I find a habit of just using a thick tungsten, but I also purchased a series of other tungsten when I first purchased my welder.

I use the 1/8" or 3/32" most of the time for almost everything.. I just sharpen them to a sharp point and have no problems doing thinner stuff.

Do any of you here ever use the thinner tungstens, like 1/25" or 1/16" for thinner gauge materials? What is the point for the thinner tungstens? When I tried using them, they just sucked... or maybe I am using them wrong or something...

 

For 7-55 amps I use .040", for 50-90amps I use 1/16", for 90-145 I use 3/32, and for 150-250 I use 1/8".

65% of the time I use a 1/16.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tony the Tiger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I find a habit of just using a thick tungsten, but I also purchased a series of other tungsten when I first purchased my welder.

I use the 1/8" or 3/32" most of the time for almost everything.. I just sharpen them to a sharp point and have no problems doing thinner stuff.

Do any of you here ever use the thinner tungstens, like 1/25" or 1/16" for thinner gauge materials? What is the point for the thinner tungstens? When I tried using them, they just sucked... or maybe I am using them wrong or something...</TD></TR></TABLE>

i use 3/32 for everything

 

i ran out of 3/32" a while ago and started using my 1/16" because i had lots of them... they are handy for getting into tight spots on collectors and stuff, but most of the time i just use 3/32" i find with a gas lense you can even pull the 1/16" out further from the cup as well to get at tight spots.

side note: if you are ever in need of flanges let me know. i understand how nice it is to have suppliers for materials that are local.

aaron
905-802-4703

 

3/32 for everything

 

.040", 3/32" and 1/8". I use 3/32 at least 90% of the time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">3/32 for everything</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup same here. You can use a smaller tungsten for lower amp but why not just use a size that you can go down to 30 amp and still able to go over 100 with out changing it. for tight places i just use a gas lense with a smaller cup.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Desir Performance &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

but why not just use a size that you can go down to 30 amp and still able to go over 100 with out changing it</TD></TR></TABLE>

Answer: Better arc control.

Don't get me wrong a lot of times we just use whatever is in the torch given we aren't exceeding its heat limit because the tungsten will split and spit. But when you are doing a bunch of a certain wall thickness a properly sized tungsten helps give you that edge on quality.

 

I use 1/16 as often as possible. Like Dave said there is better control with the thiner stuff. Its like going from a blunt end to a sharpened end.

 

Red 3/32 for Everything

 

I use 1/16 about 70% of the time. Almost all my DC welding is with 1/16th. Aluminum i use 3/32 and 1/8th for the thick stuff (&gt;.125)

 

Great to know.. Thanks for the feedback everyone

I weld a lot of thin and thick materials together (flanges to tubing, fittings to sheet metal, etc...), and seems like the best tungsten to use is a thick 3/32" and 1/8"... I still never have an opporunity to use anything smaller than a 3/32"

 

For 0-50 amps I use .040", for 50-135amps I use 1/16", for 135-200 I use 3/32
^ Im pretty close to dave@passenger with this one...

It also varies with your welding technique. I've noticed when using an undersized tungsten it discolors my weld bead. I just figured this out tonight. 190 amps doing a manual pulse with 1/16" Ceriated(has a higher capacity for heat)

For aluminum...I've taken to using gigantuan sizes. 3/32 for the most thin gauge... sharpened and truncated. and 1/8" for .250"

(I used to melt down torch assemblies back in the day...i wore the big mig gloves and walked the torch around my fingers because it would burn them if I held it in one spot! lol) btw..this was in 2002. I've come a long way since then

 

I have found that using 1/16" on anything thicker than 16ga nets me a crappy weld.

I use 3/32" on stuff from roll cages to thick walled turbo manifolds. 1/16" for anything thinner.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DESTROYER &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have found that using 1/16" on anything thicker than 16ga nets me a crappy weld. </TD></TR></TABLE>

do you know why this is? only thing I could think was it was depositing tungsten into the weld....

 

3/32 for most.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RTErnie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

do you know why this is? only thing I could think was it was depositing tungsten into the weld....</TD></TR></TABLE>
I assume as much is happening, besides that running too much amperage through anything that isn't big enough to conduct will yield less net amperage coming out of the end of the torch. But I will assume that the thoriated particles are blowing out of the tip due to the massive amperage flow.

This is all in skepticism however

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DESTROYER &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I assume as much is happening, besides that running too much amperage through anything that isn't big enough to conduct will yield less net amperage coming out of the end of the torch. But I will assume that the thoriated particles are blowing out of the tip due to the massive amperage flow.

This is all in skepticism however </TD></TR></TABLE>

i use ceriated :-P you have a point tho. I'm going to do a manifold with 3/32 and see if I can tell a difference

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dave@passenger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Answer: Better arc control.

Don't get me wrong a lot of times we just use whatever is in the torch given we aren't exceeding its heat limit because the tungsten will split and spit. But when you are doing a bunch of a certain wall thickness a properly sized tungsten helps give you that edge on quality.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup. I was taught to use the thinnest tungsten possible. It's pretty easy to figure out at what amperage each diameter tungsten is going to melt on your machine.

It's kind of like asking 'What amperage should I use to weld this .125" steel plate?'. It depends.

 

i use 3/32 1.5% lanthanated for everything... machine - dynasty 200dx.

 

I use the smallest size capable of runing the amps I need...ends up being 1/16 or 3/32 most of the time. I switched from thoriated awhile back to ceriated and lanthanated...Its just as good as thoriated minus the hazmat issues.

 

Isn't a fair rule of thumb to use a diameter of tungsten no smaller than the width of the gap you're trying to weld?

For example, if you've got a notched tube that wasn't notched perfectly to fit over a tube of a larger diameter, and the gap was 1/8" wide at the largest point...you would use nothing smaller than 1/8".

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IN VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Isn't a fair rule of thumb to use a diameter of tungsten no smaller than the width of the gap you're trying to weld?

For example, if you've got a notched tube that wasn't notched perfectly to fit over a tube of a larger diameter, and the gap was 1/8" wide at the largest point...you would use nothing smaller than 1/8".</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, not at all. AS mentioned above tungsten size is based on amperage/heat going through the tungsten.

A thing I thought I would mention to all the guys who only run one size of tungsten, the smaller tungstens will give you better arc "cone" shape, sure you can just run a finer point on your 3/32 tungsten when doing thin stuff but the actual shape of the cone/arc is much different than if you were running a fine point on a .040" tungsten. Try it out and look for the differences, it can make a good difference.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dave@passenger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">For 7-55 amps I use .040", for 50-90amps I use 1/16", for 90-145 I use 3/32, and for 150-250 I use 1/8".

65% of the time I use a 1/16.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

i usually use 3/32 on everything but i think im gonna try 1/16 on the next manifold i build to see how it works out.