Grinding problems / tungstens discoloring along length...

[Ali]

Very pretty Henry :-) Thanks.

If anyone is interested, I got over my grinding issues by accident. Needed some space on the bench so moved the grinder to another one about 6" higher - problem solved. Can now grind the 1.6 tungstens perfectly. With other grinding youre usually looking down on the angle but with this the height is more critical (at least for me).

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning gents, as promised final completed project

 

[Ali]

Just picking up on this thread again.

If my tungstens have blued for whatever reason, does this affect their usability?

I'm using 6 seconds post flow at least & have a gas lens assy now but wondering whether the three tungstens I've been using again and again need to be replaced. I'll upload a photo later on.

 

[Ali]

 

[Brad93]

they look okay. Are the tungstens any particular brand? Better quality tungstens dont discolour, my HFT Multistrikes stay pretty clean.

 

[Richard.]

You've got it right it's simply a case of protecting the weld and tungstens from oxides attacking while they are hot and vulnerable.
Now the tungsten will always cool faster than the weld will so if your tungsten is contaminated with oxides I'm afraid your weld it too.
6 seconds is a salute minimum IMO and I'm talking up to 1 mm thickness material low current. After that I add a second for every mm thicker. So 2- 7sec 3-8sec etc etc. this is what I find works for me.
Is it a bad thing you ask... Well yes I think it is. Tig is a 100% inert process. Oxides are not welcome through the door till the weld and tungsten are nicely cooled past the point of vulnerability.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

good morning gents.
I find that the tungsten will always show 'disscolourisation' temper marks when it gets hot. If however you use it longer and harder (higher current) then they clean up. I find that it is a heat thing with the tungsten, once you have heated it up and burnt off and surface contamination due to handling, they clean up 'get bright'. Then temper marks progress down the length of the tungsten into the holder where you cannot see without pulling the tungsten out. Those tungstens look fine to me

 

[Richard.]

Hi Henry. Sorry mate that's not correct. You can't just attack every job with 150 amps For 10 minute runs in the hope the heat tint changes colour to grey. The only way to ensure adequate tungsten protection is through shielding gas protection. Heat tint isn't acceptable on the tungsten tip. Yes duller further down can't be avoided because it's not getting protection there from the gas but the point should always remain tint free whatever the use or current range. Heat tint is surface oxides which are a form of contamination. You remove them on your stainless work for obvious reasons the tool doing the work should be no different.

 

[Richard.]

Regarding the tungstens in the pic they lOok fine to me too but they also look freshly prepped. If the tip is blue the PG isn't enough.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

good morning Richard.
I apologise I was refferring to the temper marks along the length of the tungsten, not discouloration of the tip. In previous posts on thus topic I showed my setup and the tungsten after use. The tip and into the ceramic cup the tungsten is bright and only gets the temper marks in the collet tube. If the working tip is not bright then there is a problem. Hope that clears up what I was trying to say

 

[Ali]

Its all starting to make sense now, thanks gents. I'm getting precious about gas now as it's only a hobby!

 

[norlander]

Its all starting to make sense now, thanks gents. I'm getting precious about gas now as it's only a hobby!

I was like that Ali, but I findmore post flow helps keep the tungstens in better shape, its easy to get mean with the gas, but it can be cheaper than tungstens in my case out here.
How much use has you torch had? have you tried a fresh collet?.
I look at the torch bits as consumables, I noticed once that despite the back cap being well tight, I could waggle the tungsten. I bin and replace torch bits every so often, I don't know if I am wasting my money, but welding seems to go better
with fresh bits in.
I look at them as being like spark plugs, you tend to fit em and forget em, but replacing them or cleaning and gapping them keeps the motor running better.
A once in a while inspection of hoses and connections doesn't go amiss either.
Happy welding.

 

[Richard.]

I was like that Ali, but I findmore post flow helps keep the tungstens in better shape, its easy to get mean with the gas, but it can be cheaper than tungstens in my case out here.
How much use has you torch had? have you tried a fresh collet?.
I look at the torch bits as consumables, I noticed once that despite the back cap being well tight, I could waggle the tungsten. I bin and replace torch bits every so often, I don't know if I am wasting my money, but welding seems to go better
with fresh bits in.
I look at them as being like spark plugs, you tend to fit em and forget em, but replacing them or cleaning and gapping them keeps the motor running better.
A once in a while inspection of hoses and connections doesn't go amiss either.
Happy welding.

I don't know how easy they are to get for you norlander but have you tried the CK wedge collet.
I agree with you collets are or at least we're consumable till I started using these. They are top notch mate I can't kill em and high current AC is where they spend there lives with me. They are a couple quid each mind but no more wobbly tungstens and over tightening back caps.

 

[norlander]

I do have some CK collets Richard, yes, they are in another league, bad image but the CK is the brass one for those that have never seen one, those are 1.6.

 

[Richard.]

That's a good image. I can see it clearly. Yes those are the ones.

 

[Ali]

My two torches haven't seen much use. They're a WP26 which came with the machine, and a WP9 I purchased as I wanted something smaller. It's actually the same physical size, so I used it for about 10 minutes then went back to the WP26 which I felt more comfortable with, and upgraded this to a gas lens setup. Not sure what to do with the WP9, might sell it and eventually put the money towards a water cooled setup. I have loads of fresh consumables, so will try swapping these around and see what happens. I also want to mess about with different tungstens to see how I get on - I've only tried Thoriated. Thanks for the input.

 

[norlander]

I find my WP9 is a fair bit dinkier than my WP26, although, to be fair, its the cabling on the 26 thats a slight problem, but I'm getting used to the 26 now, and you can fit 9 bits/cups on it to make access easier.

Anyway, I took out my CK collet and put an used conventional one in, the torch sputtered on light up, so I put a new conventional one in and it lit up ok, and I thought the arc was better (but that might be me imagining it though).

I have gone over to 2% lanthanated, for everything, they seem to be ok for my basic level of stuff, and as they all the one flavour, I can cut them down, and/or sharpen both ends.