Hello Dave, unless something has changed in regards to the proper grinding of tungstens, I would tend to agree with you, if it appears that the lines of the grind go around the tungsten then I would think that they are improperly ground. I will be interested to see if anyone replies with an answer in regards to your post that suggests that things have changed. My own personal experience with grinding tungstens has been that when the grind lines are in line with the length of the tungsten the arc has less wander,especially at lower amperage ranges, typically when I have tried it, I see a much less stable arc when the grind lines follow the circumference of the tungsten and it also tends to wander radially around the point. Regards, aevald One final note, alot of the pipewelders around our area use a cordless drill and point it into the wheel to sharpen their tungstens, this actually works fairly well, of the actual tungsten grinders that I have seen, they have all ground them in the conventional manner that you described with the lines running the length of the electrode.