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  #21  
Old 09-05-2013, 11:34 PM
Barry Barry is offline
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Wow - I love this place: did not know how much the angle affected the weld. Thanks Nate & Mark!
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  #22  
Old 09-06-2013, 04:05 AM
ferguson ferguson is offline
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one thing to remember when grinding tips-they are all radioactive so try not to inhale dust!basically none given off during welding but dust from grinding to be avoided.
regarding pointed tips etc -my welds much neater with a rounded point.grind them up as per normal but just take the sharp point off the end and with aluminium i use a well blunt rounded end-especially if the weld to be visible and left as is instead of being finished.
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  #23  
Old 09-06-2013, 09:15 AM
weldtoride weldtoride is offline
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Originally Posted by ferguson View Post
one thing to remember when grinding tips-they are all radioactive so try not to inhale dust!basically none given off during welding but dust from grinding to be avoided.
I would respectfully like to make a correction, so that you and others may find a safer alternative to thoriated tungstens.

You are absolutely correct in that thoriated tungstens, long the standard of many shops because of its all-around performance, is radioactive and that the dust from grinding should be avoided.

http://www.pro-fusiononline.com/tung...ioactivity.htm

However, it is the only radioactive welding tungsten, and there are several safe alternatives. Long ago I switched to ceriated tungsten as my all around choice. Here's a partial rundown from Miller, not complete because some electrodes like the ceriated ones, come in different % of cerium, each for a slightly different application.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...lectrode-guide

The list above also doesn't include the new kid on the block, the E3 or so-called "purple" tungsten because of its purple color indicator.

http://www.e3tungsten.com/

Everything I have read about the all-around performance of the new E3 tungsten has been good, and it's on my list for the next trip to the welding supply.

Hope this helps.
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Last edited by weldtoride; 09-06-2013 at 09:18 AM.
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  #24  
Old 09-06-2013, 08:53 PM
Barry Barry is offline
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Where I am I can only find thoriated (red) and straight (white) tungstens - is there enough difference in performance on the ceriated/zirconiated etc to warrant me trying to import some?
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  #25  
Old 09-07-2013, 06:52 AM
whmachine whmachine is offline
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Quote:
is there enough difference in performance on the ceriated/zirconiated etc to warrant me trying to import some?
No. Save your money. Red will do everything you need to do, even better than most of the over-hyped alternatives
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  #26  
Old 09-07-2013, 08:57 AM
JimRussell JimRussell is offline
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No. Save your money. Red will do everything you need to do, even better than most of the over-hyped alternatives
That's been my experience too. I do have an "old", reliable transformer type machine though. I have heard the alternatives work O.K. on the new inverter welders. but can't say for sure.
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  #27  
Old 09-07-2013, 09:51 AM
weldtoride weldtoride is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry View Post
Where I am I can only find thoriated (red) and straight (white) tungstens - is there enough difference in performance on the ceriated/zirconiated etc to warrant me trying to import some?
Depends on shipping and import taxes, etc. Personally, I would look into it, especially if you have concerns about radioactivity. It costs nothing to look.

As a shop teacher, I had to count my shop budget to the penny, and this supplier is hands-down the cheapest I have found so far for all welding consumables. Admittedly they are half a world away from you, so getting products to you may be too costly. Anyway, here's their tungsten page for example:

https://weldingsupply.com/cgi-bin/ei...F:OR:terms::PN

My experience with weldingsupply.com is that they have genuine Weldcraft for less than my local my local gas supplier has knock-off generic consumables. My local gas supplier is a national chain, but prices over the counter in store are not good, sometimes not even reasonable. After some bad knock-off gas lenses as well as cheap tungstens, both of which caused no end of consternation to diagnose where my problem was coming from, I refuse to buy anything but name brand. Especially when it can come as cheap or even cheaper than the knock-offs thru this supplier.

weldingsupply.com is actually an old brick-and-mortar, not a new comer to the playing field, but they do internet sales in a huge way. So big, in fact, that if you are in the area (west Chicago, basically) you have to call your order in ahead of time, they discourage walk-ins. No big deal, when I walk in, my order is waiting for me. I know exactly what it costs ahead of time, I plunk the presidents down and leave.

Small orders I have shipped. Again, I am in the same shipping zone, not a continent and a hemisphere away. A caveat: shipping cut rods is too expensive even for me, due to their length.

All my dealings with them so far have been more than satisfactory, due to their price structure and friendly service.
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Last edited by weldtoride; 09-07-2013 at 05:39 PM.
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  #28  
Old 09-07-2013, 03:25 PM
crystallographic crystallographic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weldtoride View Post
I would respectfully like to make a correction, so that you and others may find a safer alternative to thoriated tungstens.

You are absolutely correct in that thoriated tungstens, long the standard of many shops because of its all-around performance, is radioactive and that the dust from grinding should be avoided.

http://www.pro-fusiononline.com/tung...ioactivity.htm

However, it is the only radioactive welding tungsten, and there are several safe alternatives. Long ago I switched to ceriated tungsten as my all around choice. Here's a partial rundown from Miller, not complete because some electrodes like the ceriated ones, come in different % of cerium, each for a slightly different application.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources...lectrode-guide

The list above also doesn't include the new kid on the block, the E3 or so-called "purple" tungsten because of its purple color indicator.

http://www.e3tungsten.com/

Everything I have read about the all-around performance of the new E3 tungsten has been good, and it's on my list for the next trip to the welding supply.

Hope this helps.
Thanks for pointing that out, Mark. It helps not to give the rest of the tungstens the "radioactive" label when they are not. It's great that the alloying of tungsten has given us the increased choices. Far better than when I started using the "heli-arc" - Thoriated red, and green pure were the only stations on the dial.
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  #29  
Old 09-10-2013, 12:35 AM
preston preston is offline
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Thingsthatfly2, I love that you are sharing the learning process with us. I fight some of the same TIG and welding issues you do, just doing it at home though not trying to make a business. I follow Troy's work at RadRides and I follow along on a lot of pro builds on lateral-g.net, and that is the one thing that continues to flummox me - after they show the panel nicely welded, the next photo always shows it fully metal finished and you can't even tell it isn't one piece of metal.

My work is like yours right now, even after all sanding, grinding and bumping, you can always see the voids and remains of the valley etc. Easily covered with the barest of mud, but nothing like the seamless sheet metal the best of the best are creating.
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  #30  
Old 09-13-2013, 11:04 PM
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thingsthatfly2 thingsthatfly2 is offline
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lots of good info being posted.

I had fun today.

I finaly bought some aluminum and stainless steel!


first made a cube... and then added this front panel.


had to fix a few small holes water still leaked through.




going to make a cap next and polish.
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