Hi all, i am Mick from Bedford area.

[mickyblueeye]

I am fairly new to TIG although I used to do a reasonable weld with gas kit. I am practising as much as possible on scrap mild steel at the moment. I have two questions,
1- are gas filler rods suitable for tig use ?
2- I noticed when regrinding a thoriated electrode that it has split lengthwise, why is this?
Any help gratefully appreciated thank you.

 

[Paul.]

Using gas welding rods with tig will usually result in porosity in the weld, the pool will be sluggish and more tricky to control, proper tig rods have deoxidisers added to them to overcome this,
Split tungsten could have been overheated, or could just be a faulty one, grind an inch off it using the corner of the stone, or a thin cutting disc and try again. make sure that you grind keeping the grinding marks in line with the electrode, http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wiki/DC_Electrode_Preparation

 

[mickyblueeye]

Using gas welding rods with tig will usually result in porosity in the weld, the pool will be sluggish and more tricky to control, proper tig rods have deoxidisers added to them to overcome this,
Split tungsten could have been overheated, or could just be a faulty one, grind an inch off it using the corner of the stone, or a thin cutting disc and try again. make sure that you grind keeping the grinding marks in line with the electrode, http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wiki/DC_Electrode_Preparation

Thanks Paul, I just read another post that explained about the difference between the rods. Looks like I need to go shopping again! I did wonder if I had cooked the rod when the bottle ran out, I have now upped the flow rate a bit as a precaution as I did get a couple of blue tips. Thanks again.