Beginner questions buffing.
 

I hope I have come to the right NG as I saw many threads about buffing
here. I just want to learn to buff small metal articles like stainless
steel watch bands, spoons etc. I bought a 1/6 hp motor with flex
shaft, white and green rouge, and some small buffing wheels. These are
my problems so far:

1: Do I need to change the "angle of attack", or just always apply the
wheel to the work piece in one same direction? It seems that once I
change the angle, the lust disappears somewhat.

2. For the finer buffing , I used a cloth wheel(just sewn once near
the middle). One the wheel revs up, the cloth thread begins to fly
out( because of the anti centrifugal force ) so there is lint all over
the place and the wheel gets smaller and smaller. Even worse when I
apply the wheel to the rouge. Is the normal for this kind of wheels?
Should I just tolerate the lint?

3. It seems that the finer the rouge, the slower RPM should be used?
Correct?

Any help appreciated

ABC

Beginner questions buffing.
 

"ABC" wrote in message
...
I hope I have come to the right NG as I saw many threads about buffing
here. I just want to learn to buff small metal articles like stainless
steel watch bands, spoons etc. I bought a 1/6 hp motor with flex
shaft, white and green rouge, and some small buffing wheels. These are
my problems so far:

1: Do I need to change the "angle of attack", or just always apply the
wheel to the work piece in one same direction? It seems that once I
change the angle, the lust disappears somewhat.

2. For the finer buffing , I used a cloth wheel(just sewn once near
the middle). One the wheel revs up, the cloth thread begins to fly
out( because of the anti centrifugal force ) so there is lint all over
the place and the wheel gets smaller and smaller. Even worse when I
apply the wheel to the rouge. Is the normal for this kind of wheels?
Should I just tolerate the lint?

3. It seems that the finer the rouge, the slower RPM should be used?
Correct?

Any help appreciated


Reflection and scatter. When you buff in one direction, you get ridges in
the surface which reflect more as you look along them and scatter more when
you look across them. That's why random orbit buffers are nice, they sort
of mix things up from all directions. Same with sanding of course, though
the ridges are deeper because they're made with larger particles.

Use the chamois and rouge as the butler did for best look.

Speed doesn't make a lot of difference. Since you're dragging grit past at a
higher rate with higher speed, you can scratch away more in the same time,
but material removal is not really the objective of buffing.

Cloth wheels will put out lint and get rouge airborne, so use a dust mask.
Not sure how hard/long you're buffing to notice a loss in diameter.
Normally you use coarser to finer in stages rather than start with finest
and buff longer. Use one wheel for Tripoli and one for rouge. With two
ends on my buffer, I put one on each end, tacking off before I go to the
rouge. I then randomize the direction as much as possible to get an even
scatter.

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

ABC wrote:
I hope I have come to the right NG as I saw many threads about buffing
here. I just want to learn to buff small metal articles like stainless
steel watch bands, spoons etc. I bought a 1/6 hp motor with flex
shaft, white and green rouge, and some small buffing wheels. These are
my problems so far:

1: Do I need to change the "angle of attack", or just always apply the
wheel to the work piece in one same direction? It seems that once I
change the angle, the lust disappears somewhat.

2. For the finer buffing , I used a cloth wheel(just sewn once near
the middle). One the wheel revs up, the cloth thread begins to fly
out( because of the anti centrifugal force ) so there is lint all over
the place and the wheel gets smaller and smaller. Even worse when I
apply the wheel to the rouge. Is the normal for this kind of wheels?
Should I just tolerate the lint?

3. It seems that the finer the rouge, the slower RPM should be used?
Correct?

Any help appreciated

ABC
I use a soft felt buffing wheel on a shaft for fine buffing. The
wheels should be marked and kept in a separate zip bag to prevent
contamination with a rougher compound. After using one compound, wash
the piece well with detergent and a soft brush to remove residual
compound before starting with a finer compound.

I never saw green rouge. Are you sure this is not chromium oxide or
some other fast cutting compound?

The faster the speed, the faster the cut, and more heat generated.

You might get better answers on a jewelry making or metal working
newsgroup as this is mainly for wood turning. Buffing wood is a little
different from buffing metal.

Good luck.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

There comes a moment in everyone's
life, and I've had plenty of them.

Beginner questions buffing.
 

On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:41:57 +0800, ABC wrote:

I hope I have come to the right NG as I saw many threads about buffing
here. I just want to learn to buff small metal articles like stainless
steel watch bands, spoons etc. I bought a 1/6 hp motor with flex
shaft, white and green rouge, and some small buffing wheels. These are
my problems so far:

1: Do I need to change the "angle of attack", or just always apply the
wheel to the work piece in one same direction? It seems that once I
change the angle, the lust disappears somewhat.

2. For the finer buffing , I used a cloth wheel(just sewn once near
the middle). One the wheel revs up, the cloth thread begins to fly
out( because of the anti centrifugal force ) so there is lint all over
the place and the wheel gets smaller and smaller. Even worse when I
apply the wheel to the rouge. Is the normal for this kind of wheels?
Should I just tolerate the lint?

I've been doing a lot of buffing lately, and I found that this is a
matter of spinning the wheel way too fast.

Most of my buffing is done by putting cloth wheels on an arbor and
putting them in a drill chuck on my lathe. I then spin them at 3600
RPM. When I tried to make this a little more mobile by putting a
buffing wheel on my angle grinder (which spins a lot faster) it did
exactly what you describe. The downside, aside from the obvious mess
from the lint, is that the buffing grit flies off almost immediately,
and it doesn't work nearly as well. Better to keep those RPMs lower-
not so slow that you can't get the job done, but slow enough to keep
the wheel from flying apart.

IIRC, the traditional way to do this is to mount the buffing wheels on
a standard bench grinder, and remove the guards. It also helps if the
grinder has long arbors on it, so you can get oddly-shaped pieces in
there.

3. It seems that the finer the rouge, the slower RPM should be used?
Correct?

I haven't found that, particularly. You could be right, but I would
actually assume the opposite is true. High speed = better finish and
more material removal as a general rule. It's with your more
aggressive grits that you probably want to slow it down to make sure
you don't buff away material you'd rather keep.

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 10:25:38 -0400, Gerald Ross
wrote:

I use a soft felt buffing wheel on a shaft for fine buffing. The
wheels should be marked and kept in a separate zip bag to prevent
contamination with a rougher compound. After using one compound, wash
the piece well with detergent and a soft brush to remove residual
compound before starting with a finer compound.

I never saw green rouge. Are you sure this is not chromium oxide or
some other fast cutting compound?

To be honest, I haven't even opened the tube yet, but I have a green
tube of rouge that is specifically for stainless steel. I would
assume that this is what he's referring to.

The faster the speed, the faster the cut, and more heat generated.

You might get better answers on a jewelry making or metal working
newsgroup as this is mainly for wood turning. Buffing wood is a little
different from buffing metal.

Good luck.

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:16:44 -0500, Prometheus
wrotd:


I never saw green rouge. Are you sure this is not chromium oxide or
some other fast cutting compound?

To be honest, I haven't even opened the tube yet, but I have a green
tube of rouge that is specifically for stainless steel. I would
assume that this is what he's referring to.


Yes, The shops here mostly carry white and green compound only.
Respectively they are supposed to be for medium and fine stainless
steel polishing.

I just found this chart:
http://www.hobbytool.com/jewelers-rouge.htm

Thanks for all the help.

ABC

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...

The faster the speed, the faster the cut, and more heat generated.


No. Heat doesn't come from removing material, it comes from rubbing against
what's there.

This bit of misinformation keeps getting repeated all the time, but if you
reduce the pressure of one item against another while grinding, sanding or
buffing, you will reduce the amount of heat.

That's why your 15,000 rpm orbital sander says not to press or you'll melt
the velcro.

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

George wrote:
"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...

The faster the speed, the faster the cut, and more heat generated.


No. Heat doesn't come from removing material, it comes from rubbing against
what's there.

This bit of misinformation keeps getting repeated all the time, but if you
reduce the pressure of one item against another while grinding, sanding or
buffing, you will reduce the amount of heat.

That's why your 15,000 rpm orbital sander says not to press or you'll melt
the velcro.

I didn't say removing the material generated the heat. Just that a
faster wheel generates more heat, all else being equal.

--
Gerald Ross
Cochran, GA

There comes a moment in everyone's
life, and I've had plenty of them.

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...
George wrote:
"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...

The faster the speed, the faster the cut, and more heat generated.


No. Heat doesn't come from removing material, it comes from rubbing
against what's there.

This bit of misinformation keeps getting repeated all the time, but if
you reduce the pressure of one item against another while grinding,
sanding or buffing, you will reduce the amount of heat.

That's why your 15,000 rpm orbital sander says not to press or you'll
melt the velcro.
I didn't say removing the material generated the heat. Just that a faster
wheel generates more heat, all else being equal.

Might want to tell the Physics types about your discovery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction

OT Beginner questions buffing.
 

"George" wrote in message
et...

"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...
George wrote:
"Gerald Ross" wrote in message
...

The faster the speed, the faster the cut, and more heat generated.


No. Heat doesn't come from removing material, it comes from rubbing
against what's there.

This bit of misinformation keeps getting repeated all the time, but if
you reduce the pressure of one item against another while grinding,
sanding or buffing, you will reduce the amount of heat.

That's why your 15,000 rpm orbital sander says not to press or you'll
melt the velcro.
I didn't say removing the material generated the heat. Just that a faster
wheel generates more heat, all else being equal.

Might want to tell the Physics types about your discovery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friction
Isn't there two things happening when you sand?. Friction and material
removal both of which generate heat.

BillR