Tungsten sharpening

[sixtwoeight]

Ive been searching and yes its been covered a thousand times.

Im trying to refine my TIG welding, so figured that i should spend a bit more effort on making sure my tungstens are better than they are at present.

Im using a bench grinder, but am looking for a better wheel to put in it, i cant seem to find anything that looks like itl do. Its a 6" wheel with a 12.7 bore. At the moment its a very course wheel, probably 60 grit.

Has anyone got any links to a wheel thats more suitable for ensuring a nicer grind? Or should i just stick a 120 grit flapwheel in handheld grinder?

Thanks

 

[HMB]

I'm a savage and use 40 grit flap wheel in the grinder but I keep it just for the tungsten

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I use a 4" linisher, I keep a belt just for tungstens but the linisher is a God send for other jobs.

 

[Richard.]

Green soft wheel on the bench grinder for me. I can't stand belts for tungstens personally. Preference thing.

 

[dobbslc]

Green soft wheel on the bench grinder for me. I can't stand belts for tungstens personally. Preference thing.

Same for me.
My weldings still crap though......

 

[T0rnado69]

im crap at sharpening them on a bench grinder.

but the title of this thread has just reminded me.....

i need to get some 1.6mm drill bits to clean out the adaptor on the tungsten grinder adaptor.

thanks for reminding me

off to the bay to find some...

 

[hotrodder]

The finer of the two regular grey Al oxide wheels on a bench grinder is good enough most of the time. Finer finishes only really become a bigger deal when welding at very low amperages IMO

Search the bay for 150mm diamond grinding and you'll find a bunch of cheapnese options for very little ££ including 150grit 1a1 (peripheral) wheels, various cup/dished wheels and a bunch of lapidary discs and wheels with a wider choice of grits... lapidary discs are even cheaper, cabbing wheels a bit more
Bigger bonus than faster/better/cooler sharpening is no more wheel dressing although i wouldn't be surprised if some of the cheapnese tat needs fettling on a lathe first to true up the mounting?

 

[langy]

I have a green wheel by my bench and use that 70% of the time but I often use my linisher belt or my normal grinding wheel and it's hard to notice any difference to be honest

 

[norlander]

I've got one of the Hudmut attachements on a Dremel which works ok for what I do. Often thought one of these could work and price is not too bad, diamond wheel won't be top grade for that money but possibly ok for the job

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cmps1-multipurpose-sharpening-tool/

 

[sixtwoeight]

Thankyou all for yours responses. Maybe its not such an issue as i was thinking then. I was hoping my course wheel was not helping my bad welding.

Interested to know what the green soft wheels are??? Have had a search but not sure ive found them, does anyone have a link for them?

 

[Paul.]

Green stones are totally unnecessary and a waste of money for grinding tungsten electrodes, they are intended for grinding tungsten tooling, a 60 grit aluminium oxide wheel on a bench grinder is all you will need, sometimes for "very" low amp work I will fine finish an electrode using fine emery but not for general work.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/w/index.php?title=DC_Electrode_Preparation

 

[sixtwoeight]

Ok, thanks, il carry on with what im using, i was looking for that magic answer to improve. Practice, practice...........it is then.
Thanks again for your answers.

 

[Richard.]

Green stones are totally unnecessary and a waste of money for grinding tungsten electrodes, they are intended for grinding tungsten tooling, a 60 grit aluminium oxide wheel on a bench grinder is all you will need, sometimes for "very" low amp work I will fine finish an electrode using fine emery but not for general work.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/w/index.php?title=DC_Electrode_Preparation

I don't agree with the part "waste of money".
It wasn't an expensive wheel and I use it for my drills and hss lathe tools as well as tungstens mainly.
I have both an Alu oxide and green stone on mine and tungstens are finished up much quicker and much tidier on the green there isn't even a need to dress em up for low amp work as the soft fine grain does that anyway.
It's softer as we know but I've had it a year now and dressed up maybe 10mm off the whole diameter. It was under £20 iirc.
I don't see the negatives in it.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Ive been searching and yes its been covered a thousand times.

Im trying to refine my TIG welding, so figured that i should spend a bit more effort on making sure my tungstens are better than they are at present.

Im using a bench grinder, but am looking for a better wheel to put in it, i cant seem to find anything that looks like itl do. Its a 6" wheel with a 12.7 bore. At the moment its a very course wheel, probably 60 grit.

Has anyone got any links to a wheel thats more suitable for ensuring a nicer grind? Or should i just stick a 120 grit flapwheel in handheld grinder?

Thanks

I have tungsten grinder which screws onto a Dremel tool, and wouldnt want to go back to using a bench grinder. When I did use a bench grinder though, had a diamond disc intended for angle grinder, and simply turned up adapter to make it fit bench grinder properly. Much better than a grinding stone, and very cheap from Ebay. If you made a sharpening guide, and use diamond wheels should get perfect job every time.

 

[Turbo]

I've got one of the Hudmut attachements on a Dremel which works ok for what I do. Often thought one of these could work and price is not too bad, diamond wheel won't be top grade for that money but possibly ok for the job

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cmps1-multipurpose-sharpening-tool/

I have the Parkside version of that sharpener and it does indeed work very well for sharpening tungstens. Unfortunately the diamond coated wheels are not up to the job, mine has lost a lot of the diamonds after maybe grinding 10 tungstens! I'm now back to using the bench grinder, I've a new grinder I'm going to keep just for the job.

I hold the tungsten in a cordless drill and use it to spin the tungsten while holding it against the grinding wheel. It makes it easier to get an even taper plus it saves your fingers getting burnt!

 

[T0rnado69]

I hold the tungsten in a cordless drill and use it to spin the tungsten while holding it against the grinding wheel. It makes it easier to get an even taper plus it saves your fingers getting burnt!

i thought about that, but thought maybe the tungsten would break with any pressure put on it, when pressed against the wheel.

so i got a Hudmut attachement for the Dremel..

 

[Turbo]

In a previous job I sharpened 100's of tungstens that way and I've yet to break one. If you use the lanthanated tungstens you're safe anyway as apparently they are impossible to break!

I might invest in one of those green wheels and fit it to the grinder as I need one anyway for my lathe tools.

 

[T0rnado69]

so they are tougher then i thought then

not sure what ones i have...

 

[optima21]

I use a diamond coated grinding disk in a drill

using a slitting saw holder

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371561006356

and these grinding discs should fit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291268213175

 

[Chris Stevens]

I use a diamond coated grinding disk in a drill

using a slitting saw holder

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/371561006356

and these grinding discs should fit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291268213175

The same wheel mounted on a small bench grinder works perfectly, and is so cheap and hassle free it always makes me wonder why people still mess around with grinding wheels?