I saw a tig torch for the first time at a sheet metal shop where I was hired as a peon. I didnt get any qualified instruction in the welding department partly because the friend that got me the job thought he new everything and also because I was hired to help the cantankerous old mother f#ck&r wield whole sheets of metal at the breaks and shears. I learned a lot including how to sharpen tungsten the wrong way. I never would have thought about spending a bunch of money on a tungsten sharpener and would have gone on happily hand sharpening the wrong way if it werent for this www.millerwelds.com/resources/articles/tungsten-electrode-guide So, I learned about sharpening tungsten the rite way and that its a pain in the butt. I like Jody's site here and so I bought the stilo tig sharpener. I think the sharpener leaves a lot up to the operator which can be good or bad of course. Some people may need to be dressed in a safety lanyard and hardhat and reflective vest before being seated in the waiting room in line to operate this. Others will find it extremely useful. My first time through my first box of 3/32 2% lanthinated blue tungsten got the best points 80% of the time. Just like the video but maybe a little longer since the video doesnt show the directional change to up and down or the "correct way". There's no way I could have generated points of this quality by hand. The other 20% of the time I just ground a flat spot on the side of the tungsten before I realized it wasnt spinning. All in all its not to expensive and Im happy I bought it.
Thanks a lot Jody. Welder.
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