Are Tungsten Sharpeners really necessary? I mean seriously...

Tungsten Sharpeners have made a splash in the tig welding industry. But do you really need one?

Lets look at some of the pros and cons of 3 different types of tungsten sharpeners...

HTP Tig Welding Tungsten Sharpener - hand held

some even come with a vacuum bag to keep the dust filtered and contained. With all the talk about radioactive thorium dust, the vacuum bags have been pushed hard.

The pros of a hand held unit like this are:

* some of them are affordable..starting at around $200

* the consistency is pretty good

* there is no coolant to change

* compact and fits in tool bag

The cons are :

* the diamond replacement wheels are expensive...something not advertised when you buy..the ones I have used cost around 45 bucks...ouch!

* Some the the hand held tungsten sharpeners are not cheap, The Weldcraft Triad for example is around 700 dollars fully decked out with all the goods. It is the Mac Daddy in my opinion.

* They get full of dust and have to be cleaned.

The Ultima Benchtop Tungsten Sharpener

Benchtop units like this one belong in high tech shops where clean room sanitary welds are performed and dust is not allowed.

Personally, the ones I have seen get clogged with sludge and never get used after that.

The nice clean viewing window lasts about a week and then you might as well paint it black.

For most applications , I dont like it...too much trouble. When it becomes this time consuming to sharpen electrodes, it discourages use of the equipment.

Pros:

* no dust

* more precise than most

* wheels last longer than small units

cons:

* messy

* slow and cumbersome

* not portable

* very expensive...at least $1600

* learning curve to get over before you can use it.

The Stilo Tig hand held tungsten sharpener

The reason is I used to use a little aircraft turnbuckle cable fitting to sharpen tungsten. It only worked once you cut them in half and I really did not like that part but all I had to do was slip the electrode in the hole and let is spin freely on an 80 grit sanding disc or belt.

And the best part ...It worked.

So here is my take on tungsten sharpeners...

Do they make a difference? Sometimes.

Do they make a lot of difference? I dont think so.

If you are using an automated process like orbital tig welding, you need one.

But for manual tig welding with a foot pedal or lift arc...You know what I am talking about.If you are the kind of welder who has already optimized your other equipment and invested in training and you are looking for that extra edge...by all means get one. If you are that guy , go ahead and get the MacDaddy Weldcraft Triad.

But for the rest of us...(I include myself because even though I use a CK sharpener sometimes, I more often just sharpen on a sanding disc.)

Just make sure to use a sanding disc no rougher than about 80 grit...and once you have your taper, turn the tungsten lengthwise to get the grinding marks going lengthwise. And BTW , sharpen a bunch of them so you will always have a sharp tungsten ready.

An 80 to 120 grit sanding disc on a 4 1/2" electric grinder is a pretty cheap tungsten sharpener and you can use it for other stuff too.

One more thing...if you are concerned about contaminating your welds with stuff that might be on the sanding disc, just light up on a piece of copper first before welding on anything. The contaminants will smoke away when the electrode gets cherry hot.

What do you Think about Tungsten Sharpeners?

What do YOU think?

Do you have an opinion on this? lets hear it!

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...