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Thread: How to use new Beall buffing wheels

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho
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    Question How to use new Beall buffing wheels

    In Oct., Woodcraft had the Beall wood buffs on sale. So I ordered one last Sat. Should be here this weekend I hope, as I might actually get a few hours in the shop. I was reading a thread here recently, that said to get the most out of the system, you have to condition or season the buffs. Good information, but how do I know when they are fully seasoned? . Here is one reply from that thread.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Ainge View Post

    You need to break the system in and the first thing you need to do is try to get rid of the fluffy stuff that comes off of the new buffing wheels. You can do this by running the buffing wheels against the teeth of a saw blade. I used an old one that needed sharpening. Next load the buffing wheels with the different compounds that you will use. When you think that you have enough on the wheels, put some more on because I think this is where your problem is. I know I worked with mine for quite some time before some one told me how to break it in. Now that I have the wheels properly loaded they work a lot better.
    Is there anything else I need to do to get the buffs ready?. What kind of saw blade, and can I use a turning tool? Am I trying to round the edges of the buff, or square the corners? How do I know when I have enough compound on the buffs? Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons? These are the questions that keep me awake nights! TIA for the help.
    Brian

    Sawdust Formation Engineer
    in charge of Blade Dulling

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Lewiston, Idaho
    Posts
    28,490
    Brian,

    When you first start using them they will throw off lint/string material. I take a piece of wood and wrap a piece of 60 or 100 grit sand paper around it and apply it to the buff. After a couple of minutes, the buff will quit slinging the loose material and you will know it's seasoned. Then apply some of the appropriate buffing compound to that buff.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Harvey, Michigan
    Posts
    20,801
    Brian - I do the same thing as Ken - use 50 grit stapled to a board and hold it against the spinning buffing wheel. Doesn't take much but it does get rid of the strings and a lot of the cotton dust.

    When loading the wheels - hold the compound around the 7 o'clock position when applying to the wheel. It will take a few times before the wheel has enough compound on it to be useful. Also, there is such a thing as over-charging the wheel. That is when there is so much compound on the wheel that it just gums up on your turning. Again - holding the sandpaper block to the wheel will remove the excess.

    Have fun with it!

    And when you buff out your turnings - make sure that you hold the item so that the wheel will not catch any sharp edges. If it grabs an edge - the turning will be removed from your hands! Try to hold it with the edge facing down - so that the direction of the wheel does not grab it. Many of us have learned that lesson the hard way!
    Steve

    “You never know what you got til it's gone!”
    Please don’t let that happen!
    Become a financial Contributor today!

  4. #4
    brian, i've also read that you should always wear respiratory protection when buffing - i do - mica and other ingredients in the buffing compounds are not good for the lungs. (oh, and don't let the adam/eve question make you lose sleep - you'll never know, and it really doesn't matter). mike

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Kapolei Hawaii
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    3,236
    +1 on respirator, and use safety glasses too.

    I used a rasp to rough up mine. Anything along those lines will work. The rasp was withing reach and requires NO work.

    Oh yeah, do not use white dianond on dark porous wood like walnut, unless you like white speckles that you'll never get out.
    Last edited by Kyle Iwamoto; 11-05-2009 at 4:37 PM. Reason: PS

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Alaska "The Fish Or Die" State
    Posts
    241

    Be careful

    They wern't joking when they warned you to be careful. I still have a couple of bottlestoppers in orbit somewhere, and the dog runs when I break out the Buffing Wheels,(I think it was a stopper richochet thathas made him so jumpy) hell for that matter he is just now starting to enter the garage without flinching. Saying the item will be removed from your hand is far less severe than any way I have described what transpired when I got my Beal........lol

    Bec areful but do have fun with it

    Kirk
    "There is nothing more dangerous than a resourcful idiot".....Dilbert

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Fort Pierce, Fl. (Hurricane Bullseye)
    Posts
    321
    Bryan, you need to call Beall and ask them to send you a CD about their buffing system.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Fort Pierce, Florida
    Posts
    3,498
    If you use lacquer you may want to look at Don Pencil's PL (plastic and lacquer) wheel and compound also. The wheel is softer than the softest of the Beall wheels and the compound is finer and softer. It goes on the lathe spindle as it needs to turn slower than the grinder - he says 700rpm max. Even after using mine for several months I still get fluff from the wax wheel. If using on a grinder make sure that you remove the shroud from that side. I have had a piece damaged by being pulled into it even though it didn't go flying.

    Light pressure DOES NOT mean light grip

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