A old timer told me to stop grinding my tungsten and it saved me hours on a job

I was on a boiler repair in Gary, Indiana last month and a guy named Hank pointed out I was spending way too much time sharpening my tungsten to a perfect point. He said for most AC TIG work on carbon steel, just snap it with pliers and it'll arc start way better. Honestly I thought he was crazy but I tried it on a 6 inch schedule 80 pipe weld and it worked great. Has anyone else tried this or do you guys still stick to the grinder?

2 comments

2 Comments

henry_martinez18d ago

Maybe it's just me but I've been snapping tungsten for years on carbon steel jobs and it starts way cleaner than a ground point ever did. idk why more guys don't try it.

loganl2218d ago

Tbh I had a buddy named Dave who was a union pipefitter down in Texas, and he told me the same thing after watching me mess with a grinder for twenty minutes. He grabbed my tungsten, snapped it with his lineman's pliers, and handed it back like it was nothing. I was skeptical but then I tried it on a stainless coupon and the arc was way more stable than my stupid sharp point. @henry_martinez is exactly right about the cleaner starts - ground points always seem to wander for me on carbon. It's wild how something so simple can cut your setup time in half once you get over the mental block.