I am fairly new to TIG. I am building some proficiency with the whole two hands, one foot thing lately but early on I blew up a lot of tungsten. Like all of the 1/16 rods I had. So, I went looking for more... I have pure rods (green) for aluminum and red (thoriated) for steel but then I saw some descriptions at online shops that sell the stuff saying lanthiated rods (blue) could do both aluminum and all steels and with better results. It also isn't radioactive so when I grind I'm only breathing heavy metal dust instead of radioactive heavy metal dust which I imagine is probably better.
So... is this true? Blue (lanthiated) is the one rod that binds them all? I can just buy assorted diameters and not concern myself with which one? Or is there more to it than that?
Most of the chassis guys I know use red for everything and sharpen the tungsten with a dedicated grinder for them.
I think there are differences in the initial arc formation current for the various types. I don't recall if the lanthiated type is higher or lower startup current, but there is plenty of infor at the std welding supplier websites. Probably 10-20 minutes of reading will get you the info you need.
just did a quick search and found this...
tungsten selection artilce
I've used red before on Aluminum plenty of times and it worked fine. The green tends to lose it's point pretty fast.
stafford1500 wrote:
just did a quick search and found this...
tungsten selection artilce
Well, that settles that.
I wonder why the googles didnt take me there.
So, conclusion... Ceriated or Lanthiated is equal or better than thoriated, can be used for both AC and DC and is in a lot of cases superior for both. The downside is it costs more but I am not running a for-profit shop so... an extra $10 on a pack of something that should last 6mos is acceptable.
Sweet.
I use red for everything... no issues to date with it. I tried green but disliked the initial arc in, so I just never bothered with them again.
Never tried the Blue though, maybe I'm missing something...
I have converted to a gas lens. Consistant arc, welds look better, and a whole lot less gas useage. Wish I had given it a try a long time ago.
Also, are you matching electrode to material? I use 1/16" infrequently, 3/32" a lot. Also - I keep green for AL and red/orange for steel and stainless, pointed or pointed/balled and ready to go.
I've got gas lens and will try it next time - all the bike frame building uber-weldors I know use the lens.
