Tungsten sharpener?

[Chris Stevens]

Not sure this would stand up to industrial use, but perfect for keen DIY types: http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=31896

I have one, and while it does seem to sharpen drills, think its far more suited to tungsten grinding, and at £15 isnt going to break the bank..........

 

[bc30se]

It will work I think but it will require making an adaptor in place of a dril or using sth like this http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/261584879391-0-1/s-l1000.jpg, a good idea anyway.

 

[Chris Stevens]

It does work, sharpened tungsten with it last night, and dont think an adapter is needed....................

 

[eSCHEn]

Off to go and look for one at lunch. Thanks for posting Chris.

Any pictures of the job it does on tungsten?

 

[Chris Stevens]

Seems to work reasonably well, not as good as a bench grinder with 100mm diamond disc fitted, but its only £15 and no need to mess around making adapters for bench grinder..................

 

[Richard.]

The bench grinder is the least messing about way to sharpen them.
I wouldn't use anything else.
Yes there is all this nonsense about the dust exposure but like any form of welding or grinding you take measures to prevent breathing it in.
I've not found a tungsten grinder yet that can prep a tungsten any better or faster than I can do on a wheel.

 

[Richard.]

making adapters for bench grinder..................

What adaptors?

 

[eSCHEn]

Got one on my lunch break and had a very quick go on a 1.6 tungsten.

Does a quick job and perfectly acceptable for bog standard length. Does just over 2x diameter for the 1.6.

I can do better on a crap flap disc on a hand held angle grinder though.

5 / 10 as a tungsten grinder.

 

[Chris Stevens]

What adaptors?

100mm diamond discs, are intended for angle grinders, and unless you have a very strange bench grinder a machined adapter will be needed to fit to bench grinder.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Got one on my lunch break and had a very quick go on a 1.6 tungsten.

Does a quick job and perfectly acceptable for bog standard length. Does just over 2x diameter for the 1.6.

I can do better on a crap flap disc on a hand held angle grinder though.

5 / 10 as a tungsten grinder.

If you are using worn out flap discs to sharpen tungstens, there is a good chance of contamination. Since changing to a diamond wheel a couple of years ago, tungsten grinding is far easier, and welds seem to better.

 

[Richard.]

100mm diamond discs, are intended for angle grinders, and unless you have a very strange bench grinder a machined adapter will be needed to fit to bench grinder.

I thought you meant adaptor for holding the tungsten. I was gonna say.
I'd not be too keen on the idea of fitting hand grinder wheels to bench grinders. Surely the rpm speeds are not matched for that wheel. Forgive my questions if I've got it wrong!

 

[Chris Stevens]

I thought you meant adaptor for holding the tungsten. I was gonna say.
I'd not be too keen on the idea of fitting hand grinder wheels to bench grinders. Surely the rpm speeds are not matched for that wheel. Forgive my questions if I've got it wrong!

They are steel wheels, something like a cutting disc, with diamond grit on part of the face. Have been using one for 2 years now, no problem at all, and you can get 2 for £6 from Ebay. Also work perfectly for cutting tungstens, and in conjunction with a tungsten holder tool, work very well indeed for not much money.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

The bench grinder is the least messing about way to sharpen them.
I wouldn't use anything else.
Yes there is all this nonsense about the dust exposure but like any form of welding or grinding you take measures to prevent breathing it in.
I've not found a tungsten grinder yet that can prep a tungsten any better or faster than I can do on a wheel.

We had one in the yard that was very good for sharpening tungsten a, but as @Appyasme1 will no doubt tell us it supposedly cost a small fortune

 

[Appyasme1]

We had one in the yard that was very good for sharpening tungsten a, but as @Appyasme1 will no doubt tell us it supposedly cost a small fortune

You are quite correct.We do have Tungsten Grinders with a fluid waste chamber.This is because of the small amount of Radiation emitted when 2% Thoriated are sharpened.Health and Safety issue

 

[Appyasme1]

Yes they do cost a fortune

 

[Appyasme1]

I thought you meant adaptor for holding the tungsten. I was gonna say.
I'd not be too keen on the idea of fitting hand grinder wheels to bench grinders. Surely the rpm speeds are not matched for that wheel. Forgive my questions if I've got it wrong!

There are dedicated Tungstan Grinding Machines.If anyone interested I have the info you need.

 

[Shox Dr]

(ISTR) There was a thread on weldingweb a few years ago where a bloke in the US Navy worked out it would take something like 8hrs a day for 60yrs before it built up enough in your body to cause a problem, through breathing dust in from grinding tungstens

 

[Turbo]

I bought one of those lidl machines & it does quite a decent job of sharpening drill bits once you work out how to use it.

A good tip for sharpening tig electrodes is to use a cordless drill to spin them while you are sharpening them, it leaves a nice even taper.

Where I worked we used a bench grinder for sharpening the electrodes, the stone had a nice groove worn in it despite trying to use the whole face of it.

 

[Fred Moore]

The way to use a bench grinder is to spin it in your fingers while gently sweeping it across the face of the grinding wheel.
We never used anything else and would invert the end to be sharpened pointing it uphill if you like.

 

[Tigman]

you could ask Hudmut about one of his sharpeners , I have one they do a good job !