What grinding disc for tungstens?

[henrym]

I'd like to get a 6" bench grinder disc just for tungstens. but what to buy? obviously something hard and fine, but I'd rather not shell out for diamond...

what do you use and what did it cost??

[Gadget]

I just use my cheap HF grinder with the standard wheel. Put the tungsten in an electric drill to spin it as you grind. Grind on the side so the marks run along the shaft. Works just fine for me.

Dan

[KHK]

I do the exact same thing as Gadget.

keith

[henrym]

seriously? I was thinking of using a drill (at low rev) but a stock wheel? i guess I'll give it a try.

one thing I'm worried about is I will only be using 1/16" and 0.40 tungstens, and perhaps something that thin and hard won't like a 60-grit wheel...

[Gadget]

I use it on 1/16th regularly.

[henrym]

ha, I tried it last night. it works surprisingly well... actually I find tool steel to be harder.

thanks!

[henrym]

actually one problem I had was my drill chuck has a little wobble in it... but I still got straight scratches and even point first try. but I got the angle wrong!
-length of point should be about twice the thickness of the tungsten I believe.


meh. I'll be getting a new drill soon anyway! though probably not the rest of the stuff I need for TIG

[rlitman]

one thing I'm worried about is I will only be using 1/16" and 0.40 tungstens, and perhaps something that thin and hard won't like a 60-grit wheel...

Yeah, it works pretty well though.
The only problem I have, is the thin rods tend to wear tracks in my wheel, so I find myself dressing it a lot, but if that's the only cost of grinding tungsten, I can live with it. posting.php?mode=quote&f=12&p=2505#

[whitescout]

At work, we have a drill sharpening machine,( a diamond wheel), that we really don't use for bits..... As a result, it has become the dedicated tungsten sharpener

[henrym]

I tried a .040 the other day and it was a little rough on the #60, but I got it right regardless. a 100 or so grit wheel would be nice.

it weird, most resources say that dedicated diamond or synthetic wheels are the only things hard enough for tungsten, and the LWS tried to sell me a $45 hard fine white wheel of some sort.

must be a marketing thing, or they expect one to be sharpening electrodes 8 hours a day