TIG sheet welding: Thoriated or Ceriated tungsten?
 

I am just wondering what you folks think.

I have been using Thoriated tungsten for thin steel and stainless until now.

I have almost run out and want to purchase replacements.
Is there merit to change to Ceriated at all?

Regards
Bernt

Thoriated is being phased out due to thorium being radioactive. If there is damage to be done I guess 43 years of using it has already taken a toll. I changed for better arc starting characteristics.



The tungsten choice is more about the powersource. For square wave machines 2% Thoriated would still be my choice. If you have an inverter machine then Ceriated or Lanthanated is a better choice. For me arc starting is best with Lanthanated. I started with Ceriated and switched to Lanthanated when it became available to the mainstream.


Another advantage since Inverter machines allow the use of the same tungsten for DC steel and AC aluminum, Ceriated or Lanthanated do a better job of keeping their tip form / point than Thoriated. When on AC the Thorium, which is wound around the tungsten like a candy cane, balls into little beads and creates a crown like shape. This does not happen with either Ceriated or Lanthanated.

I have always used pure tungsten on aluminium, (square wave inverter machine) but recently switched to 2% lanthanated on Wray Schelin's recommendation. I must admit that I haven't noticed a huge improvement, but do think that arc starting is superior and the electrode does last well.

On the lanthanated downside, it is advisable to fire up/ settle a newly sharpened electrode on a test piece, as I have found that the first firing induced a spattering of the tungsten, casting micro particles which embed in the ali! Thereafter it's work as usual...

I do use thoriated on steel work, but observe strict safety measures when grinding tips:eek:

Ok, cool.

I have ordered some Ceriated tungstens.
Let's see where that takes us.

My machine is DC so aluminium is not a consideration at this stage.

My son was a welding lead for deep sea robot power arm construction for a number of years, welding complete arms of either aluminum, duplex stainless, or Ti. He changed away from Thoriated years ago, and over to lanthanated and ceriated.
I know he was running 350Amps DC on aluminum and laughed at pure tung. He was doing hundreds of feet of heavy gauge welds per week, and was going back and forth between lan and cer, depending on alloy and amperage.
But he is a fussy / detail guy.

(Company was a "zero defects" sort of operation.) :):)

i use the red one for almost everything. last time i got some i did get some of the green stuff to try. i think it was called Lazer tungsten

Red=Thoriated
Green = pure tung (many brand names)