Alternative Tungsten Alloys (Ceriated, Zirconiated, Lanthanated, Rare Earth, etc.)

[Spike]

I got my order of new lanthanated tungsten today. Ground a point on the end and went to testing it straight away on some 6061 aluminum tubing. Saying that I am pleased with my purchase would be an understatement!
Even when welding aluminum at 160 amps AC, the point of the tungsten doesn't ball up. Arc start is almost instantaneous, and re-starting only occasionally sputters before starting the arc.
The weld puddle control seems effortless compared to the pure tungsten electrode, and my welds are coming out absolutely perfect every time.
I'll have to test it on steel a little later, and get some pictures going.

[Jason]

sweet, 2% or 1.5%? I don't think I took mine up to 160A yet as I have only done SS and thin wall aluminum pipe.

[Spike]

sweet, 2% or 1.5%? I don't think I took mine up to 160A yet as I have only done SS and thin wall aluminum pipe.

1.5% Lanthanated. I was welding 6061 3/8" Aluminum Plate to .120 wall Aluminum Tubing for a bike that i'm putting together... so, lots of heat. and on the Super160P welder i have, that means lots of pre-heat, and then lots of sitting over the weld puddle at full tilt on each bead in order to make sure i get good penetration without multiple passes. The lanthanated never balled up... and didn't really loose it's point much. It dulled down a little by the end of the day, but it was still obviously ground to a point.
Not even my thoriated tungsten holds up that well when i'm doing steel. I'm anxious to get to some steel welding and see what happens. I've got some tool holders i have to finish up that are mostly .120 wall and .250 wall tubing... then i'll attach some mounting points to one of my sheetmetal seat pans and see how the new alloy compares.
So far it's looking like i'll be ditching all of my old thoriated and pure tungsten electrodes for the lanthanated.

[hooda]

I just bought a 10 pak of 3/32" Lanthanated (2%) off the auction site. I was pleasantly surprised that they were Diamond Ground Products brand, which wasn't even specified in the listing. Anyway, I've only had the chance to run a few test beads, and I ended up going back to the Thoriated. I'll give it another chance, but I didn't like the way that it behaved, but that mat have been entirely me. I did notice that someone is offering 4% Thoriated, and I'm real curious just how that would hold up. I'm not all that concerned about the radioactivity of it, I just use a little common sense, but I don't go overboard. I got a free sample of "rare earth" tri-mix from diamond ground, and the tip actually crumbled under high amps. It was unlike anything I've ever seen.

[Spike]

I just bought a 10 pak of 3/32" Lanthanated (2%) off the auction site. I was pleasantly surprised that they were Diamond Ground Products brand, which wasn't even specified in the listing. Anyway, I've only had the chance to run a few test beads, and I ended up going back to the Thoriated. I'll give it another chance, but I didn't like the way that it behaved, but that mat have been entirely me.

I still haven’t gotten into the shop to try the lanthanated on steel. i've only worked on the aluminum so far, but thought it was great for AC. I'm not looking for a thoriated replacement. I'm happy to have the improvement over the pure tungsten on aluminum.

[Jason]

I just bought a 10 pak of 3/32" Lanthanated (2%) off the auction site. I was pleasantly surprised that they were Diamond Ground Products brand, which wasn't even specified in the listing. Anyway, I've only had the chance to run a few test beads, and I ended up going back to the Thoriated. I'll give it another chance, but I didn't like the way that it behaved, but that mat have been entirely me. I did notice that someone is offering 4% Thoriated, and I'm real curious just how that would hold up. I'm not all that concerned about the radioactivity of it, I just use a little common sense, but I don't go overboard. I got a free sample of "rare earth" tri-mix from diamond ground, and the tip actually crumbled under high amps. It was unlike anything I've ever seen.

I run 1.5% lanth for everything and havnt had any problems. If you want to dispose of that 2% lanth let me know

[Spike]

Here's a quick picture of some weld with the lanthanated tungsten.

This is the test weld i did as soon as i took the new tungsten out of the package.
Great puddle control. It's quick and easy to control the heat of the weld puddle.

[Spike]

I welded a little with the lanthanated tungsten on some steel today (100-120 amp range) straight DC. I had to put a tool stand together real quick.
I wasn't overwhelmed with it being really great... Nothing as revolutionary as the AC welding over pure tungsten.
The point seems to dull out faster than the thoriated at that amperage. It's obviously still got a point to it, but it's not sharp anymore after just a few minutes. The welds came out decent, no problems with actually using it... has comparable control and arc quality as thoriated.
I'll try it out with pulsed settings and some lower amperage sheetmetal work soon on some seatpans and we'll see what it does then. Maybehaps it will work better with the pulsed DC settings over the straight DC.

[Cippee]

I like 2% lanthanated I have to order them from diamond ground but they hold up alot better than 1.5% lanthanated. They are $24 a box for 3/16th and $14 for 1/16th Nice work by the way.

[jerky]

I like 2% lanthanated I have to order them from diamond ground but they hold up alot better than 1.5% lanthanated. They are $24 a box for 3/16th and $14 for 1/16th Nice work by the way.

its on here somewhere else, but try weldingcity.com. they dont have 2%lath but the 1.5 are dirt cheap. 8.90 for ten 1/16"... also considering at my LWS a ten padck of 2% thoriated 1/8" was 100$!!!, weldingcity was only 25.... even with shipping i still save a lot of money