An explosion in a Cotton Gin

[Brian Brown]

Last October I bought a set of Beall buffs, and I actually got to use them tonight for the first time. Somebody once described the breaking in process as an explosion in a cotton gin. Boy they weren't kidding. I love my new downdraft, and it got a lot of the cotton fluff, but there was still plenty in the air. Looked like the snowstorm on the east coast. What a mess. Now that the cotton has settled, I have a question. Exactly how much of each compound do you put on the wheels? I have heard everything from just a little, to alot, then put some more on. I put a coat on that covered the wheel surface, but after two pens, the tripoly was mostly rubbed off. Hard to say with the white diamond, because the wheel looks like a white horse in a snowstorm, but it felt like it was mostly gone.

Also, my pens looked good until I used the wax wheel. They got cloudy looking. Whats up with that?

[Bernie Weishapl]

I found mine clouded also when I used the carnuba wax. Now I just use Ren wax. Don't know if I overload it or what. I also use Ren Wax because it does not show fingerprints or water spots.

[David Walser]

Brian,

I've had my buffing system for over a year now and thought I'd learned how to use it properly (mostly by trial and error). I recently watched Russ Fairfield's free buffing videos and learned I'd been doing a lot of things wrong and a lot of things that weren't wrong but could have been done better. I particularly liked his trick for using a "sharp" stick to clean the buffing wheels between uses. Another thing he discusses is how much buffing compound to use. (I'd been using too much.) He also suggests using a brush -- after using the wax wheel. It makes a nice difference.

Here's a link to the videos: http://www.woodturnerruss.com/Wax/Wax-6-Buffing-b.html

In addition to the videos, he has an entire section on wax. Very informative.

[Greg Just]

I use as little as possible. You can always add more. I find if I overload the compound on the wheels, it builds up on whatever I'm buffing and it makes a mess and it's hard to remove. Also, I don't use the tripoli on light colored or open grained wood like ash. The reddish color changes the look of the wood.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Well, I was going to jump in with my experience with buffing but chose to check out Russ's videos first. Glad I did - everything you want to know about buffing is pretty much covered in his series.

I also agree with his suggested speed for buffing. I ended up finding 1000 rpm worked best for me but only after using the buffer for quite a while.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I watched the video's also and was impressed to learn about the stick to clean the wheels. I really liked his wax section.

[Steve Mellott]

What a great resource! Thanks for posting.

Steve

[charlie knighton]

thanks for posting

[Brian Weaver]

We recently had the pleasure of having Russ do a 4 day work shop with our club and I will say this, the man knows his finishes. He has a lot of good information on his site and as a bonus he gave our club copies of his finishing video's. Definitely worth watching.

[Dan Forman]

Russ is a member of my turning club. He lives in Post Falls ID, which is about 20 miles or so east on the interstate from Spokane. His website has a ton of info on finishing, and most of the club members say they use "Russ's finish" when asked what they used on a piece during show and tell. He's well known as a pen turner, but can do anything else as well. He teaches classes at the local Woodcraft, and does a lot of demo's at our club. Very knowledgeable, has been turning for many years.

Dan