I don't have a bench grinder but i do have an angle grinder to sharpen
thoriated tungsten electrodes.

I'm having problems with the arc it seems to create bright pulsing
flashes making it very difficult for me to see the arc and weld
puddle.

is this caused by a contaminated tungsten electrode?
OR
is that what happens when the tungsten electrode is contaminated with
other metal bits from the grinding stone?

perhaps my angle grinder isn't clean enough and contains some steel/
aluminum bits which contaminated the electrode.