Thread: Mini polisher setup for the apartment dwellers (with pics)

I've seen post from others that want to do restorations but don't have a work space. I figured that I would share my setup and help you guys to get away from the rotary tools. Everything I need for 90% of what I do fits in the milk crate with room to spare. It only takes a few minutes to set up and it'll do just about anything you need for working on razors.

Heres whats in the crate.
-mini bench polisher. These are sold under different brand names and all look to be the same thing. 2000-7000rpm. Not much power, but you don't need much for razors.
-rake
-600 grit greaseless compound
-emery compound
-white rouge
-4 inch pinhole buffing wheels. Pinhole buffs are kind of hard to find. I get them from swmetal.com

I keep the buffs in large ziplock bags with their respective compounds. I have more greaseless compounds and wheels, but they are in a shoe box because I don't need them most of the time. I secure the polisher to a table that's attached to my webber grill using a bolt and a wing nut.

I'm not going to try to convince anyone that this in a great polisher, but for my situation it's perfect. If something happened to it I would order another one without thinking twice. My biggest complaint would be that the wheels sit too close to the motor housing, but I've learned to work around that.

Hope this post is helps some of my fellow apartment dwellers.

Heres a few pics

we all figure our little work arounds. When I am talking about buffing what I am actually talking about is not a full set up either. I have a slow speed high torque drill in a vice with a mandrel with buffing wheels. It has it's draw backs for sure. It was all stuff I already had, except the wheels and the compound. I have to say I am getting my moneys worth out of my setup. It is effective only because I don't have to do any volume, my restorations are all for my pleasure. I have no back log of customers, because I don't have any. Productivity really is not a priority. I can appreciate your set up and the reasons why you groove on it.

As a fellow flat-dweller I find space a problem, so I bought one of these as well.
From Hong Kong and quite cheap. When it arrived it wouldn't work, so I took
it apart and found the circuit board cracked in several places....bummer.
A few minutes with a soldering iron and I've now had 9 months trouble free service.

Great thread, thanks guys! Always end up leaving the bulk of my work for long weekends (like this weekend) out in the country where there's a workshop and space, but I might need to look for one of these alternatives! Great to know there is such a thing.

BeJay and bongo: great info.. I am considering of maybe try and get me a similar setup as well.. would you mind sharing also the info where you got all of these material ((machine, wheels), this sounds quite low price/promising...

Originally Posted by miha

BeJay and bongo: great info.. I am considering of maybe try and get me a similar setup as well.. would you mind sharing also the info where you got all of these material ((machine, wheels), this sounds quite low price/promising...

Miha, I bought mine off ebay but the Chinese seller is not active at the moment.
There should be other sellers, like these:

1. Polishing Buffing: Other Tools | eBay

2. Dental Laboratory LAB Jewel Polisher Mini Bench Buffer Motor 003 1 Dentq 110V | eBay

3. NEW Mini Bench Grinder W Rotary DIE Flex Shaft Buffer Sharpener Polisher Polish | eBay

4. Dental Laboratory Polisher Mini Bench Buffer Motor SIP 60 Dentq Shipped EU | eBay

I got the polisher off of amazon.com. Do a search for mini bench polisher and shop around for a good price. You should be able to find it for around $50-$60, but there are sellers listing them at $150 too.

I ordered all of my polishing compounds and my rake through Caswellplating.com.

The buffing wheels are from swmetals.com. 4 inch wheels work well with his polisher. Make sure you order them with a pinhole.

BeJay and bongo: thank you both for this additional info,.. I've checked it, I'll try to find a retailer in europe or just order via ".com" ebay version. When i do I might be back with some additional questions .
Which wheel version is a pinhole version, is it the one with with no eg metal adapter/defined hole just a leather reinforced hole?

Miha, mine are leather reinforced holes:

Was just going to start a thread asking for advice about a similar 'mini' buffer I was considering purchasing - glad I spotted this post.



From the retailer:

SUPER STRONG "300" WATT 240V MOTOR
ELECTRONIC VARIABLE SPEED FUNCTION
SPEED 0-8500 RPM
SAFETY "POWER ON" WARNING LIGHT
SAFETY "MACHINE RUNNING" WARNING LIGHT
LEFT HAND AND RIGHT TAPERED SPINDLE SET
2 x 75MM BY 40 PLY BUFFING WHEELS

What's everyone's thoughts on this? I like the look of the long spindles.