TIG electrode holder for grinding

[Occasional machinist]

A pretty straight forward modification to an eBay purchase, but a very effective way of grinding tungsten electrodes

[DIYer]

Thanks Occasional machinist! We've added your Electrode Holder to our Grinding category,
as well as to your builder page: Occasional machinist's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Electrode Holder by Occasional machinist

tags: grinding, holder

[tachetailleur]

Thank you for the video, I found it very interesting. I have a similar problem of sharpening short electrodes (cheaply!) and I had the idea of using the torch collets to hold them in a suitable housing (the logic was that you wouldn't need to sharpen anything shorter and collets are readily available). A modified torch might have worked but I didn't have one to sacrifice. I made something from a piece of rod and a machine screw modified on the lathe. Anyway, although it seemed to hold the tungsten quite firmly it didn't have enough clamping force to stop it being moved during grinding, which was a bit disappointing...I'm making the comment in case anyone else goes down that road.
I took some photos. The item on the left is a piece of tube with a tab welded to it. That was to be fixed or held to help keep the correct angle.

[Occasional machinist]

That is one of the reasons I used the ER collet for my clamping - the pin vices just did not clamp hard enough. Having used it for several weeks now I can say that is a pretty good solution for this problem. The collets plus chuck came from ebay, and from memory were not too expensive, so worth having a look at.

Michael

[tachetailleur]

Thanks, you've also made me aware of those straight extensions which look useful for other projects, too!

[Toolmaker51]

Collets have two forms; those split (R8 etc) from one end "pinch" a short cylindrical section forward, with 3 segments. Most use a drawbar, not suited for longer workpieces, typical in milling machines, rare in cutter grinders. Others are external threads for drawtube, a through-hole but still only .004 or .005 range. Like others, pin chucks also have limited grip in a narrow range, 3 or 6 lines of contact unless exactly that of collet diameter.

A better design are those split from both ends, (ER, C series, TT, TG etc), that truly compress for a more cylindrical grip, most close via an external nut . Being flexible, offer far greater range, more compact, improved concentricity. True while they have a size, the multiple slits generate grip and range -1/64th (not plus), better than pinch variety.

Both can spring or crush when called to serve improper diameters.

TIG isn't presently a thing with me, but had good results holding electrodes above the rest, inclined to the right and for the pencil point above wheel center. All kinds of room in comparison.

[HobieDave]

If you look at the ck wedge collet, it does not have the slots - it is solid, the hole is offset and moves when you tighten it up to lock the tungsten in place. When loosening, just push the tungsten inwards and then pull it out.

[Toolmaker51]

Correct on the 'CK', my post focused too closely on the most common tool/ work holders and limitations.

[Occasional machinist]

I haven't tried a CK wedge collet for this although I have one on the TIG. It works for welding as there is no force on the electrode when the arc is going. Having tried pin vices with their pinch type holding and finding that they slip, I think for grinding the CK collets would do something similar, as in reality they are only holding in one place, so the tungsten can flop around a little. For me, this size ER is great as I can tighten it by hand with this setup enough that it does not slip and the compression nature of the collet means it is stable side to side.

Michael