TIG Tungstens

Your right there are better tungstens for aluminum

FYI

Your smoke detector is more radioactive than the tungstens

wash your hands after welding or grind with gloves on and you never have to worry.

All natural Background radiation is harmless due to the low concentration

If you dont give the thorium a way to be ingested (washing hands wearing gloves) its harmless.

Taken in context your tungstens are probably one Millionth the radioactivity that a nuke plant worker is exposed to and they are not exposed to any dangerous levels either otherwise the lawyers would have had all the nuke powerplants shut down with class action lawsuits

And BTW i'd have boutght the Thermalarc if the damn thing was CSA approved

The radioactivity isn't really that much of a hazard, but there are much better tungstens out there.

The 2 kinds of tungsten that are universal, as in AC and DC, are Lanthanated and Ceriated. Both will work better than Thoriated (red) on DC and far far better than Pures (green) on AC. NEVER BUY PURE TUNGSTENS, they simply suck eggs,

Lanthanated tungstens are my favorites for general TIG, 1% (black) and

1.5% (gold) are just fine, and are fairly common. The newer 2% ones (blue) can take even my heat without melting, but aren't as common, and tend to cost a little more.

Ceriated tungstens (orange) are also good, and have the unique property of being able to initiate an arc at the lowest amperage of any tungsten type. So they are perfectly suited to welding very thin materials. At higher amperages they tend to break down rapidly.

For really high amperage work on Aluminum with AC use Zirconiated tungstens (brown), they can take more heat than any other type of tungsten, but can ONLY BE USED ON AC.

So to sum up. Any lanthanated tungsten (black, gold, or blue) will be better for general AC or DC TIG than most others. get a box of 1/16" for thin work and 3/32" for general work. A 3/32" Lanthanated tungsten can hand over 200 amps so your machine should be fine with it.

Buy a few 1/8" zirconiated tungstens (brown), for high amperage aluminum work.

Thanks for your response, Ernie. That's just what I wanted to know. What are your thoughts on nozzle sizes? Are there one or two sizes that cover most needs? My welder came with one each of three sizes, 4, 6, and 8. I burned up the #4 and the # 8 seemed to be doing well until I broke it. Paul

I agree that it is very minimal, however if there are other alternatives which works just as good if not better , why not just junk the thoriated and go with lanthanated.

second, when you grind the Thoriated tungsten the issue is not only your hand but the stuff you inhale. when you inhale it, (what does study shows ?) that stuff remains in your lung/ body for 7-10 years, and keep radiating (what ever small ammount )

I would choose NOT to let it radiate. I discarted all of my thoriated tungsten.

It's the dust that's the real hazard when inhaled into the lungs. Limit expose and/or vent outside as well as clean the grinder of dust safely.

Since I only use gas lens collet bodies, I use the largest cups I can get, usually 7's or 8's. BTW the numbers mean 1/16's of an inch, inside diameter. #7 = 7/16".

For standard collet bodies, use a #4 or #5 for 1/16" tungstens, #6 - #7 for 3/32" and #8 for 1/8".

Ok Ernie, I will bite. As a newbie tell me about the gas lens collets and the standard collets. What is the difference? I have a seldom used Econotig but am curious...

I've noticed than when I use my wet grinder/honer to sharpen my woodworking plane blades and other blades that there is no dust whatsoever, all particle matter ends up in the water. Maybe that's the way to go if you're concerned with inhaling particles from the radioactive tungstens.

regards. Jim

The AWS has a safety sheet on the thoriated tungsten:

Basically, we recommend that unless you have to use the thoriated, you're better off not using it as there are better options available.

We have a guide to selecting tungsten (a pdf) in our library:

Hope that helps.

A Gas lens collet body is a special type of collet body that consists of a series of coarse and fine screens placed around the electrode. for better gas flow, including a reduction in turbulence.

Could you just go to Google groups and do a search on my name in this group?

I have posted this dozens of times.

It might be up at the Welding FAQ

Are you sure it isn't either CSA or ULCanada approved? I'd be very surprised if it isn't.

Ted

I was more surprised than you the entire theralarc Pro-wave series is NOT and the reson why is still nknown

the approval is > Brent Phili>

I bought my Thermal Dynamics 250 GTSW TIG (before they changed their name) from West Coast Welding in Vancouver.

Ted

Thanks, I'll find their number and give them a ring tomorrow

Ted Edwards wrote:

If your in that area try Barry Hammel in Coquitlam Dave