# buffing



## mikes pens (Aug 3, 2005)

I am going to start to buff my finished products with the aid of my grinder.  I am converting it into a buffer (pad for tripoli and pad for white diamond).  My grinder turns at 3400 RPM's.  That brings me to two questions:

1.  Do you put the tripoli and white diamond on the buff or on the wood?

2.  Do you use the tripoli and white diamond on your wood pens or just
    acrylic?

Mike


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## CJ (Aug 3, 2005)

Use separate buffs, load one with the tripole and one with white diamond, then buff the pen blank, using the tripole first then the white diamond. The tripole seems toget the little scracthes and swirls out and the white diamond polishes.I only use it on wood, plastic polish works well for me with the acrylics. This is how I do it, some more experienced people here may have better methods.
CJ


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## mikes pens (Aug 3, 2005)

This may be stupid to ask but that's okay, I'll ask anyways.  To load the buff, do you turn on the grinder (that is where my buffers are) and as the buff turns, you press the tripoli into that buff so it picks up the tripoli as it spins?

Mike


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## wdcav1952 (Aug 3, 2005)

> _Originally posted by mikes pens_
> <br />This may be studpid to ask but that's okay, I'll ask anyways.  To load the buff, do you turn on the grinder (that is where my buffers are) and as the buff turns, you press the tripoli into that buff so it picks up the tripoli as it spins?
> 
> Mike



That is the way I'd do it Mike.


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## DCBluesman (Aug 3, 2005)

Mike--yes, apply the bar to the spinning wheel.  For tripoli, use it generously.  For white diamond (and you WILL want a white diamond wheel) apply less liberally.  BTW, be VERY careful at 3450.  That's a very high speed for buffing.  (Did I say that?  Do something NOT at warp speed?  Am I get old or just soft? [])  I usually buff at about 1500 and the wheel can throw a pen through gypsum board!


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## btboone (Aug 3, 2005)

The heat of the friction of the cotton buff on the waxy compound melts it and spreads it on the wheel.  Too much heat can definitely melt plastic.  I haven't found an upper limit for metal (I use 3600 rpm with an 8" wheel), but it will just bury compound in melted plastic leaving a white residue that doesn't come out.


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## mikes pens (Aug 3, 2005)

The problem is that my grinder (soon to be buffer) only turns at 3450 rpm's.  So, unless I buy another one, that is what I am stuck with.  Do people think I should use it for wood pens (tripoli and white diamond)?  Will it decrease the circumference of the pen's wood while buffing?  Should I forget using it?  Should I... 

Signed, 

Confused


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## btboone (Aug 3, 2005)

You could go with smaller wheels to get the surface speed down.  That would help.


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## DCBluesman (Aug 3, 2005)

It's definitely useable.  Use light pressure, consider 6" or even 4" buffs, use a light touch, hold on tight.  You'll just need to learn control by experimenting. []


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## mikes pens (Aug 3, 2005)

Okay, maybe I have to go back to school.  It has be over 25 years since I finished university.  I bought 8 inch buffing wheels (I could return) because I thought bigger wheels would go slower.  I guess I was wrong?

What I used to do until now was I put the tripoli on the wood as it spun on the lathe.  Then, I held the buff and moved it back and forth over the wood to remove the tripoli/white diamond.  What do people think of this technique.  Yes?  No?  Are you nuts?  Who the h*** taught you woodworking?...

Mike


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## btboone (Aug 3, 2005)

Surface speed is rpms x the circumference.  Circumference is directly related to diameter.  An 8" wheel will whack at the wood at twice the speed of a 4" wheel or 4 times the speed of a 2" wheel assuming rpms are constant.

In this example. 3450 revs/minute x 8" diameter x 3.14159= 86,708"/ minute, which is 7225 feet/minute, which is 120 feet per second that the cotton at the outside of the wheel is contacting the wood.  

Some people use the paint roller buffing setup, where they run the lathe at something like 2500 rpms and a diameter of 2.5" or so.  This is only 27 surface feet per second.


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## mikes pens (Aug 3, 2005)

See, I may be old but I learn something new every day.  Now if only I could remember what I learned!

Thanks, Mike


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## hobby_dale (Aug 4, 2005)

Okay, I'll add to the question.  Which way do you buff?  Do you buff with the wheel/roller perpendicular or parallel to the pen body?  In other words, cross-grain or with-grain.  Thanks, Dale


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## btboone (Aug 4, 2005)

I go at opposed 45 degree angles.  That eliminates buffing marks.


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## mikes pens (Aug 4, 2005)

Okay, I returned the 8 inch buffing wheels.  I had some 4 inch ones but they seem awful small on the machine.  I am wondering if I should use the paint roller on the lathe instead.  Any ideas which is better - the lathe or a 3500 rpm buffer with 4 or 6 inch buffing pads?

Mike


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## Ligget (Aug 4, 2005)

Mike I would go for the paint roller option, once I find the link to Bruces little gadgets. Nope I need glasses!![8D]


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## Mudder (Aug 4, 2005)

> _Originally posted by DCBluesman_
> <br />BTW, be VERY careful at 3450.  That's a very high speed for buffing.  (Did I say that?  Do something NOT at warp speed?




Hey bubbie, have you ever seen this one?

http://www.pennstateind.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PROBUFF&Category_Code=

7000 revs  Whooopieee!

We actually have a buffer here at work that spins up to 10,000 RPM's. I'll bet that will put a shine on my pens [:0] Matter of fact I think I'll try one tomorrow [^]

3450 should be okay, just be careful and hold the pen lightly.


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## Ben (Aug 4, 2005)

Mike,

You may want to apply a coat or two of sanding sealer when you buff wood pens... YoYoSpin talks about it briefly in his "inlay" pdf. I have also heard from him in an e-mail that for buffing wood, the sanding sealer is a necessary step. For acrylics however, I simply sand to 400 grit, hit it with 1800MM, & then 2400MM, and then BUFF... First with the tripoli then white diamond, and I give it a final hit with straight Carnuba Wax. I LOVE IT! Good luck to you.


Ben


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## mikes pens (Aug 4, 2005)

What are some brand names for sanding sealers?  I use Polymerized Tung Oil Sealer from Lee Valley Tool.  Is it okay?  Others?

Usually I only get half way through the container (the smallest) of tung oil sealer before it starts to gel up.  Any suggestions on how to avoid that?  I put marbles in the container to take up the air area but it still gels up.


Mike


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## Doghouse (Aug 5, 2005)

Mike, make more pens or also use it for smaller projects.  I also have heard that bloxogen (sp) compressed nitrogen will slow the aging process.  I use Sanding Sealer, it is a lot like laquer and something else mixed in.  Then sand a second time getting everything off except what has filled the grain the final buffing will produce a glass finish.


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## mikes pens (Aug 5, 2005)

Is Sanding Sealer the products name?  Where do you get it?

Mike


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## Fangar (Aug 6, 2005)

I have had decent luck with Myland's cellulose sanding sealer.  It is available at woodcraft.

Fangar


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## BobR (Aug 7, 2005)

> Polymerized Tung Oil Sealer from Lee Valley Tool.



I've used that as a sealer for stuff I've buffed [not pens] and it seems to work fine. Yesterday I was next to a custom wall presentation I made several years ago on contract, and part of it was done that way. The tung oil/buffed finish has been touched by thousands of people over the years and has held up, except it had got a little dirty looking, and I'll probably try to dismantle and rebuff those parts. But the finish has not worn through.


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## Doghouse (Aug 8, 2005)

That is the stuff I was talking about Myland's.  I dropped the can the first day and had to replace it so I did not have the name.  Used it this weekend on a couple of bowls you only need a thin coat to lock the fibers for sanding.  THen you are good to go.


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