On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 00:13:26 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:
:
:You just put some on a firm surface and pull the blade across, like a barber
:strops a razor. My favorite surface is tempered (hard) Masonite. Smooth
:cardboard, like oaktag, works well but doesn't last as long.
I have some masonite. I'll work up a strop.
:
:The heat is for applying the compound. Use a heat gun or an old hair dryer
:to get it very warm, then rub the stick on the surface. If you do it cold it
:will go on unevenly, if you try to get much on there. You also can put a few
:drops of solvent on the stick and then rub it on the surface, but heat works
:better. Heat the surface after applying the compound and smooth it out with
:a paper towel or a rag.
: I charge mine once every year or two. That's all it
:takes.
Once a year... you're talking about your masonite strop or your buffing
wheel?
How much to you put on a buffing wheel and how often do you reapply? The
other day I put on more and more in hopes that I'd get more progress in
cutting through the tough coat on this SS pot. Right now, the wheel edge
is pretty darn saturated with brown tripoli compound. It's a pretty soft
4" wheel.
:The Dico SCR compound strops very quickly and leaves a polished edge. I also
:use it to charge the canvas side of my razor strop. I use rouge or nothing
n the leather side, but that's really just for turning the edge.
:
:
: I have a heat gun and a hair dryer too. You say "don't care about." Does
: it mess them up? I don't dry my hair with the dryer. Principally I use
: it to soften the glue of stickers on CD cases, that kind of thing,
: before trying to peel them off.
:
:It won't hurt the hair dryer but you may have to heat a piece of Masonite
:for a while to get it hot enough. The heat gun is much faster.
:
: The heat gun, well, paint removal, basically is what I do with it.
:
: BTW, I saw something today in one of the hardware stores saying if you
: heat up the work to 150 degrees, it keeps the compound softer and less
: apt to chunk up. So, they say to use gloves to hold the work.
:
:I've never heard about warming the work but I'll try it sometime. As for
:gloves, buffing is one of the few applications around a grinding machine
:where most people recommend wearing them. I usually do but I'm damned
:careful not to get the gloves caught in the wheel.
:
: Now, with
: a pot I'd think it would be almost impossible to keep it that warm for
: more than a few seconds because the metal is so thin. That is unless I
: try something as weird as filling it with hot water and holding it above
: the wheel. Seems cumbersome, and wonder if it's worth it to try that.
: Don't know the whys and wherefores.
:
:Eh, I'd just try it cold. That's all I've ever done. But the work does warm
:up a lot as you're buffing.
I figured the friction would heat it considerably.
:
: First and only time I ever tried
: using a buffing wheel and polishing compound on metal was a few days
: ago. Before that I'd tried elbow grease, a rag and the same compound
: sticks (made by Coastal), with no success at all! It was encouraging to
: see that using an actual buffing wheel gets results.
:
:Yeah, applying it with power makes a big difference. I polish by hand
:sometimes, but not on tough jobs. BTW, I have a set of Coastal compounds but
:I don't think very much of them. They're too crumbly.
I've had them for probably 25 years, maybe more. They were cheap and I
was interested but didn't really know what to do with them.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I'll keep them for reference.
Dan
Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net