belt sanders cast iron frame and crack it off with a little hammer. Seems like it splits less that way than cutting it.

If you use electrical side cutter hard up against the contamination blob it mostly cuts clean. If you cut further away it splits


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Another reason I have a Dremel with diamond wheel. It works well for 1/16" electrode sharpening plus cuts them cleanly with the rim. This is their twist lock holder plus the disk.

To cut, I score a groove all around and this makes for clean cuts.

Since it is only used on electrodes, no contamination. I've broken one but only by dropping it.

I am going to get the diamond wheel from HF for sharpening but I'll try the scoring method. Maybe can score it and then snap it in half. I have nice bench grinders at work and belt sander so have the prep and sharpening down, just trying to cut them in half I broke and split a couple.

Ok, I get it now. I just snap it against a sharp edge with a chip hammer.

PeteM wrote:Ok, I get it now. I just snap it against a sharp edge with a chip hammer.

Right. Tungsten is tough so cutting it with side cutters or linesmens that have somewhat soft blades sometimes crushes it more than cuts it. A quick tap with a hammer over a sharp edge of something very hard usually snaps it off clean. It has to be very hard and a sharp edge or the tungsten will just bend.

Use a .040" cut off wheel in a die grinder.

No risk of the tungsten developing splits, at least not from cutting.............

kiwi2wheels wrote:Use a .040" cut off wheel in a die grinder.

No risk of the tungsten developing splits, at least not from cutting.............

Next to a diamond wheel, this is the best way, IMO. Even a cheap cut-off tool from Harbor Freight with a cheap 0.045" cut off wheel will slice tungsten nice and clean.

I just stopped there and grabbed some diamond wheels

What I've learned is snapping can induce fractures that pop the electrode at the worst time.. Like on 100% RT welds.

Tungsten electrodes are made from tungsten powder that has been sintered into rod that has nearly the density of elemental tungsten. While it seems a solid, it behaves more like a ceramic.

Keith_J wrote:What I've learned is snapping can induce fractures that pop the electrode at the worst time.. Like on 100% RT welds.

Tungsten electrodes are made from tungsten powder that has been sintered into rod that has nearly the density of elemental tungsten. While it seems a solid, it behaves more like a ceramic.

Interesting. That would go towards the explanation I was given about one reason some tungstens are total crap, in as much as the additive elements are not distributed in a fully homogeneous mix.

Certainly..I've been meaning to check electrode density on my lab scale and see how close to the known density of pure W they are..of course this would be comparing same types of differing brands.

This all started when one of my sons expressed interest in having a solid lump of tungsten and he found tungsten spheres online..only they advertised density of 11 to 15 grams per cubic centimeter. Pure tungsten is close to gold in density, 19.3 g/cc.

What does this mean for welding? Plenty. Voids mean lower current capacity and potential cracking, contamination and ugly performance.

Not to sound xenophobic but most electrodes are now Chinese.

Keith_J wrote:Certainly..I've been meaning to check electrode density on my lab scale and see how close to the known density of pure W they are..of course this would be comparing same types of differing brands.

This all started when one of my sons expressed interest in having a solid lump of tungsten and he found tungsten spheres online..only they advertised density of 11 to 15 grams per cubic centimeter. Pure tungsten is close to gold in density, 19.3 g/cc.

What does this mean for welding? Plenty. Voids mean lower current capacity and potential cracking, contamination and ugly performance.

Not to sound xenophobic but most electrodes are now Chinese.

It's not xenophobic, it's a fact that poor tungsten performance has only reared its head since the majority were manufactured in China. Here's a reply I received from a reputable US supplier.

" I agree with you regarding the tungstens coming out of China. Most of the ones on the market today are not very good quality. I have personally been to the factory that supplies our tungstens just to make sure they are following our quality requirements. Most companies don't do that. They just buy from the lowest price person of the day hawking tungsten electrodes."

Which explains a lot.

What are good ones then? Weldcraft, ck arc-zone?

I buy the cheap ones from the LWS. Usually (anchor?) or some other kind. Only ever got bad containers/batches a couple of times. Once was a batch that split randomly. Threw em out. And the other time was an odd OD. they were under 1/8 and wouldn't stay tight in a collet. Threw em out. I've bought name brand stuff too. But never really noticed enough of a diferance to say I'd only use one brand.

In Australia, the thoriated ones snap the cleanest, on the edge of a sharp bench with a good solid hit. We recently changed to grey ones (ceriated) they don't snap very well at all, but turns out they were terrible quality and wouldn't hold a point. Then we changed again to Rare Earth ones (turquoise) these snap easily on the bench again.

Mick

pavetim wrote:What are good ones then? Weldcraft, ck arc-zone?

Wolfram. Made in Germany. Twice the price of Chiwanese but worth it IMO...Arc Zone.

Yeah I didn't realize till I started researching but I read the USA isn't making tungsten anymore, they are stock pilling it for the future so most of them are made with Chinese materials. Also read that top quality ones are Wolfram, Sylvania, CK worldwide, Weldcraft, Diamond Ground. There maybe others but that's just what was in the article. I may try some Wolframs or get the Diamond thoriated Cryogenic treated one. I now cryo treatment works on engine parts and brake discs so can't hurt on tungsten. Jody should do a video on those exotic ones.

Just called Diamond ground and he is sending me free same,of dgp 2% thoriated , wolfram 2% thoriated, cryo treated thoriated and tri mix

I lightly chuck mine up in my vise and tap it with a hammer. Breaks off clean 99% of the time. Then I use a cordless drill on low speed to grind the point with a bench grinder.

pavetim wrote:Just called Diamond ground and he is sending me free same,of dgp 2% thoriated , wolfram 2% thoriated, cryo treated thoriated and tri mix

Let us know what you think. I had some Wolfram Thoriated that came with a tig welder I used to own and I thought it held up way better than anything I have used so far. I don't tig weld all the time so I can get by with cheaper tungsten but I am tempted to get some Wolfram 2% lanthanated for aluminum and SS.

i use Wolfram 2% lanthanated for everything.
no complaints. been using it for years
craig

I use a 3 inch ceramic tile cutting diamond wheel. The edge is great for cutting and the flat surface is great for sharping. Once one side wears out you can flip it to get more life out of it. I used one for a year until I dropped my die grinder and bent the wheel.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/ ... -p8405953e