Tungsten is a rare metallic element used for manufacturing gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) electrodes. The GTAW process relies on tungsten's hardness and high-temperature resistance to carry the welding current to the arc. Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal, 3,410 degrees Celsius.

APPLICATIONS

Lanthanated tungsten electrodes have excellent arc starting, a low burnoff rate, good arc stability, and excellent reignition characteristics, they also share the conductivity characteristics of 2% thoriated. In some cases, 1.5 & 2% lanthanated can replace thoriated without having to make significant welding program changes. Working well on AC or DC electrode negative with a pointed end, they can also be balled for use with AC sine wave machines. Maintaining a sharpened point is an advantage, useful for welding steel and stainless on DC or AC from square wave power sources.