You forgot the 4th P. Pile of tungstens. Buy your tungtens by the pack? Sharpen up a pile of 4 or 5 and have them handy inside the car. Saves having to get in and out to sharpen the one you are using. Sharpen them all at one time.

Sharpen both ends.

And Welds ideally should be convex.

And lastly, if I'm on a project, and I catch myself making a Third mistake/error, I quit for the day, I'm either too tired or not focused, and quoting Dirty Harry, "a man has got to know his limitations"

Myself.. I never sharpen both ends.. I want to see
the stripe on them.. most of the time I use the red
ones but I have a few other colors also.. green is
one I can think of right now... but also if I dipped
and wanted to flip ends it doesnt go into the collar
so I get a couple of electrodes near when I am inside
of the car

Sharpening both ends won't work. The end I am using always gets snotted up and won't fit in the collet. But I like the idea of having several tungstens ready to go.
Yes, I bought a pack of purple E3 tungstens. They seem to work real nice for me. With a clean tip, even scratch starting is basically a non-effort. As long as there is some heat in the metal, even a slightly worn/rounded tip will start up fine.
On another note, I want to get started welding up the axle housing to the tubes. Can I use a hardware store bernz-o-matic to burn off the crud from between the tubes and housing, or should I bring it to work and use the oxy-acetylene torch.

I always used the oxy/acetylene because it got hotter
so I could get it done quicker

Do you get the tubes and housing cherry red or just enough to let it smoke?

Just a bit hotter than having it smoke.. no where near
red

"Sharpening both ends won't work."



After more then a couple of decades, I'll try to remember that.

How do you get it back in the collect when there is an oversized blob on the end of it?

The double ended thing is more for advanced welders that don't dip the tip. Not a dig on you... I do it to, though not nearly as much as in the olden days.
My buddy welds all day. He can weld long enough that he wears the tips down. Just flips em and moves on.

I dip ... but when I do I just heat the electrode
on a thicker pic of steel and smack the bottom of
my hand to knock it off but its still a dull tip
and I change it
EDIT
the reason I dip... cant see.. if I dont clean my
shield I just cant see... I need some new shield cpvers
and a new cheater lens

Im on a DIY Clubman forum and interesting idea from there is to put tyre valves in the pipes to check for cracks. If it wont hold air, there is a problem...

not sure if you would be allowed to do that to a cage though, as you have to drill a hole in it?

Yep, there was a sweet spot in there somewhere where I had enough experience AND eye sight to weld for quite a while on one tungsten!

[u][/u]What to you guys mean by "dipping".
A video on Welding Tips and Tricks showed a clear glass nozzle. Would that be an advantage for welding a cage or do they just smoke over anyway?
My purple stripe E3 tungstens are super easy to start, but I am noticing that they wear pretty quick. Is it my technique/inexperience or would I be better off getting used to red stripes?

Forget the clear nozzles.. what you need is smaller ones..
I mostly use the big #10 nozzles for general welding(mainly
up on my welding bench) but if your working in corners like
you are its hard to see the weld puddle with the big nozzle..
I have 3 different sizes of nozzles and if I do corners mainly
I pull the tip out a little farther and use a small nozzle so
the weld is easy to see... dipping really isnt putting the tip
into the weld as much as hitting the tip with the filler rod
or both things.. either way you get a blob on the tip

Yeah, the blob is what I usually end up with. That's why grinding both ends won't work. The blobbed end won't fit back into the collet.
I have nozzles from 5-8. I have been using a 6 and found that I had to back off on the gas flow. It was blowing pretty hard on the arc and puddle. My owners manual says to use a 1/8" stick out, but I have been using the equivalent of the diameter of the nozzle to get into a 90 degree joint. I'm watching a lot of videos now that use a lot more stick out than that. It that ok to do? It would make for a lot more visibility in some tight spots.

Don't want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, just blanket statements are sometimes worth challenging for the good of others. I am not sure what torch you are using, but with mine, simply removing the back cap solves a tip installing issue, if it will not slip in the collet from the end. However, a double tipped tungsten that is short to begin with, means the entire collet needs to be slipped out for regrinding, obviously not the first goal. Regarding retaining the color issue, I only double sharpen my normally used common tungstens, I seldom change them up, and would be surprised if many here use 3 or more types/colors.

Yeah you can stick more out.. its just a matter of shielding
gas and in a corner less gets blown away and yes I turn the
flow down with small cups

I appreciate everyones input and comments. If I make a comment, it's about what I have experienced in my short time frame of welding. I am not making comments or reflecting on anyone elses techniques or learning experiences. Sometimes I phrase things wrong, just trying to get a point across. If it wasn't for everyone here, I wouldn't have even been able to accomplish what I already have done.