Buffing speed

[Fred Belknap]

We had a demo at the last club meeting about buffing with the 3 wheel buffing system. He buffed out a small bowl that he had made a few days earlier and put WOP as a finish. It was kind of rough and dull. When he had buffed it completely using all three wheels he passed it around and it was as slick as polished glass. He was using a 3520A which doesn't have a rpm meter but someone ask how fast he was buffing and he said whatever the lathe would turn which probably was around 3000 rpm. I have always buffed at a much slower speed mostly around 500 to about 800 rpm. I'm pretty sure different finishes may require different speeds but I'm not sure just which finish and how fast. Opinions would be appreciated.

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Hi Fred - I got a beall buffing system about a week ago - can't remember whether it was the directions or the videos on their website, but somewhere they indicated that 1,400 - 1,700 rpm was the range they recommended. Been using 1,400 and have been a little surprised at how much material the buffs are shedding...but the surface is awesome.

[Scott Hackler]

Fred I usually buff around 700 to 1000 rpm or so. I take my time and have scuffed the piece with some worn out 400 or fresh 600 prior to buffing. I get great results and dont have to worry about burning through the finish by buffing too fast and generating heat.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Fred - like Scott, I normally buff between 800 to 1000 rpm and also lightly scuff the finish to remove bumps and debris. I use poly as a finish and it is fairly tough stuff but you can buff right through it if you apply too much pressure or use too high of a speed. You also have to watch your speed when buffing lacquer as you can melt the finish and that is a pain to deal with!

[Royce Wallace]

I rarely use buffing wheels--I hand buff with Mcgires buffing compound--and finish with their wax--you cannot beat with any wheels nor will you burn through finish.:)

[Dennis Ford]

I sand the finish to at least 600 grit and often to 1200 grit before buffing. Usually buff at about 1200 rpm but am sure that higher would be OK with Wipe On Poly. A combination of speed and pressure causes heat which causes problems. High speed and light pressure = lower speed and higher pressure.

[Steve Doerr]

I usually buff at about 1400 rpm's and very light touch. I've found the other really important aspect of buffing is to make sure that your finish is well cured. I will wait 4 or 5 days after finishing before I will buff it. I've found that if I rush it less than that it does not produce as nice a finish.

[Bill Hensley]

For an oil finish I usually buff with Tripoli ~1,400. For lacquer I will level the finish with Micro Mesh equivalent to 1,500 then 2000 grit. The more time you spend leveling the finish the less time it takes to buff. When I start buffing I run about 1,200 for Tripoli and slower for the rest. It's important to keep the piece moving all the time to avoid damage.

[Thom Sturgill]

I'm pretty much like Bill Hensley. Tripoli about 1400 for oil slower for lacquer. white diamond about 1000. If I use Don Pencil's PL re recommends 700rpm and a softer flannel wheel. Ren wax I hand apply and buff.

[Russell Neyman]

What's the consensus on lacquer? I haven't had the courage to hit it with tripoli, and have rarely buffed with white diamond.

[Brian Kent]

I'll check when I get home, but I use a low to medium speed. I melted the shellac finish on a cremation urn. For obvious reasons, the completion of the urn was time-sensitive and I buffed too soon. Also, I was buffing at high speed and it was too much for the finish. The other problem with high speed is that I have caught the lip of chalices or bowls and have thrown them from my hands at high speed.

[Kelvin Burton]

Something I discovered the hard way; couldn't figure out why my buffing compound wasn't transferring to the buffing wheels. When I first bought my buffing kit from Don Pencil I read I should buff at around 1200 rpm (with 8" wheels). That worked fine for a couple of years and then it seemed the compound was getting hard and wouldn't transfer. Tried new compound, same result.

Finally discovered that the Reeves drive on my lathe was failing and the pulleys were spreading. Result was that the lathe was progressively getting slower and I hadn't noticed. Once I fixed the lathe and got it going at the original speed I found that the buffing compound was fine, I was just running the lathe too slow!

So for me, regardless of what speed you use when you buff, you need at least 1200 real rpm to get compound onto the wheel! :eek:

[Bill Hensley]

I'll respond to the lacquer question but I'm on the fringe based a number of comments from this community. I buff lacquer, NC or WB, the next day. I have even buffed WB lacquer the same day I sprayed it just to see how it would respond. It did fine. No matter how nice a finish I get with the spray gun I almost always level sand the piece first and then start with Tripoli at 1200. White diamond at 1000. As I mentioned before, keep the piece moving constantly plus I don't push the piece into the wheel, lightly is the key. You hold it in place and you have a problem.

I should mention that I put at least 5 good coats of lacquer on the piece so I have enough finish thickness to work with. It takes about 5 coats to see evidence of wood grain disappear.

Let me know if you additional questions. Others may also chime in on their process.

[Thomas Canfield]

I buff Tripoli 8"wheel at 1800 rpm most of the time. I go to slower speed (800 to 1200rpm) when buffing Renaisance wax using a light touch. Today, I Tripoli buffed several pieces that had 3 coats of wipe on/off oil/poly mix previously applied, prior to applying an additional coat of oil/poly mix. There is some heat from the buffing if too much pressure is applied, but finish levels out and the final buffing and wax produces a very nice deep finish.

[Josh Bowman]

When I buffed using my lathe, I kept it 800 to 1000, but a friend gave me his setup which is a 1750 motor so I'm using that. My opinion is the system worked some better at 800 to 1000. I have to be more careful about overheating now.

[Fred Belknap]

I appreciate all the replies. Seems like I wasn't to far off in how I have been buffing, maybe a little slow. I do all kinds of finish so I may now adjust the speed to match the finish. I have done some pieces using the famous Keith Burns 10 minute finish and a couple times it got kind of sticky. My guess is that I was buffing to slow for it to burn in. Most of the time it works fine. I try to let most finishes cure for a few days before buffing, get several things finished and buff all of them at the same time. I find that buffing in the winter in a heated shop I get pretty sever static shock. I have taken to using a static wire attached to the lathe with a clip and the other end taped to my wrist. Helps prevent dropping bowls and things.
Josh I tried the 1750 rpm motor and I wasn't comfortable with the speed. I now have a honing wheel attached to it for my tools.

[robert baccus]

I've been buffing lacquer for 50 years--cars and wood. The wax type buffing compounds can smear and burn fairly easily and I use them only. on bare woods. I am ignorant of buffing WOP and see no reason to buff oils. Lacquers are easy and forgiving if you switch to liquid compounds and waxes. It is what the auto and furniture pro's use. Forget burns if you uselight pressure and high rpm's. The liqids also lubricate and cool the surfaces and tell you when the job is almost finished. Actually I do 95% of my wet sanding, compounding and waxing on thelathe at a lot of rpm. I seldom wet sand down past 220 sponge pads. Use a bit of soap while wetsanding and keep a spraybottle of the stuff on the lathe. Sometimes the compounds require a shot of soapy water. A fine foam pad with carnuba is spot on fo a semigloss finish but you can go back and forth from that to ultra glossy in 5 minutes with no set up time. The B... system with it's small wheels and wax type compounds are great for small objects but totally inadequate for larger bowls and vases. Try a 20" platter if you doubt this. Pressure is what causes burning and scratching---not RPM. On some pieces I sand with a 12000 rpm air sander and go straight to SS and lacquer.

[Russell Neyman]

Thanks for the note about lacquer, Robert. Actually, that's pretty much what I've been doing with my lacquer (wet dancing with soapy then polishing with McGwier's Medium Cut liquid compound) except I've kept the speed pretty low to avoid burning the finish.

For non "show" projects I do, actually, fully buff boiled linseed and get remarkable results. You might give it a try.

[robert baccus]

Glad to know that--I never use oil unless I want a flat finish. It tends to get dull and dark with age. Correction I do use Danish under almost everything to pop color but then go to SS & lacquer--flat or gloss. You might try obtaining compounds and waxes and mixes in Auto paint supply houses. It is pro quality stuff and usually some good info about finishes and spray guns. People who finish Porsches like fine finishes. Use several grits of compounds just like sandpapers. Also you might keep the compounds wet with a spray bottle until wipe down time.