refurbishing tig electrodes

[Rutterbush]

To have a perfect ground tip on a tungsten as the manufacturers will recommend:
1-Grind longitudinally- so stated by others before me. All good information.
Tungsten electrodes are manufactured with the molecular "grain" running end to end, or so one manufacturer has claimed. You grind against the grain if rolled around the grinding wheel at a 90º angle.
The electrons are denser on the tungsten surface and will bounce into radial grinding marks.
2-The perfect point on a tungsten should be mirror polished.
A 400 grit will suffice when in a hurry.
Wheels on a pedestal grinder should be as fine of a grit as possible. Anything will work, but if you want or need that extra control, the finer grits are better.
The courser grits leave a ragged surface with high and low jagged, torn and peeled sections. Kinda like sharpening a knife with a horse shoe rasp.
Good Arkansas stones and stropping (I am not a knife maker) should put an impressively sharp edge on a blade. The impressively sharp edge should allow that blade to work with less effort.
A ragged tungsten will contaminate quicker than a polished tungsten and high amperage will erode a ragged tungsten much faster. This can cause tungsten spitting and problems in the weld.

On the other side of this perfect tungsten is me when I'm on top of a building, under a bridge, in a boiler room, chemical manufacturer or somewhere else that is hard to get to. I've used my 4-1/2" grinder religiously. I've even used an acetylene oxygen cutting torch to sharpen a tungsten. There are times that you do what's necessary to get the job done. Doesn't make it the right thing to do.

[Thomas Dean]

Rutterbush, I grinned when I saw your last comment about using a torch to sharpen tungsten. I have done the same, more time than I can count, with "good, in a pinch" results. First saw it done nearly 30yrs ago and thought the guy was off his rocker...proves the point "keep your eyes open and your mouth shut" when learning from the oldtimers! One other method of sharpening tungsten is chemically. It will leave a residue on the tungsten but you can carry the stuff in your pocket and point a tip at the work site with nothing but the "Chem-sharp" and you. Personnally, I'm not that crazy about the stuff but have used it and will probably do so again.

[Rutterbush]

Thomas Dean,
You mean that I'm not the only "crusty old welder" (C.O.W.) who has sharpened a tungsten with a torch?
First time I saw that Chem-sharp was at an AWS convention in Hotlanta way back in 1986. I've never used or seen any more since. I did take a pocket full of the sample cans home. I gave them out to other welders who had never seen anything like it. That was kinda like taking a sample of magic back to them.
Oh, yeah. Sharpening a tungsten with a torch will leave an oxide coating on the tungsten. Don't let the inspector catch you doing that.