Techsouth vs. Sharpiie

[metalman21]

35 years sharpening tungsten every which way. Want to treat myself to a hand held portable cordless tungsten sharpener.
The Techsouth and the Sharpie adjustable units appear to be the same to me? Unless I missed something?

Not looking for a debate about sharpening, I know the subject is beat to death: (https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthrea...ngsten+grinder)

Just wondering if anybody else researched or used these units. Both are in the same price area I'm OK with and I did find others (hand held) for way more, don't want to go there.
Not interested in the plastic attachments.
Thoughts, comments?

[tapwelder]

I have had to from techsouth. The first was purchased for 25 bucks. The second came with a tig machine.

I would never purchase one at regular price. I rarely use them. For the quality welding I do hand grinding is fine. It is not faster, and if you have. 35 yrs doing it then you are consistent.

I thought initially it would be good for field work. Nope.

1

[Capt B]

I have a cordless techsouth. I can sharpen just as fast with a grinder but I do a fair amount of aluminum tig welding inside boats etc. and it's nice to be able to stop where you're at and sharpen a tungsten real quick without going to the grinder. Guess I could just carry a few sharpened tungstens with me but I normally just carry the sharpener if I will be welding a good bit. I do think I can do a better job sharpening with a grinder.

[metalman21]

I have a cordless techsouth. I can sharpen just as fast with a grinder but I do a fair amount of aluminum tig welding inside boats etc. and it's nice to be able to stop where you're at and sharpen a tungsten real quick without going to the grinder. Guess I could just carry a few sharpened tungstens with me but I normally just carry the sharpener if I will be welding a good bit. I do think I can do a better job sharpening with a grinder.

I can see not wanting to get out of a boat. I don't want to get up off the stool at the table...getting lazy in my old age.
I spent more time looking and the heads appear to be the same between the TechSouth and Sharpie. Both cordless units I think use the Milwaukee motor. Baker's is listed as a "Milwaukee tungsten grinder" but has a Techsouth head. Don't know who makes what but I'm getting the impression Techsouth does the actual manufacturing? Don't have any solid reasons to think that other than looks.
TechSouth head:

Sharpie head:

Probable choose which one with the best price.

[John T]

I don't want to get up off the stool at the table...getting lazy in my old age.

That’s the reason I got mine.
It’s right here at the bench within arms reach.

I don’t have a bad thing to say about the techsouth.




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[TraditionalToolworks]

I can see not wanting to get out of a boat. I don't want to get up off the stool at the table...getting lazy in my old age.
I spent more time looking and the heads appear to be the same between the TechSouth and Sharpie. Both cordless units I think use the Milwaukee motor.

I use an inexpensive attachment for my Dremel, it only cost me about $30, works well, but the one problem is has is there is not a way to cut off the end of the tungsten, and if a big blob gets on the end (DAMHIKT) it won't fit in the collet. That makes it difficult to get the tungsten to fit in the collet to resharpen. Because of that I recently got a flat diamond plate (actually a set of 3) which I mounted on the side of my grinder wheel, now I can clean those and the flat wheel makes it easier to cut the ends off the tungsten if I want.

Whatever one you decide to get, make sure it will allow you to cut the end off a tungsten that has a blob on it. I know the one at HTP America will allow for that. I am not sure if that is a TechSouth or a Sharpie or other, but Jeff is a great guy to deal with in my experience.

[danielplace]

The Sharpie allows you to cut them. Not sure if it has to be clean or if one with a goober on the end is loadable for cutting though.

https://www.arc-zone.com/sharpie-gri...ead-a-ptgk-dhd

[John T]

The Sharpie allows you to cut them. ]

Techsouth does also
There is a slit in the back to flush cut.

Usually it fits but if its really balled up you can put it into the window opening and grind it till it fits




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[Country Metals]

I have a tech south one and I have barely use it. Instead I just carry 5 boxes of already sharpened tungsten around. I carry a box of 1/8, 1 of 1/16, 2 of 3/32, 1 short 3/32. I have never had a problem and when I am on a ladder or tight spot welding, I just change it out and get back to getting it done.

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[tapwelder]

I rarely cut or break my tungsten prior to sharpening. Saves a lot of tungsten sharpening the blob away. The cutting step is just so it fits in the hole.

[danielplace]

….and reducing the length for shorter back caps. I have half length back caps I use often so I start by cutting them in half.

I try to have enough sharpened already to get through whatever it is I plan to do. I use a 1" belt sander most often for sharpening with tunsten chucked up in cordless drill. Thin 4.5" cutoff wheel for cutting.

[Munkul]

I used to use the 6" bench grinder, then moved to belt grinder when I got one, eventually I put a cheap diamond wheel on the old bench grinder and fabbed up a little guide for it. Much easier and faster than any other method IMO



If it's an away-job I'll just pre-sharpen a handful of tungstens.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Always cracks me up when one of these threads shows up on WeldingWeb, although there are many people who have bought TechSouth and Sharpie tungsten grinders, the implication is they can do it for a fraction of the cost and have wasted their money.

I don't see how spending a few hundred dollars to provide the quick and efficient tungsten grinding can be all that bad, in fact, it seems to make sense to me.

If I was welding professionally and needed tungstens at my disposal all the time I would get one myself. I use a less expensive attachment for my Dremel and it works fine for me, along with a flat diamond wheel on the side of a grinder wheel. I have used a belt sander also, carbide green wheel, aluminum oxide grinding wheel, angle grinder, but prefer to use a diamond wheel to keep the dust down. There's a gazillion ways to sharpen tungsten, whatever works for you, use it. But there's something to be said for having the convenience of a TechSouth or Sharpie. Seems like a small price to pay for the convenience given the cost of welders, tungsten and filler.

FWIW, best I can tell the HTP America is a TechSouth. If I was going to buy one, I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them, usaweld.com provides XLNT service and support and has free shipping.

[tapwelder]

I don't see how spending a few hundred dollars to provide the quick and efficient tungsten grinding can be all that bad, in fact, it seems to make sense to me.

This is the reason folk are not satisfied. Perhaps the more expensive stationary systems would be more useful. At least for speed.

As a professional, I hate spending money on tools I may use.

I have the HTP.

[TraditionalToolworks]

This is the reason folk are not satisfied. Perhaps the more expensive stationary systems would be more useful. At least for speed.

Perhaps, but the small portable tungsten grinders are even more affordable.

As a professional, I hate spending money on tools I may use.

That part I get, I really do. However I can't see why someone would get a portable tungsten grinder and not use it for consistency. This is my main problem with using a belt sander, angle grinder or bench grinder. Unless one has a fixture they will never be able to get a 100% consistent grind like they can on a portable or bench mounted tungsten grinder.

BTW, I completely agree with your comment above about cutting the blob off, it can waste a lot of tungsten, but I find that if I can grind the blob off easily, at that point it fits the collet and I can get my consistent point. My cheap attachment doesn't adjust so I cheat by setting the wheel at the height/angle I prefer my tungsten to be ground at. Since I use an inverter I grind a kind of shallow point. Not as if cutting the blob off is going to break the bank either. Also, not so easy to cut tungsten in half using a cut off wheel, at least not for me...that tungsten is tougher than gorilla snot.

My only complaint is that it seems the same spot is used on the small diamond wheel and eventually you will end up with a lot of unused diamond, but they seem cheap enough that they pay for themselves. I get the imported discs, you can usually find them for under $10. FWIW, the set of 3 x 6" flat diamond wheels I got (120/400/1200 grits) were less than $25 with shipping. Works well for cleaning those blobs off the tungsten.