Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Source For Tungsten Rod ?

Looking for a small pieces of tungsten rod. Need 8mm diameter and about 1/4" to 1/2" length. Need to get about to around 1.5 to 2 ounce total.

I am using it to counterbalance a fishing rod. I have used bullets in the past. Looking to keep the rod as light as possible. With tungsten being denser I can keep the weight closer to the butt and in turn use less weight. Need small sections so I can work my way up to the weight. Don't want to try and cut it.

I have found tungsten weights for pine wood derby cars. They are assorted lengths and weights. But they all seem to be either 1/4" or 3/8". 3/8" is too big to fit in the fishing rod blank 1/4" would not fill the blank enough to work any better than bullets.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

https://www.elmettechnologies.com/tungsten/tungsten-rod/?keyword=%2Btungsten%20%2Brod&campaignID=822183241&matchtype=b&adgroupID=47860236688&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjNTmo4X95QIVTZyzCh2E_gWbEAAYASAAEgIHEPD_BwE

Elmet technologies

Maybe call Midwest Tungsten. They are where I get my TIG welding electrodes and are way cheaper than anywhere else I’ve found in the US. They might have some big assed electrodes that would be close to the diameter you need.

Use pieces of tungsten electrodes for a TIG welding torch. They are available at any welding supply store in 6" lengths. The largest diameter I've used regularly is 3/16" in diameter, but 2 or 3 of them can be epoxied together to get the size you're looking for. They're available in 1/16", 1/8", 3/32" and larger.
Jerry

This is useless info but....I had a friend with a tungsten ramrod for his muzzleloader. 😄

You can also buy tungsten shot in various sizes (or cut a few shotgun shells open) and add til the rod balances how you like. Can also be encapsulated in epoxy if necessary.

Tungsten shot is not pure tungsten. Not a whole lot denser than lead. I have found options for longer sections of rod. Just is a pain to cut tungsten. The electrodes would work but again I would be distributing weight along a longer section unless I cut and bundled.

Thanks for the thoughts will do some thinking. Now that I know what I can get I can figure how I want to do things.

I have some scrap carbide from solid carbide end mills and drills.

A winner on the Let’s Make a Deal tv show....😎

I have some experience weighting stuff up with tungsten. It's not easy or cheap to get someone to machine tungsten (best solution). Here's what I would do; Get some 1/8" tungsten cubes. Arrange them in as close a configuration to the circular cross section as possible. Glue them together with CA (crazy glue). Drill an appropriate sized hole in a piece of wood. Place your arranged cubes in the hole. Pour lead in the hole to cover the tungsten.

Alternatively you can buy powdered tungsten (used to weight fishing rods and golf clubs). Make a mixture with epoxy and pour around the solid tungsten cubes. The powdered tungsten packed tightly has approximately the same density as lead. Mixed with epoxy would be a little less dense than lead (but without the need for working with molten lead).

Third option, check ebay for some 8mm Tungsten rod and see if you can find someone to cut to the length you need;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-Set-8mm-Dia-Tungsten-Carbide-Rod-With-Chamfer-Precision-Ground-HRC50-YK20/283680936852?hash=item420cb39394:g:ZbsAAOSwbm9d055Q

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Kingston shoot me a PM if you got any small scraps like I described. Looking like any cutting or machining to get what I want is not going to be cost or time effective. I am really chasing perfection. The way I have done things in the past with bullets works fine.

So you are talking Tungsten Carbide rod.....
Tungsten is easy to machine.
I got 5/16 which is .3125 and 8mm is .3149......room for epoxy

If you need some let me know.

Guys crash drills and endmills all the time.

Took some looking but I found close to exactly what I was looking for. Pinewood derby supply place out of Washington state. Found 5/16th x 9/16th .33 ounce each tungsten weights. Should be able to get all my needed weight in about three inches opposed to nearly six inches using bullets. Thanks for all the ideas.

Welding electrodes

Tungsten rod is easy to cut. Any $30-$40 four inch surface grinder will cut right through it with a grinder wheel or cut off wheel.

So did the OP want tungsten or tungsten carbide?

Was looking for straight tungsten originally, then tungsten carbide was mentioned. Either would of work as they both are substantially denser than lead. As I mentioned in my previous post I did source straight tungsten in a size that will work for my application.

i have used TIG welding rods they come in various diameters and found them ok reasonably priced from most welding suppliers.

Depleted uranium is denser. Wear gloves.