(PAYSON, Utah) – Sunstone Engineering, manufacturer of Orion permanent jewelry and pulse arc welders, introduced a new electrode sharpening solution called the Pilot, which helps customers clean and sharpen Orion tungsten electrodes with ease and precision.
The Pilot is the combination of a precise sharpening guide attached to the top of a premium, cordless rotary tool. When an electrode requires cleaning or sharpening, the operator inserts the electrode into a guide slot. With the Pilot at full speed, a diamond grinding wheel enclosed within the sharpening guide cleans and precisely sharpens the electrode to the desired angle. The Pilot saves sharpening time and produces a perfectly sharpened electrode.
“The Pilot makes having a clean and sharp electrode an easy and quick thing to do,” said Jonathan Young, CEO at Sunstone Engineering LLC. “A clean electrode sharpened at just the right angle always delivers a better weld. With the Pilot, our customers can now sharpen an electrode in seconds and be confident in the results time after time. The Pilot is a true time-saver plus helps our customers weld with more accuracy and confidence. For permanent jewelry artists or others who may be less familiar with micro welding, the Pilot makes them better welders almost immediately.”
The Pilot’s sharpening guide provides the operator with a foolproof process to clean and sharpen Orion tungsten electrodes, for either the 1.0 mm or 0.5 mm diameter variants. The standard Pilot model comes with only one guiding slot on the guide itself, learning to use the Pilot takes less than a minute. An earlier model provided three guide slots at 15°, 20°, and 25° angles. For most applications, Sunstone recommends sharpening the electrode at 15°. Traditional TIG welding applications may be more suited for the 20° or 25° sharpening angles.
The Pilot is powered by a 3.6-volt cordless rotary tool with a lithium ion battery, providing many hours of use and easily recharged with a single USB power cable. The operator can select from three different speeds, although the fastest speed is recommended for best results. A soft, contoured plastic housing provides a comfortable, dependable grip during operation. Measuring less than eight inches in length and two inches in diameter, the Pilot will easily slip into a bench drawer or apron pocket. And its orange housing makes the Pilot easy to find when needed quickly.
The Pilot retails for $75 and is available online at sunstonewelders.com/pilot.
