Reply To: Electrode bakeout

[Francisl]

Tungsten does oxidize in air and humidity but it happens well above room temperatures according to these links:
Page 43, page 50 and Wikipedia links.
It should be possible to treat the tungsten in an external chamber at elevated temperatures and then cool it to room temperature before removing it from the chamber. Then assembly can proceed as normal with very little oxidation occurring. The microwave treatment of the assembled dpf can remove surface oxides and moisture from the parts.
Tungsten is a very complex material. The brittleness of the metal changes greatly depending on so many factors including temperature treatments and inclusions of nitrogen, carbon and oxygen in the sintered metal during manufacturing and machining. See this link: Physical properties
It would be good to test any treatments on samples of the leftover tungsten from the machining to shorten the new electrode.