"Kevin" wrote in message
ups.com...
Prior to my shelling out $$ for buffing equipment I would ask a couple
questions.
Let's assume I have turned my bowl and sanded to around 220 or so. I
then apply some Watco Danish oil, or BLO. I sand more to around 500
grit. After sanding to 500 would be the point to start the buffing,
yes? After buffing I could then apply shellac if that was my
preference, yes?


Sanding aims to fool the touch and the eye. 220 would certainly be enough
to fool the touch. Deviations in the surface would be imperceptible. The
20/20 eye, according to those who research such things, can discern about
300 medium-contrast line pairs per inch. Which compares favorably with 320
grit paper, with a mesh designed to pass 320 particles/inch. If you then
sand with the grain you reduce the contrast below the visual threshold
because you don't have tears and grooves across it. They are high-contrast
conflicts.

When you buff, you take the tiny rough edges off the scratches and round the
edges of pores, reducing light scatter. You also burnish the surface, which
you could do with shavings, as in the old trick, or a paper bag. Less
scatter, greater depth, more contrast.

Surface finishes do about the same thing as buffing, in a slightly different
manner. Their refractive index optically smoothes over and rounds the rough
edges of scratches, allowing more light to return to your eye without
scatter.

In short, buff the finish if you're going to use a finish, so that it forms
a reflective or transparent surface without scatter. Buffing before the
finish doesn't really do anything for you.

I sand to 320 on coarse-grain and 400 on fine grain woods, and it seems to
fool everyone's eye, including mine. From there it's two 1# washes with 400
dewhisker in between, and polish with the same 1# cut, lubricated with a bit
of non-curing oil. No real need to buff after you spirit off. I would
imagine that the fibers you laid down and burnished in with your buffer
would whisker up with alcohol/water anyway.