TIG Questions...

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A buddies neighbor gave me all these TIG consumables and hardware for free. He stopped welding years ago and was cleaning out his garage. Looks like a pretty neat fixture/back purge set up. I'm still learning TIG, I have a few questions...The tungsten looks old, is it still good?I didn't know GTE/Sylvania and Linde made tungsten rods, are they an ok brand of tungsten rod? He used to sharpen all his tungsten to a needle point(long sharp point) what was his reason for doing so?Any tips on setting up a back purge system would be great.I'm running a Lincoln 355 with 100% Argon, thanks in advance.
Reply:Few more pics...
Reply:Good score and ahhhhhhhh no..Tungsten does not go bad unless you dip it in your puddle....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Wow! You've got a lot of money laying there on that table in parts. You are probably set for life with 9/20 series gas lenses, collet holders, collets and cups, not to mention back caps and tungstens. Nice score. Be sure and do something nice for him in return.As far as sharpening tungstens, someone recently posted up some good picts that show the differences in penetration based on the angle of the grind. Most guys doing steel/stainless tend to grind to a thin sharp "pencil" like point. If you are doing AC tig on alum, the DC+ part of the arc tends to melt thin points, so most guys tend to use either a ball with old school transformers ( almost impossible to NOT have the tungsten ball in some cases like with pure ( green)) or grind in more of a blunt crayon like point. Inverters have a bit more arc control and tend to hold a point better than transformer machines.If I can  locate the other thread, I'll post up the link..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Nice score for sure!  What's the copper looking thing thats above the cups for?
Reply:Nice! Was he planning for the tungsten apocalypse or something?
Reply:If any of those large cups are for 1/16" tungsten and you wanna sell one, I would gladly take one off your hands As far as the tungsten, chuck it up in a drill and use some fine sandpaper strips to straddle the tungsten while it turns slowly, and you can get rid of that oxidation and get it nice and clean and shiny 1st on WeldingWeb to have a scrolling sig! HTP Invertig 400HTP Invertig 221HTP ProPulse 300HTP ProPulse 200 x2HTP ProPulse 220MTSHTP Inverarc 200TLP HTP Microcut 875SC