Just noticed a lot of guys here don't grind their tungsten right for aluminum

I keep seeing people using a green wheel for sharpening, then wonder why their arc wanders. For AC aluminum you need a dedicated fine grit diamond wheel or the contamination screws everything up. Anybody else run into this when starting out?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_mason16d ago

Diamond wheels are worth every penny for aluminum, no question. I switched after chasing my tail for three weeks on a job and the difference was night and day. A green wheel will work okay if you're running pure argon and never let it touch anything else, but that's a big if for most guys. The real killer is that once you contaminate that wheel with even a tiny bit of steel or copper, your aluminum welds turn into a mess. Keep a dedicated wheel just for aluminum, keep it clean, and you'll save yourself a ton of rework.

david5621mo ago

I mean, I’ve actually had way better luck using a green wheel for aluminum and never had arc wander issues. Maybe it’s just me but if you keep the wheel clean and don’t let it load up with the aluminum, it seems to work fine for most jobs I’ve done. Idk, I feel like the whole "contamination" thing gets blown out of proportion a lot of the time.

finley_price241mo ago

It's kind of like how people say you can't use dish soap on cast iron but I've been doing it for years.