RE: Tungsten

["Oxandale, Terry" <Toxandale-at-xxxxxxx> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>)]

I've had a lot of aluminum welded for me over the years, and as I
watched the welder stooped over the puddle with his mask less than 12"
away from the work undoubtedly inhaling the fumes from the process I can
only "reason" that government requlation would ban the thoriated rods if
they did indeed pose a risk. Perhaps I am too trusting in the "process",
but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Terry

> ----------
> From: 	Tesla list[SMTP:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
> Sent: 	Thursday, November 02, 2000 7:14 PM
> To: 	tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: 	RE: Tungsten
> 
> Original poster: "Garry Freemyer" <Garry-at-NDFC-dot-com> 
> 
> I am alittle concerned about the Thoriated type. Thorium is a radio
> active
> element that emits mainly Alpha radiation I believe. It decays into
> other
> isotopes, I don't remember which. It's been a VERY long time since I
> studied
> this subject but I am concerned about the thorium becoming vaporized
> and
> being breethed in. In fact, I wonder how they get away with the
> thorium in
> the white gas lamps I am so familiar with. 
> 
> Maybe it's not all that dangerous or maybe thorium isn't vaporized as
> the
> white hit temperatures of a lamp.
> 
> Alpha wave radiation if strong enough might cause sunburn, wouldn't
> penetrate much deeper than the skin If that deep, but if it were
> deposited
> in the lungs this would be a different story altogether.
> 
> Anyone have any thoughts on this?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
> Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 12:00 PM
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: RE: Tungsten
> 
> 
> Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com> 
> 
> Finn:
> As I have said before (with a smile) get 10 coilers together, ask one
> question and you get 12 answers. And probably all 12 are right.
> 
> I have seen posts that say that using a hacksaw takes muscle, time
> and...more time. Yet you find it no trouble. Today, I received mail
> from
> Scott Hanson who cautioned that the thoriated version was not as good
> as
> pure tungsten. And that the pure variaty was OK as is.
> 
> I guess the best approach is to try what you think will work and if it
> does,
> wonderful. If not, try something else. Like building a tank cap for
> $10 <big
> smile>.
> 
> I will surely post the results of my electrode operation. Any bets
> folks?
> 
> Safety...and Goggles
> 
> Ted
> 
> Subject: Re: Tungsten
> 
> Original poster: "Finn Hammer" <f-hammer-at-post5.tele.dk> 
> > 
> > Original poster: "Ted Rosenberg" <Ted.Rosenberg-at-radioshack-dot-com>
> > snip
> > Once you get the rods you'll have to look into a method of
> > cutting to the desired length. I have a Dremel Diamond Cutting Wheel
> > ($21.00) on order.
> 
> I have said it before, and I will say it again:
> 
> It doesn`t take more than a couple of minutes, to cut a 5/16" rod of
> 2%thorium/tungsten with an ordinary hacksaw, equipped with an (around)
> 30 teeth per inch High Speed Steel (HSS) blade.
> 
> There are fancier methods around, but this is the one I resort to
> every
> time still.
> 
> Once cut, mount the bits in an electric drill, and rotate them with
> it,
> while you press the end of the electrode-to -be against a grinding
> wheel, or a belt sander. Be garefull if you use a grinding wheel, it
> tends to knock the electrode/drilllingmachine back untill a nice true
> surface is obtained.
> 
> Hemispherical ends are rather easy to make this way too, and for
> static
> gaps, my favourite, the Rukowski lookalike profile (big radius across
> most of the surface, progressing into a nice small radius blending
> into
> the shaft) -Not too hard to make.
> 
> Cheers, Finn Hammer
> 
> 
> 
> 
>