Cheap tungsten rods and carbon

[Ray Ansin]

Being resoursefull and not wanting to pay the earth for glass working tools I go to my local oxygen and welding goods supplier to buy tungsten rods that are used for TIG welding. These six inch long rods, avaliable in several diameters. When sharpened on a grindstone, make ideal picks and rakes. Do not purchase the Thoriated ones as these release thorium in the flame and this is radioactive, which when breathed can cause cancer many years following exposure.
Buy the Lanthaniated or Ceriated ones.
These are totally safe..
I sometimes wonder if commercial tungsten supplied by some glass tool suppliers comes from the same source, and perhaps might be thoriated. Check with your tungsten supplier to make sure!
Carbon rod in bulk is avaliable from Diamond tool manufacturers at a very low cost.
Use a metal hack saw wet to cut it to shape and wet and dry silicon carbide paper on a sheet of glass. Again wet to sand the cut surfaces smooth. Go to a finer grit of paper again wet to finish. Use household rubber gloves to stop the very messy graphite from contacting the skin. Wash up with diluted liquid dishwashing detergent in warm water.
Regards
Ray Ansin
http://www.glassbeads.co.nz.

[Jennifer Geldard]

Thanks so much Ray!!
:clap:

[Ray Ansin]

Ta muchly for your reply. I goofed up in my posting by not including the www so my site should read.
http://www.glassbeads.co.nz.
Perhaps one of the moderators would be kind enough to alter it and delete this correction.
Thanks
Raymond

[ValorieCox]

Ta muchly for your reply. I goofed up in my posting by not including the www so my site should read.
http://www.glassbeads.co.nz.
Perhaps one of the moderators would be kind enough to alter it and delete this correction.
Thanks
Raymond

...it should be working now Ray, thanks for the helpful information! I always look forward to your posts! :) Val

[Plato]

Being resoursefull and not wanting to pay the earth for glass working tools I go to my local oxygen and welding goods supplier to buy tungsten rods that are used for TIG welding. These six inch long rods, avaliable in several diameters. When sharpened on a grindstone, make ideal picks and rakes. Do not purchase the Thoriated ones as these release thorium in the flame and this is radioactive, which when breathed can cause cancer many years following exposure.


Just an interesting side note about thorium ;)

Those of us who lampworked in the 70`s were still able to get the "old" didymium glasses.They were G-20 glass and made by Bausch and Lomb and filtered very well. Unfortunately one of the ingredients was thorium. Because radioactivity could cause cataracts, the Optical Manufacturers of America decided that thorium could not be used. That`s when Schott S-8801 (Pink Didymium) became the standard.

Just another bit of trivia from glass blowing history ;)

Plato :)

[Emily NZ]

Hi Ray,
Thanks for the info.
good to see you are still around! :D
Emily

[Ray Ansin]

If you toddle off down to your local stainless steel fabricator or aluminium welding shop they will probably give you a couple for nothing
Thats why I say they are cheap cheao cheap.
I've used them for years. The amount of lanthanium is so small that they are regarded as being almost pure tungsten.
Regards Ray
http://www.glassbeads.co.nz