Hi,

I'd be interested to get a poll going on whether or not people like to sharpen their tungsten on both ends or just one. Opinions please!

One thing I'm wondering about is oxide migration in the tungsten electrode. The tungsten producers, for example diamond ground products, say that the oxides (e.g. lanthanum) make their way towards the tip of the electrode and are emitted during welding. Perhaps there's a benefit to using only one end of the tungsten and therefore keeping the oxide migration in the same direction, or perhaps there's a benefit to reversing this direction and distributing the oxides?

Also, I have to say that I am not a fan of cutting new tungsten electrodes in half, which loads of people recommend. Each piece of tungsten you use to completion, you end up with about an inch or more which you have to throw away because it's too short to hold in the collet with the right stickout. When you cut an electrode in half you create two of those inch long waste pieces. So you're just doubling the amount of tungsten which you paid for but can't use.

Cheers

I like to sharpen both ends. For my tungsten in the shop I leave it long but sharpen both sides.... my tungsten in the field is all cut in half and sharpened on both sides..... it's easier to resharpen in the shop but in the field it's not so easy so I take more points with me. I agree on the waste part that's why I don't cut in half at the shop. Cheers!

Generally, I like to cut my tungsten in half because when I do this instead of getting 10 tips out of a box I'll get 40. Though you do have to waste a little more tungsten at the end of the time used but over all I think it is worth the cost of tungsten lost to gain the time saved not having to sharpen as often.

On the other side of things when it comes to cutting the tungsten in half and sharpening both ends you remove the color tag on the tungsten. In some industries this can be a big problem if you're being audited. Once the color tag is removed it is considered no longer identifiable and can be a find during audits. That being said whenever I have to deal with going through an audit I have a set of tungsten that is still marked and used during that time. We are only allowed to use one type of tungsten at my work (E3) but still must have the identifying tag on each piece.

Cut in half, sharpen one end.
Except at work...I'll sharpen both ends at work because the sharpener is far away. And I feel like im betting on myself. Playing optimistically that I'll dip rather that full on DUFF MY TRODE with the filler and it will fit in the torch after.

PS: Yeah yeah, there's still buggers on em...I promise I give em a buff before doing something nice.😉😉😉😉