what size tungsten

[mellowout]

how does everyone do their holes for pendants?
ive been stretching out rod and making the loop right off the pendant but i like how the poked ones look way better, they also seem to be stronger. So i was going to order up some tungsten and start poking. What size is good tho? Do you start small and ream open or just use a nice size pick? I have had some tungsten from the welding store but it doesnt seem to work right,always sticks and pulls threads of glass out of the hole. I think its cause it has a rough edge from the grinder when i ground it. I hear the glass ones are acid etched? thanks:chilling:

[Conchis]

Hiya,

Probably can't help ya much, but here's what little I know. The acid is called Pointing Powder. You just dip the tungsten in and it thins it down to a point. The stuff you get at the welding shop should work if you got the pure tungsten. There are a great many things that are added to tungsten though and you need to make sure to get the tungsten that is pure tungsten. I use the 1/8". If you get the glass too hot while you're "drilling" the hole it will stick to the tungsten. if you rely on heating the tungsten more than heating the glass and trying to push it through it won't stick as bad. After I get the hole pushed through you can widen it a bit with the tungsten or use a sharp carbon rod to open it a bit. Others probably have much better ways than my sorta newbie ways...but they work for me. Good luck

[dislexei]

I just use a sharpened bead mandrel. Long tapper. I get the metal hot, then i get the spot on one side really hot. Then i poke in half way. Then i go to the other side and try to poke and meet the two up.

You need the sharpened point to be ultra smooth. No burrs or ridges. I think thats what catches the glass, that or you get the glass way to hot, so it sticks to the metal.

I have had the glass stick, but i don't remember how i went about fixing the problem.

[Swampy]

I waited so long for Baylee to send a tungsten pick I learned to do it by the method you suggested; heat, stretch and pull it around.

Then secure the weld.

After you've done that, you can sculpt it into shape by re-heating and use gravity to let it drop in a bit, or a small carbon rod to open it out a wee bit. Practice loads of times on a 10mm rod, it will be worth it.

I got a tungsten rod from somewhere else eventually, just to see what the big deal was all about and everytime I use it the job sticks to it or it's too small. wtf

The small carbon rod I use is the core from a battery. Touch your forefinger to your thumb and look at it. The battery was about that round. Squeeze it in a vice (the battery, not your hand dumass) and the guts will come out and you can clean up the carbon core then file the end to a point; round/octagonal/wodeva and Bob's your uncle.

edited to add; me personally I like to see loops done like that. Some folks weld a bead on the top but it looks janky to me. Not that I'm qualified to judge right but that's how I see it. The only ones I like to see like that are what Sarah did with her spiral pendant; it looks welded in all the way to the hilt and more natch.

[wildrokproductions]

for nice clean pendants try using a bead for the loop- it looks supper clean. just use the size mandrel you need for whatever will be going through the hole
oh! and leave the bead on the mandrel and attatch the blank to the beed. that works nice for me and i can center everything realy easy

[mer]

i switched to beads too. i find that i can decorate the bead to match the pendant on the mandrel without any fear of closing the hole. just be sure to get a really good weld when you put it on and it won't break off. they look really nice and you can prep dozens of loops in an hour. i do like the tungsten picks low profile look for some pendants though as long as it doesn't obscure the design of the pendant.

[mellowout]

hey thanks guys, i just ordered one from wale and got it for cheap cause they owed me. so ill see how it goes. i like the bead loops too, i use to do them that way but it was when i first started so i was anxious to get them done right then and tried to attatch it right on the mandrel instead of puntying up. what size mandrel are you guys using? i ordered a 1/8 pick and i think thats what size mandrels i have back home. thanks again

[misled youth]

i like the touch and loop method. with a bit of practice it will be quick and easy. also very clean looking.

my shopmate uses a bead mandrel and makes like 10 basic round beads at a time. anneals them and removes from the mandrel.
he makes the bendant and fuses them on when needed.

ya do know tungsten is radioactive right?

[meadowesky]

I have an 1/8" tungsten poker. I still use the touch and loop method.
I had someone gift me with a pendant that was made with the bead method and that sucker broke off when I went to string it on a simple cord. So if you use that method be sure to get your weld nice and secure.

[Conchis]

Actually, I'm not sure Brandie, but I think it might be more basic than just the weld isn't good. I used the bead method for a while and even making sure the weld was really tight, no acute angles at all, there was a weakness at the loop. I get the feeling that there is thermal damage just above the weld that ocurrs. I might be wrong, but the touch and loop method doesn't seem to have the same problems. So I either poke a tungsten hole through colored rod or do the touch and loop with clear.

[meadowesky]

I think the loop method looks the best :)

I wonder if others have noticed problems with the bead method?

[mer]

I wonder if others have noticed problems with the bead method?

i used to have problems because i was afraid of getting the bead hot enough for a good weld but i figured it out so it welds nice now. if the weld is bad it will break off most (or all) of the bead but i've found that if done right i can only break the loop by throwing the pendant at the floor and the loop breaks higher up. if there's stress in the bead a true annealing schedule should take it out. all of these methods look good when they are done well though.

[Super Phunk]

Tungsten is radioactive???? Are you sure about that. I have that shit smoking in front of my face sometimes.

[Conchis]

apparently there are some isotopes of tungsten that are radioactive, but I don't think it's something to sweat.

[Pilgrim]

my wife said, its not the size of the pick that matters, its how thick it is.......

[somberbear]

some tungsten rods are radioctive but very slightly.... atleast thats what the warning on the tig welding box says....

peace
rob