by Jim Watson<\/p>\n
A variety of tungsten electrodes are available from resellers who put their label on it and offer it for sale.\u00a0 Often this material is considered a commodity and is bought at the lowest price.\u00a0 That\u2019s great for the Purchasing Department’s bottom line, not so good for a welding department\u2019s quality and productivity<\/p>\n
While it’s true that most of the tungsten electrodes on the market today come from China (in fact most all the tungsten ore has come from China for years) not all manufacturers are the same \u2013 not even close!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a closer look at some of the problems we\u2019ve seen with these cheap \u201creverse engineered\u201d tungsten electrodes:<\/p>\n
Varying Diameter<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 without strict adherence to specifications, the tungsten electrode diameter can vary causing problems with tungsten gripping in the collet\/collet body of your TIG torch or your tungsten sharpener.<\/p>\n Bent Electrodes<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 especially with 1\/16\u201d and smaller diameter tungsten electrodes.\u00a0 This can cause problems with arc performance.\u00a0 See photo below.<\/p>\n Inconsistent Finish<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 spotty texture and uneven ground finish indicates a total lack of production quality.\u00a0 A poorly textured finish can also contribute to arc performance problems.<\/p>\n Flaking paint<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 tungsten electrodes are color-coded with a swab of paint on the end to distinguish one blend from another. When the paint flakes off, not only does it render the color-coding system useless, it can contaminate your weld.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what you see, but what\u2019s more important is the make up of the base material prior to extrusion.\u00a0 Tungsten electrodes are produced by mixing chemical compounds raw tungsten and specific dopiants which make up each blend thoriated, lanthanated etc.\u00a0 Consistent mixing, the extrusion process, and adherence to documented procedures is the real key to a high-quality end product.<\/p>\n We field more technical calls from customers with poor weld quality, and inferior tungsten performance than all other products, well other than junk gas lenses…\u00a0 more on that later.<\/p>\n \u00a0Bottom line, when considering tungsten electrodes — you get what you pay for.<\/p>\n \n NOTE:\u00a0 Reverse engineer Spot the difference in tungsten electrodes and learn the importance of choosing the right one for your metal fabrication job<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,21,28,138,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arc-zonecom","category-tig-welding-2","category-tungsten-electrodes","category-welding-product-spotlight","category-welding-tips","entry","fw-tab-6 fw-tabr-4"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nto disassemble and examine or analyze in detail (as a product or device) to discover the concepts involved in manufacture usually in order to produce something similar.\u00a0 Similar. Not the same….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"