# How do we manufacture with tungsten?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-manufacture-with-tungsten/661799>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 24, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-manufacture-with-tungsten/661799 "2013-06-24T16:46:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-manufacture-with-tungsten/661799/1 "2013-06-24T16:46:20Z")

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Last week’s [“What If” essay on XKCD](http://what-if.xkcd.com/50/) raises an interesting point about tungsten: it has the highest melting point of any element, making it very difficult to study. Presumably, this also makes tungsten a very challenging material for manufacturing.

So how _do_ we make things out of tungsten? Incandescent light bulb filaments are typically tungsten. The electrodes in my TIG welder are tungsten. How do we get from tungsten ore to useful end products made out of tungsten?

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-manufacture-with-tungsten/661799/2 "2013-06-24T17:05:31Z")

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With great difficulty.

Here’s a description of how tungsten wire is made:

> **[Midwest Tungsten Service - Custom Parts or Order Online](https://www.tungsten.com/)**
>
> Midwest Tungsten offers the highest quality TIG Electrodes, Tungsten Bucking Bars, Tungsten Fine Wire, and more! Tungsten products & custom machining.

Basically, if very pure, and heated up enough, it becomes malleable enough to work.

ETA:

Note the temperature they are giving there for “enough”: 1200 - 1500 C.