Tungston

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I was wondering why It is not good to sharpen both ends of the tungston I've tried both ways and I didn't notice any diffrence.                                                                     WILDB454
Reply:Thats a new one on me, I've never heard anyone say that could ever be a problem ...It can be quite handy at times to have a tungsten that is sharp at both ends. That way you can flip it around and get back to what you were doing without having to go and regrind.But if you have questions on Tungstens then I would suggest you go to the main forum page and use the search box.There are already lots of threads on Tungsten questions there to look at.However you better spell Tungston as "Tungsten" when you search.Washman
Reply:The two problems I can think of are:1) If you grind off the color band, you can't tell what type of tungsten it is (i.e. 2% Th, 1% Zr, pure, etc.).2) A guy in my TIG class did this: he sharpened both ends so he wouldn't have to walk to the grinder as much, and started welding. He touched the filler to the tungsten and got a big glob of steel stuck to the tip, so he flipped the tungsten around and got back to welding. Within a couple of minutes he dipped the tungsten and glommed up the other end. Problem was, with both ends of the tungsten messed up, he couldn't get it out of the collet because the blobs of steel were too big. He ended up having to completely dismantle the torch to get it out.Visit Tensaiteki.com
Reply:Originally Posted by TensaitekiThe two problems I can think of are:1) If you grind off the color band, you can't tell what type of tungsten it is (i.e. 2% Th, 1% Zr, pure, etc.).2) A guy in my TIG class did this: he sharpened both ends so he wouldn't have to walk to the grinder as much, and started welding. He touched the filler to the tungsten and got a big glob of steel stuck to the tip, so he flipped the tungsten around and got back to welding. Within a couple of minutes he dipped the tungsten and glommed up the other end. Problem was, with both ends of the tungsten messed up, he couldn't get it out of the collet because the blobs of steel were too big. He ended up having to completely dismantle the torch to get it out.
Reply:ok i'm not worried about getting filler rod stuck to it or if it's pure or 2% tungston (does it effect the weld in any way.
Reply:It will not effect the weld.
Reply:Really the only negative thing about sharpening both ends, (all my tungstens are 2% thoriated) is that you will lose about 1/4 of an inch of usable tungsten because it must make a good connection in the collet.
Reply:You can apply grind marks to the center of the Tungsten to replace the color bands.  IE 1 mark pure, 2 marks thoriated, etc. etc.DennisThermal Arc 185-TSWMillermatic Challenger 172VictorO/AAtlas Craftsman 12 by 24 LatheEsab PCM-875Wholesalem Tool Mill-Drill
Reply:THANK YOU EVERYONE   FOR YOUR REPLIES!!                          BILL(wildb454)