Was skeptical about those expensive tungsten grinding wheels, but finally caved

Been using the same green wheel for years on our stick rods. Buddy Tom kept telling me I was wasting time with the cheap stuff. Picked up a Norton wheel at the supply house in Gary last month for $60. First few welds on a pressure vessel were cleaner than anything I'd done before. Anybody else notice a real difference or was it just a good day?

3 comments

3 Comments

wren3014h ago

The contamination thing is real. I keep a separate wheel for aluminum and copper alloys and another one just for tungsten. Once you get a bit of aluminum baked into that green wheel, it'll transfer right onto your tungsten tip and mess up your arc on steel. The Norton is a good call, I run an Optima wheel on a cheap Harbor Freight grinder and it does the job fine as long as I keep it clean.

joseph_lewis923h ago

@wren301 saving 20 bucks on a wheel just to waste it on contaminated tungsten lol.

patricia_wright6h ago

Funny you mention it, but that green wheel might be loading up with aluminum from whatever else you're cutting. Tried a dedicated tungsten wheel and it's night and day for not contaminating the tip.