Buffing Wheels for Grinder??How???

[Carroll Courtney]

I have a 8" bench grinder and I want to do some buffing such as on metal parts(knobs),plane irons,chisels etc.Are all the buffing wheels the same,and just the compound makes the difference?Do I need different wheels for each different compound.My first project is putting a shine on some knobs that is what I think to be an alu metal and my hand wheels which is cast iron.Both of these is on my table saw which I am in the process of restorting.Since I'm going to purchase these items for doing the saw,I also want to do all of my chisels and plane irons and maybe the lathe tools.I never done any buffing before so how do I go about this?Are there any websites someplace that can teach me the how-to's & don'ts of buffing?Thanks Guys---Carroll

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Carroll,
Buffing wheels aren't even close to being all alike. They come in various degrees of firmness depending on whether they are sewn or not and the fabric. In addition, it may require two different wheels to polish a particular item depending on the shine you want to achieve. The wheel is only part of buffing. The wheel is useless without a compound made for the material you are buffing. Compounds vary by the size of the abrasive in the compound as well as the type of abrasive. Since you should not mix compounds on the same wheel, buy several. They are cheap.
Call an expert. I am happy to turn you on to a supplier who is a buffing company as well as a supplier of wheels, buffers and compounds. I'm not sure I can publish that info on the regular site so you might want to PM me and I will give you all the contact info.
fmr

[Johnny Upton]

Buffing wheels aren’t the same.

Sissal wheels with a black compound are the most aggressive. Good if you need to knock some scale/rust off

The sewn buffs are stiffer as the tightness of the sewing decreases.

Loose buffs are the softest.

You’ll probably want to stack buff wheels to get a ¾ to 1” width.

An arbor extender is pretty useful as there isn’t much space on the motor side of the machine.

You should have a separate buff for each compound. A wheel rake for cleaning up the wheel is a good pick-up as well.

In general buffers can be a very dangerous tool. They have a very bad tendency to grab what you are working on and throwing it across the room, especially with smaller pieces. The piece should be buffed below horizontal and hold the piece tight

I’m guessing that you are converting a 34-3600 RPM grinder to a buffer, these really can generate some speed in the piece you are buffing. Personally I like motors in the 1700 +/- RPM range. You can convert a washing machine motor fairly easily.

[Roy Wall]

Carroll,

Good thoughts so far.....

This place:

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/index.html

is a great site and has an online 'how to' booklet........

[John Bush]

Hi Carroll,
I use the cotton wheels for rough to high shine polishing. Ones sewn close to the edge are best for course buffing and finer polishing is best with more loose cotton. Just cut the stitching as needed. The better high shine wheels have a lead center and no stiching. Look up Dental lab polishing lathes on the web(Baldor or Redwing) and you will see the two speed, double ended(arbor extends out from both sides of the motor) lathes, some with "quick chucks" that allow changing wheels, etc, while the lathe is turning. They work great but cost over $500. So.... Find an old motor that turns ~1725 and set it up for polishing, maybe get a 3450 motor as well and have both speeds. You can get threaded, tapered chucks that the buffing wheels spin onto so you can quickly change wheels, or you can have motors set up for each polishing grit you use. Call a dental lab and ask where they get their tapered chucks, or they likely will have extras they will sell to you. You can use wet, coarse polishing pumice for the initial polish--use a backsplash-it's kind of messy--. There are a variety of intermediate grits you can use, and the chromium oxide willl give a super high shine. We use tripoli and jewlers rouge, but that is a bit over the top for chisels. You can get wide wheels as well. I've looked at the polishing kits at Rockler and they have all the stuff--wheels and compound-- reasonably priced so that may be the simplest way to go, but definitely check out the threaded, tapered mandrels/chucks for easy wheels changes. Ask you dentist, he/she may have one too.

[Randal Stevenson]

A grinder converted to a buffer, isn't going to have the reach that buffers do. Buffers arms are further out. I know Lee Valley as well as other places, sell pillow blocks and a setup, that you could run a motor to, and do what you need (and you can adapt speed via pulley).


Just throwing out another option.

[John Bush]

Another thought Carroll, Maybe you could find a shoe shop that has an extra shoe polishing lathe