Anyone use .020" or .040" tungsten for anything?

So, now I have my welder on the way, I've got a TON of subjects to start discussions about on the forum. First on the list, has anyone used the smallest diameters of tungsten with their Everlast machine. Just about everyone I know (myself included) uses 3/32" tungsten for the majority of their welding needs. From what little experience I got with my old Linde with a weldcraft WP20, and water cooler, 3/32 filled the bill for 90% + of everything I welded. I think I tried 1/8" on some heavy stuff, but that was the welding machine with bad mojo, and it would trip the breaker at anything over 225 amps or so. plus you're pushing the limit of what a weldcraft brand can handle, amperage wise. There are other WP20's that will take 250++ amps all day long, just not a weldcraft. Back to the lower end. I bought the .020 and .040 just to have in case of that special situation. I tried out the .040" on some razor blades with decent results, but could do just as well with a 1/16 sharpened to a long taper. So the question is: Have you used small diameter tungsten? If so, what for? Thanks.

I picked some up too, haven't tried them. I was wondering how you go about sharpening a .020" electrode. I'm guessing a fine wheel, very carefully.. maybe in a mechanical pencil like I've heard people say.

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Originally Posted by Jake98

I picked some up too, haven't tried them. I was wondering how you go about sharpening a .020" electrode. I'm guessing a fine wheel, very carefully.. maybe in a mechanical pencil like I've heard people say.

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I tried it with my HF diamond wheel (see my related threads on it) and even that was too coarse to get a point. I'm guessing that at that thin of a piece, maybe sharpening is unnecessary? Otherwise, Member Tritium has a diamond lapidary that would probably (without any doubt whatsoever) do the job. Only, you would need a quantity of them pre-sharpened and on hand to experiment to any significant degree. It'd be kind of cool to see someone running beads in 18-or 20 gage steel where the heat affected zone was so small that you could just butt the sheets, tack every 2-3 inches, then run a continuous bead with NO distortion. That is the type of experimenting that I like to do the most. Approaching things in a non-conventional way, so hopefully, it becomes the norm, once I prove it can be done. Hey.. a new thread is about to be born!!

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Originally Posted by hooda

It'd be kind of cool to see someone running beads in 18-or 20 gage steel where the heat affected zone was so small that you could just butt the sheets, tack every 2-3 inches, then run a continuous bead with NO distortion. That is the type of experimenting that I like to do the most. Approaching things in a non-conventional way, so hopefully, it becomes the norm, once I prove it can be done. Hey.. a new thread is about to be born!!

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Chris, I've used .040" for pretty much that purpose. I had some very thin MIG wire, 70S6 I think, as filler rod. I spent a lot of time getting a very close fit-up of a rectangular shaped body panel in an old Chevy van. Metal thickness was .050". I wish I took some pictures of that. It turned out good, but it was very time consuming, and it did warp a small amount, in particular where I overcooked it a bit in the corners. It was slow going I made a gazillion tack welds at first, and then short weld stitches in between them. I can tell you one thing however, it was pretty much fully penetrated. I used some dramatic pulse settings (relatively high peak and low background current, and low pulse duty cycle.) Anyway, the .040" allowed very clean arc starts. When it got contaminated (this was dirty metal, and I had cold galvanized sprayed on the back side, so occasionally spat junk onto the tungsten), I remember the .040" could be prepared very quickly, because the contaminated portion would just break off when I tried to grind it (even ever-so-gently...)

Having said that, I do only very rarely ever use the .040". I was kind of disappointed when I went tungsten shopping recently when I discovered that it wasn't much (if any?) cheaper than 1/16" tungsten. Usually tungsten is cheaper as you get smaller, but it stops getting much if any cheaper as you get below 1/16". I have never tried .020".

I would say you are probably going to be using 3/32" the most, or possibly 1/16" if you got helium. 1/8" less so (I never use it but I have 50 amps less capacity than your machine so perhaps you will find opportunities to make use of it). When I was running pure argon, I used 3/32" the most and 1/16" next to that. Now with helium mix I find I am running 1/16" more often than 3/32". I have not yet experimented with .040" tungsten and a Helium mix, but perhaps I will give it a try.

I have recently become a fan of not spending time changing setups, if its not necessary. I'd rather adjust my gas mix knobs, or machine knobs, or change the tunsten grind than unscrew the collet, etc. Those are just some of my random thoughts. It's definitely good to have a variety of different tools at your disposal. You can purchase tungstens individually from HTP, so there is no need to get a 10 pack of something just to try it or have it on hand. Or, Diamond Ground can sent you free samples. I do like the Diamond Ground 2% lanthanated tungsten the best out of anything I have tried and it's very fairly priced.

How you are "used to" or "prefer" running your AC Balance will have a big effect on what size tungsten you need for AC welding. Then there are different preferences from one welding machine operator to another, regarding whether to ball the tip or keep it sharp, etc. If you like to ball your tungsten, you might like zirconiated. Arc starts are hard with that, though.

On my Linde, I liked to run a sharpened point and crank up the AC stabilizer, which would usually result in the tungsten balling back to about 1/2 the actual diameter, and then staying there forever. When I sent the machine out for service, I got it back with a piece of pure tungsten, balled bigger than the actual diameter! Must have been an old-timer that did that. I'm thinking that I'll try to keep a point for 99% of my uses, and also stop buying thoriated, and gradually make the shift to 2% lanthanated.

I've never used the .020 or .040 tungstens. I regularly go down to 1/16" tungsten when i'm doing sheetmetal that's 18awg or thinner, and i've used the 1/16th inch to weld stuff all the way down to tigging the edges of the blades of razorblades together, and down to about .020" aluminum sheet.
I'll use the 1/8" tungsten when i'm welding thick stuff over 1/2" the 1/8" is especially helpful with the thick aluminum pieces because it does not warp or overheat as easily.

But, every welder will find their 'happy spot' with tungsten vs. filler rod sizes. As long as you make good penetration and strength with your weld, then it's all a matter of preference.

I noticed a pretty big difference between 1/16 and .040 when I was just futzing about making mini chains with 16-22ga wire, really helped to get the arc where I needed it; of course that is more of an aim and zap technique than actual welding.

Where did you get the .020? Most of the cheap places I found online didn't carry it or were special order.

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Originally Posted by redbeard

I noticed a pretty big difference between 1/16 and .040 when I was just futzing about making mini chains with 16-22ga wire, really helped to get the arc where I needed it; of course that is more of an aim and zap technique than actual welding.

Where did you get the .020? Most of the cheap places I found online didn't carry it or were special order.

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I got both the .020 and .040 thoriated at Minneapolis Oxygen. They are a chain of stores in the Twin Cities area. I'm sure you could contact them and they would take your order over the phone and ship to you. It was cheap, too!

I didn't get any tungston that small but I did some filler rod that thin to try on some sheet metal. I was having a problem with 1/16 rod either not melting or too much heat burning a hole in the sheet metal. Anyone have experience with thin metals?

I use 0.035" MIG wire for filler when welding sheet metal. I made a thread a while back about how to straighten the MIG wire so it doesn't coil up on you. Uncoil about 4/5(I've done 10ft at a time but it takes a longer) feet of it. Clamp one end into a vice and the other end into your drill. Pull the wire tight and pull the trigger on the drill. Let it spin until it quits wobbling in the air. Take it out of the drill and the vice and cut it to length. It will leave you with straight, stiff, filler wire. It works with thicker MIG wire also, I found part of a spool of 1/16"(I think) MIG wire at a yard sale and did the same thing with it and ended up with almost 5lbs of 1/16" filler for a dollar.

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Originally Posted by blasphemy000

... how to straighten the MIG wire so it doesn't coil up on you.

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Thank you for this!!!

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Originally Posted by Paul Moir

Thank you for this!!!

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X2!
this is good fodder for the contraption inventor in all of us..

You're welcome guys. Glad to help. =)

I'm going to try the mig wire straightening trick, thanks for the tip!

I just got some .040 tungsten and some .040 308Lsi to try on thin stainless with the 250EX. I built a spaghetti exhaust header for my Ducati out of 2"x.050 304 stainless with my miller 250 syncrowave, 1/16" T and had lots of problems with excessive heat. I'm hoping the pulser will help!