Really Cheap $19.98 Tungsten Sharpener

[sschefer]

I also have the small HF variable speed grinder. After I cut and grind a tungsten on the diamond wheel, I polish it on the scotchbrite wheel of the small grinder.

What I've found is that depending upon the application, it often matters less about the quality of the finished grind then it does the angle. A sharper angle with a sharp point focuses the arc tighter and a longer angle tends to make a wider arc that moves up the tungsten in a short period of time. I don't even like it like that for Aluminum where a wider flame is often preferred.

I think if you're doing very fine and delicate work then it pays to go to extremes other wise just following the basic best practices seems to be enough.

I can't count the times recently where I've burnt through my last tungsten and just sharpened it on the fly (so to speak) and finished the job without issues.

[JohnS]

I also have the small HF variable speed grinder. After I cut and grind a tungsten on the diamond wheel, I polish it on the scotchbrite wheel of the small grinder.

What I've found is that depending upon the application, it often matters less about the quality of the finished grind then it does the angle. A sharper angle with a sharp point focuses the arc tighter and a longer angle tends to make a wider arc that moves up the tungsten in a short period of time. I don't even like it like that for Aluminum where a wider flame is often preferred.

I think if you're doing very fine and delicate work then it pays to go to extremes other wise just following the basic best practices seems to be enough.

I can't count the times recently where I've burnt through my last tungsten and just sharpened it on the fly (so to speak) and finished the job without issues.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the "tips" Sorry, couldn't resist a little pun.....

My current project is "finally" organizing my garage. I decided to build the carcasses for a lot of enclosed shelving from 1 1/2" x 1/16' steel box tubing. I decided to TIG weld it together for the practice. Because of the size of the cabinet carcasses, using a foot pedal is out of the question. That's where the 2T function of the 250EX really comes in handy. Needless to say, with all of the different positions I find myself contorted to, as well as sticking the tungsten out of the cup further than normal for fillet welds, I contaminate the tungsten tips much more often than if I were working at a bench and could brace my hand on something. Anyway, that was the main motivation for finding a fast way to regrind the tungsten tip.

I did notice a long taper does burn back faster as you mentioned. I also opted to use a 3/32" instead of 1/16" tungsten even though I am welding butt, corner, and fillet joints at anywhere between around 6o to 75 amps depending on the joint. The 3/32" seems to hold up better.

Gotta run, the wife's laptop died and I tracked it down to the motherboard. It's cheaper to just buy her a new one, so off to the computer store we go..

Later everyone and thanks!!

[Gary]

Here are a few pictures of the way I have been sharpening tungstens, I am trying to learn how to use a new camera is one of the reasons I am posting pictures and stuff . I got it so I could get close up photos but so far not doing so well but You can zoom in on them too and I did a video if I can figure out how to load it too..








Gary