At the end of the walk of shame

[pepi]

The  tool found at the end of the walk of shame is a  tungsten grinder.

From a skill saw blade sharpener it morphed into a electrode grinder. Advantage ten dollar replacement diamond blades, small foot print, big enough not to hide in the shop.

[TomG]

Is there an advantage to this over just using the belt sander? Maybe a dedicated wheel prevents contamination?

Tom

[Highpower]

Diamond just cuts better and doesn't leave any contamination in the tungsten. Rough scratches on the tip can play havoc with your arc. I'm sure it doesn't matter to most 'welders' as long as they can melt metal. When you get down to doing low amperage work though (~5A) with a .040" electrode you learn to appreciate a fine diamond ground taper on your tungsten. At least that's been my experience.

I would guess a belt sander or alox grinding wheel is probably the most used method by the majority of folks who aren't doing Aerospace or Nuclear level welding jobs though. Kind of like asking why buy a Hardinge lathe when an Atlas will do?