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Posted by mandelbrot5@gmail.com on April 21, 2008, 11:00 pm
Please log in for more thread options On Apr 21, 5:54 pm, lethaldri...@gmail.com wrote:
> yes i am grinding away from the point.
>
> but maybe the grinding stone contaminated my tungsten with a few steel/
> aluminum bits since my grinder is also used for grinding different
> metal pieces.
>
> my collet and collet holder seem to have steel bits on it too.
>
> i am using thoriated on steel.
> pure tungsten on aluminum.
>
>
> > On Apr 20, 4:35 pm, lethaldri...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > > I don't have a bench grinder but i do have an angle grinder to sharpen
> > > thoriated tungsten electrodes.
>
> > > I'm having problems with the arc it seems to create bright pulsing
> > > flashes making it very difficult for me to see the arc and weld
> > > puddle.
>
> > > is this caused by a contaminated tungsten electrode?
> > > OR
> > > is that what happens when the tungsten electrode is contaminated with
> > > other metal bits from the grinding stone?
>
> > > perhaps my angle grinder isn't clean enough and contains some steel/
> > > aluminum bits which contaminated the electrode.
>
> > Hi there.
>
> > Remember to grind away from the point when grinding the tungsten.
>
> > Maybe you are using a wrong type of tungsten for the material. What
> > type of material are you welding?
If you are grinding your tungsten because you keep dipping it in the
weld pool, you need to grind off whatever was exposed from your
collet. The tungsten is hot enough to 'absorb' metal into it's
crystal structure and you need to grind it all off or it will melt/
vaporize and ruin your point.
Another thing to keep in mind, your work must be absolutely clean. If
there is any oil, water, scale or 'barf' in what you are trying to
weld, its going to pop and make a mess of your weld, tungsten and
torch. If this happens, grind out the entire part of the weld that
got contaminated, grind your tungsten down and start over. With
steel, Stainless you should grind tell you see no holes, in al you
grind tell you see no black or sparks. You shouldn't see anything
near what you are welding that isn't bright clean metal.
The cardinal rule with TIG is NEVER let your Tungsten touch your weld
pool or your rod.
Tig is the most complex and difficult manual welding process to get
down, so don't get discouraged. Just keep laying down bead and you'll
get better.
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> thoriated tungsten electrodes.
>
> I'm having problems with the arc it seems to create bright pulsing
> flashes making it very difficult for me to see the arc and weld
> puddle.
>
> is this caused by a contaminated tungsten electrode?
> OR
> is that what happens when the tungsten electrode is contaminated with
> other metal bits from the grinding stone?
>
> perhaps my angle grinder isn't clean enough and contains some steel/
> aluminum bits which contaminated the electrode.