Tungsten sharpening

[manoweb]

Hello. So far I always had some sort of machine to sharpen my tungsten:
- at school, a diamond wheel machine, I forgot what brand/model but it looked expensive
- at the shop I practiced with, they had a hand-held machine, good quality, 350 bucks the owner was really really happy with it
- at work I checked and we have a bunch of Piranha III

These are all high end options. I could in theory afford the hand-held unit but as a home setup I am not sure it's justifiable. Fact is, I do not own a bench grinder at home, and I could buy one for just for tungsten, or are there other low cost options I should consider? I've heard of people mounting some sort of diamond wheel to the *side* of a bench grinder wheel...

[BigTB]

Hello. So far I always had some sort of machine to sharpen my tungsten:
- at school, a diamond wheel machine, I forgot what brand/model but it looked expensive
- at the shop I practiced with, they had a hand-held machine, good quality, 350 bucks the owner was really really happy with it
- at work I checked and we have a bunch of Piranha III

These are all high end options. I could in theory afford the hand-held unit but as a home setup I am not sure it's justifiable. Fact is, I do not own a bench grinder at home, and I could buy one for just for tungsten, or are there other low cost options I should consider? I've heard of people mounting some sort of diamond wheel to the *side* of a bench grinder wheel...

I use a diamond wheel on a 4.5" angle grinder. It is Bosch brand, I believe. Picked it up at Menards for under $20. Home Depot has a similar wheel in Dewalt brand, but the actual diamond grit area is narrower.

I chuck the tungsten in a cordless drill and spin it very slow while grinding it to the desired angle with the grinder. Only takes a few seconds. I typically grind several at a time so I'm good to go for a while.

I considered a specialty grinder, but they are expensive, and replacement wheels are $20+ anyway, so the $20 diamond wheel works great for me.

[BigTB]

This is the one I use.

https://www.grainger.com/product/44M...180501022502:s

Before that I used a 120 grit sanding disk on an angle grinder and it worked. I've seen people use those cheap, mini belt sanders on a stand from Harbor Freight. Works ok too.

[bentwings]

The 4.5” diamond wheel on a grinder works pretty well. You can buy the grinder at Harbor Freight for dirt cheap. I put the grinder in the bench vice so it is stable. Spinning the electrode slowly makes any scratches go parallel to the axis so they work very well.

I’ve used the hand held specialty grinders too. Again gently holding them in the vise stabilizes it. I think they have a finer grit as you can really polish the electrodes. However unless you are doing some really fine stuff I think it is too much work.
I occasionally do repair work on SS classic car moldings. These are typically .015 or .019”. Thick so you really have to be careful if you are filling a hole or welding a crack. Here the highly polished electrode works very well.

I have a cheap bench grinder dedicated to electrode grinding. These typically have pretty soft wheels and it is easy to wear a groove in them. I use a Desmond dresser to flatten the wheels but wheel life is pretty short. You need a harder set to be more effective. I’m just being lazy and haven’t replaced mine. I charged shop supplies for the grinder on the project as it was large enough to justify this.

What ever grinder you use, practice safety when you use it. Safety glasses, keep fingers out of the grinder and try not to over heat the electrodes.

[TraditionalToolworks]

I was using a green carbide wheel on a small bench grinder, with a cordless drill spinning the electrode. works ok, but makes a huge mess, and my main concern was tungsten dust spread around the shop, the dust from the wheel gets on EVERYTHING, makes a mess of the cordless drill chuck and tooling ends up with dust all over it. No matter how you look at it, tungsten dust is being left in the shop.

I had seen a device on ebay, the TungstenMate, they are available now and only cost $30. That probably works pretty good. Since it wasn't available when I bought mine, I got this one.

With that said, I like that the one I got has a cover over it, but it's pretty cheaply made and it's made out of stamped steel...that one for $30 looks like a good deal to me, but you can go to Harbor Freight and get a pack of 5 diamond wheels and an arbor and use a Dremel if you have one. I use an old Dremel my kids gave to me for Father's day about 20 years ago...that POS has come in handy over the years and now it sharpens my tunsten.

If you're at all handy, you could turn a round piece on the lathe, thread it for 3/4-10 (what many rotary tools are including the Black & Decker, Dremels, and others...) Drill a few holes and Bob's your uncle. The one I got uses collets, but the collets are nice and it includes 1. I will turn other size collets, it's just a brass bushing for the most part.

Anyway, there's many attachments for the rotary tools, it produces a pretty good point. I just got mine recently but happy with the one I got, even though it was a tad more. It was a lot less than those $$250-$300 portable grinders, as I had my Dremel.

The bench grinder works fine also, if you don't mind the dust/mess. You can get a 6" diamond wheel for those also, the answers are abundant.

I think one of the better values is probably the HTP (usawelds.com), those nicer ones have cutoff, allow you to change angle, etc...they are nicer. If you have $250 burning a hole in your pocket, those are one of the better deals, IMO. The Sharpie is another, as-is the TechSouth...there's a lot of options which is probably why you asked...

HTH

Alan

[Louie1961]

I use my bench top belt sander. Works great. I chuck up the tungsten in a cordless drill.

[duramax-rob]

id do the same with my belt sander and only takes 5 second to change belts from steel only to aluminum, to wood and stuff. really fast on the tungsten also (10 sec at most)

[Xsbank]

Lapidary wheel in a bench grinder, spin the tungsten with a cordless drill.

[Fast Leroy]

I use my bench top belt sander. Works great. I chuck up the tungsten in a cordless drill.

Ditto...

[acourtjester]

I use one of these attached to a small bench grinder, sandwich to the standard grinder wheel. I just twist the tungsten with my fingers.
I hung the bench grinder under a cabinet for easy access and it out of the way.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grit-320-Di...wAAOSwEb9aJKue

[manoweb]

Wow many interesting solutions! Thanks.

[manoweb]

I was using a green carbide wheel on a small bench grinder, with a cordless drill spinning the electrode. works ok, but makes a huge mess, and my main concern was tungsten dust spread around the shop, the dust from the wheel gets on EVERYTHING, makes a mess of the cordless drill chuck and tooling ends up with dust all over it. No matter how you look at it, tungsten dust is being left in the shop.

Well I have many tungstens. And I am not a newbie that dips all the time anymore. So I could use up all my tungstens, when they are all in a pityful shape I take the grinder outdoors and grind them all at the same time keeping my garage "clean".

At work we have a shop that is completely dedicated to grinding and other "dirty" jobs, welding is done in a different area, I guess it makes sense.

I had seen a device on ebay, the TungstenMate, they are available now and only cost $30.

Yeah but all over the internet I have found only ONE review of these - they are not that expensive so it would not be a huge loss if I don't like it or it does not work too well. However - as it has a "fixed" position, won't it use up the diamond wheel in a narrow strip and leave all the rest of the diamond unused?

[manoweb]

I use one of these attached to a small bench grinder, sandwich to the standard grinder wheel. I just twist the tungsten with my fingers.
I hung the bench grinder under a cabinet for easy access and it out of the way.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Grit-320-Di...wAAOSwEb9aJKue

Wow this looks real good. 320grit I guess it leaves a very very smooth tungsten.

Did you just sandwich it with a washer and it stays in place? Or you had to build an arbor adapter of some sort? If so can you provide a description? Thanks!

[BigTB]

Well I have many tungstens. And I am not a newbie that dips all the time anymore. So I could use up all my tungstens, when they are all in a pityful shape I take the grinder outdoors and grind them all at the same time keeping my garage "clean".

That's what I do as well. I keep a few sharpened on the shelf above my bench and can grab another quick if I mess one up. I grab the grinder and sharpen three or four at once right outside the door when needed.

[acourtjester]

I take the nut off and the domed washer put the diamond plate one and replace the washer and nut tighten it up and your ready

[TraditionalToolworks]

Well I have many tungstens. And I am not a newbie that dips all the time anymore.

I'm getting better and don't dip and/or stab the electrode with the filler as much, but I just find it inconvenient and messy in my garage shop.

I take the grinder outdoors and grind them all at the same time keeping my garage "clean".

Not so easy for me, not easy to get it outside without moving a bunch of stuff around. I do sharpen in batches like you however.

At work we have a shop that is completely dedicated to grinding and other "dirty" jobs, welding is done in a different area, I guess it makes sense.

This is similar to trying to work wood and metal in the same shop, it just doesn't work well and you really need to separate the work, even if it's doing each one separately. Even in this case you need to cover your woodworking machines if possible as it will make a mess with sawdust. Grinding is the worst, even an angle grinder throws dust all over everything. You don't realize it until you look after you're finished and most stuff is filthy. I do go outside when I can with the angle grinder.

Yeah but all over the internet I have found only ONE review of these - they are not that expensive so it would not be a huge loss if I don't like it or it does not work too well. However - as it has a "fixed" position, won't it use up the diamond wheel in a narrow strip and leave all the rest of the diamond unused?

Yes, the one I use is also aimed at the same spot, but the wheels are cheap and easy enough to change. Mine is a bit tricky to change the wheel, I use a piece of tape to hold the screw in, so I can get the screw started and then take the tape off...the screw is small...

There is not really a lot to go wrong with them, that TungstenMate says it's made in America also. All it does is screw on to the end of the dremel and act as a shroud around the wheel...if you see one in front of you, you would realize how simple they are. The arbor and diamond wheel extend through the shroud. The diamond wheel does the work.

There are several made out of plastic, those also sell for about $50 (i.e., Scottsman and similar). You can use the same crappy chinesium 1" diamond wheels on it, just like the TungstenMate.

You can see that many people use belt sanders, angle grinders, bench grinders, etc...there are a lot of options. A diamond wheel will eliminate most of the dust...but still, that Tungsten dust must be going somewhere...

it's not rocket science, you can sharpen a number of electrodes and not have to do it for a while, so even a bench grinder can work. The portable is very convenient, easy enough to grab it near the welding table. I'm sure whatever option you pic, it will work fine. Always good to have more than one way to be able to sharpen Tungsten, IMO, but all of our mileage varies.

Cheers,
Alan

[ttoks]

If I have access to it and am in a shop environment i'll chuck my tungstens up in a cordless drill and use a belt sander/bench grinder to sharpen them, but in all honestly I usualy end up sharpening them by hand with either a flap disk or a hard grinding dist on a 5 inch angle grinder, some people get very fussy about they're tungstens, while it honestly doesnt bother me unless I'm doing a joint where I have limited heat input and the welding inspectors are actually measuring said heat input in which case a really crisply sharpened tungsten does help alot.

[VPT]

Bench grinder works fine, I hold the tungsten with my hand and sharpen the tungsten facing up.

I use the same bench grinder for grinding everything from steel, aluminum, titanium, wood, plastic, rubber, fingers, you name it. Tungsten contamination from grinding is an old wives tale.

[TimmyTIG]

There must be at least 9,000 threads on this. I usually just give mine a quick go with the 4 inch side grinder and get back to welding, unless I have some time to kill. They have stations set up with 9 inch side grinders and sanding discs and drills around the shop.

[John T]

There must be at least 9,000 threads on this.

Hah !
No sh*t

I tried the bench grinder/belt sander/diamond wheel

Worked OK

But the best bang for my buck was a dedicated tungsten grinder.

Sure it was a couple hundred dollars
But


It gives me a 100% perfect point every time.



I love it.


There’s many different ways to get the job done.

For me

This is a no-brainer

It’s all set up just throw the tungsten in and your done.

Ez-pz







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[songer121]

This is my setup. BY FAR the best and cheapest way i have found when you want a finish thats comparable to those liquid cooled unit.

2 diamond wheels from McMasterCarr on a 6” bench grinder from lowes.

[songer121]

Sorry those pictures are so big lol... uploaded them from my phone because the website on my computer wouldn't work for some reason...

[pgk]

Iv'e heard that those wheels last for literally thousands of grinds too. Did you get two different grit wheels?

[songer121]

Yes a 180 grit and 320 grit. Ive got around 150 grinds on the 180 and still acts like its new. and keep in mind thats 150+ grinds of 2% Lanthanated which is some really hard stuff.

[Kelvin]

There must be at least 9,000 threads on this. I usually just give mine a quick go with the 4 inch side grinder and get back to welding, unless I have some time to kill. They have stations set up with 9 inch side grinders and sanding discs and drills around the shop.

10,000 threads the last time I checked.

I have a dedicated tungsten grinder with diamond cabbing wheels, but honestly, I rarely use it anymore.

Now I just use the angle grinder. Turn it on, step on it on the floor to hold it in place and spin the tungsten by hand against the wheel.

People act like you need a $5000 tool and a NASA-certified clean room to grind a f$cking tungsten but I've found it isn't necessary for 99.99% of the work I do.