how many of you guys are currently using thoriated tungsten for all your DC welding? it's radioactive and i'm wondering if there's an equivalent safer alternative

 

Lanthaniated

 

I use lanthanated as well.

 

I use 2% thoriated. I noticed i'm starting to grow an extra finger, i wonder if they're related? lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I use 2% thoriated. I noticed i'm starting to grow an extra finger, i wonder if they're related? lol</TD></TR></TABLE>lol....what's your opinion on 2% thoriated?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TurboElements.com &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lanthaniated</TD></TR></TABLE>
is that the 1.5%?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I use 2% thoriated. I noticed i'm starting to grow an extra finger, i wonder if they're related? lol</TD></TR></TABLE>

damn i should tape some to my cak and see what happens! maybe i'll grow myself some french ticklers

i use 2% thoriated also

 

Honestly, i haven't tried anything different. 2% works good for me, and that's what i've got, so i haven't felt the need to try anything else. How about everyone else? What difference have you seen with the different tungstens?

 

I've used ceriated (orange) on carbon steel. It's reasonable to OK.

Anyone willing to discuss how, where and how we do/don't capture the dust when we sharpen our 2% thoriated electrodes?

 

im going to die young i can tell already.

 

I use 2% and have .040 diameter to 1/8

2% works for most everything so why bother If you can't make a nice bead with
2% no other tungsten is going to be the miracle
pure works a slight bit better on Al but not enough to overcome the hassle of keeping them seperated

 

Ive always used 2% on aluminum as well. Ive never had a problem with it so Ive never tried anything else.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BigMoose &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyone willing to discuss how, where and how we do/don't capture the dust when we sharpen our 2% thoriated electrodes? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I would definatly be intrested to hear what your thoughts on this are. I never even gave it a second though till now! But it worries me a bit now.

 

At the day job (aerospace concern) thoriated tungsten is ground on dedicated grinders with vacuum exhaust outside of the building (up it's own stack.)

Here is a reasonable write up on thoriated tungsten safety from the UK. http://www.hse.gov.uk/fod/infodocs/564_6r.pdf

Personally, I grind my electrodes 4 or 5 at a time outside with the prevailing wind to my back, and I keep them together in a long pill bottle... guess I am not following the UK guidelines.

 

I've really never taken any consideration into the affects of the dust. How serious is it, really?

 

I don't know that it's serious enough to warrant a dedicated grider if you don't grind it very often, but it is serious enough for OSHA to have warnings about it. If you're grinding every day on it getting a dedicated grinder with a dust collection system might not be a bad idea.

I think the problem is it can cause lung cancer?

 

^^Thats about where I am at. I am not an alarmist, but I don't want to do anything **real** stupid either. At work in the weld area, that is what they do 8 hours at a time, and the vented, dedicated grinder makes sense.

I am thinking that it might not be the best idea to grind in a enclosed, small heated/A/c shop with little air exchange, particularly if you eat lunch there. Anecdotal evidence does not show TIG welders dropping like flys... but it is probably not the smartest idea to breathe or ingests thoriated dust... thats why I try to do it outside. Now don't laugh, I hand spin mine on a 4" right angle grinder with a 220 grit disc.

 

I asked a physician and a lawyer friend of mine about this at dinner last night, because you guys bring up really good points. Apparently thorium can cause dermatitis in long term low grade exposure (like what we see, but we all wear long sleeves, gloves, and a mask right ) Something to note is that anything that *could* have a significant radioactive material content (uranium, etc) is very heavily regulated by the government. so they wouldn't allow retailers to sell something really dangerous to the average consumer either because of potential personal damages or because or potential environmental damage (like if I dumped radioactive dust into the sewer, we could all be seeing 6 foot tall turtles that know kung fu.) Even though lanthanium is a safer alternative, it is still a very very heavy metal, and breathing in alot of heavy metal dust is not supposed to be all that good, although its not necessarily as bad as ingesting it. moral of the story: keep being safe, and don't eat tungsten.

personally, my grinder has two wheels, one for tool sharpening and one for tungsten. there's a cut off saw next to it, and because of the mess it makes I usually clean up every couple days with a vaccuum, hopefully that's keeping it clean enough.

 

lol! damn....i should be more carefull when grinding them.