[Chris_PTA]

Hey everyone. I've searched your forums high and low and couldn't find what I was looking for.

I'm looking to buy a heavy duty electrode sharpener / grinder, but the snag is that is has to be capable of sharpen electrodes between 5/32" and 5/16" (4mm and 7.95mm) thick. Every grinder i've found thus far has an upper limit of 5/32" / 4mm. That's the smallest size I need to grind.

I do realize there's several cheaper ways to grind these, but absolute precision is key. I know they exist because we currently farm out the work to a couple local shops, but we need to reduce our costs, so I've been told we need to do it in-house now. The ones I've found so far are $900. Yeah it's lots of money, but not compared to how much we pay to farm out the work, so money isn't an issue here... I just need to find one that's capable of meeting my needs.

Does anyone have any idea of a brand or company that makes a sharpener that'll do thick electrodes?

Thanks!
Chris

[taz]

These guys say that larger sizes than 4.0mm are available upon request

http://www.tungsten-grinding.com/Client ... lus(1).pdf

[motox]

taz
not sure if this is what you are looking for but
here is what i came across
http://www.airgascatalogs.com/guide/Rad ... cts/80.php
craig

[rake]

McMaster-Carr sells a diamond wheel that will fit a 6" bench grinder for under $150
http://www.mcmaster.com/#diamond-grindi ... ls/=w983si

Couple that with a bench grinder from some place like Harbor Freight and you'll have a solid sharpener
and still have plenty of your hard earned money in your pockets!
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-ben ... 39797.html

The price of those dedicated tungsten sharpeners is insane.

[Superiorwelding]

Chris,
I want to know what in the world you are welding using a 5/16" tungsten!!!
-Jonathan

[Mick]

Chris,
I want to know what in the world you are welding using a 5/16" tungsten!!!
-Jonathan

The tungsten in my plasma welder is around 6-7mm. It would be cool if Chris had a plasma welder too

[soutthpaw]

Chris,
I want to know what in the world you are welding using a 5/16" tungsten!!!
-Jonathan

X2. Seems like it would be some type of automated or robotic app.

[Chris_PTA]

Chris,
I want to know what in the world you are welding using a 5/16" tungsten!!!
-Jonathan

X2. Seems like it would be some type of automated or robotic app.

Yep! I work in (most likely) the world's largest Plasma Transfer Arc (PTA) welding facility up in Canada. We have a dozen 6-axis robotic welders that primarly weld an overlay onto wear parts for the oilsands. The material we apply is comprised of a tunsgten/nickel powder. We go through about 100tons of it a year, and it's not cheap stuff! If anyone is curious or has any other questions about what we do, I'll try to answer as best I can. I'm just the materials guy, so my knowledge of the exact process is somewhat limited compared to my technial manager.

Thanks for the help and suggestions so far everyone. I've reached out to the couple of vendors suggested and we'll see what they have.

[Mick]

Chris,
I want to know what in the world you are welding using a 5/16" tungsten!!!
-Jonathan

X2. Seems like it would be some type of automated or robotic app.

Yep! I work in (most likely) the world's largest Plasma Transfer Arc (PTA) welding facility up in Canada. We have a dozen 6-axis robotic welders that primarly weld an overlay onto wear parts for the oilsands. The material we apply is comprised of a tunsgten/nickel powder. We go through about 100tons of it a year, and it's not cheap stuff! If anyone is curious or has any other questions about what we do, I'll try to answer as best I can. I'm just the materials guy, so my knowledge of the exact process is somewhat limited compared to my technial manager.

Thanks for the help and suggestions so far everyone. I've reached out to the couple of vendors suggested and we'll see what they have.

Finally!
I've been looking for someone who knew something about plasma welding.
I've got a Migatronic plasma commander 240 DC, with a thermal arc machine torch. Can you hit me up with some "dos" and "don'ts " with this process, and some pointers to welding parameters?

I only use the common stick, tig and mig/mag processes at work, so I thought it would be cool to set this machine up at home, with a welding lathe/turn table (when I'm done with my house some day )

[soutthpaw]

X2. Seems like it would be some type of automated or robotic app.

Yep! I work in (most likely) the world's largest Plasma Transfer Arc (PTA) welding facility up in Canada. We have a dozen 6-axis robotic welders that primarly weld an overlay onto wear parts for the oilsands. The material we apply is comprised of a tunsgten/nickel powder. We go through about 100tons of it a year, and it's not cheap stuff! If anyone is curious or has any other questions about what we do, I'll try to answer as best I can. I'm just the materials guy, so my knowledge of the exact process is somewhat limited compared to my technial manager.

Thanks for the help and suggestions so far everyone. I've reached out to the couple of vendors suggested and we'll see what they have.

Finally!
I've been looking for someone who knew something about plasma welding.
I've got a Migatronic plasma commander 240 DC, with a thermal arc machine torch. Can you hit me up with some "dos" and "don'ts " with this process, and some pointers to welding parameters?

I only use the common stick, tig and mig/mag processes at work, so I thought it would be cool to set this machine up at home, with a welding lathe/turn table (when I'm done with my house some day )

They make Hand Torches for plasma, but seems to be most commonly used as automated though. Looked at a machine when I visited member Empirewelding, it's a Thermal Arc I think. But he has never hooked it up. Requires a separate welding power supply.

[weldin mike 27]

What do the company that supply the electrodes suggest?

[Mick]

.They make Hand Torches for plasma, but seems to be most commonly used as automated though. Looked at a machine when I visited member Empirewelding, it's a Thermal Arc I think. But he has never hooked it up. Requires a separate welding power supply.

I think the best quality is obtained by using the plasma as an automated solution. As far as I can tell, it's nearly impossible to controll the key-hole if it's not automated. My machine does both tig and plasma welding, so if I have to, I can hook up my old tig torch