I thought about getting the tapered spindles for ease of changing wheels, but with 3 buffers I can line up a progression on the bench, (you don’t need to bolt them down) so changing wheels is not a big issue. I usually buff a bunch of razors at a time.

I also learned you do not need to torque the nuts holding the wheels down, hand tight is plenty good. I do use some larger washers about 1.5 in. OD, (the Baldor came with some nice larger ones) and a small piece of PVC pipe to space the wheels out further away from the motor, so there is just enough space to thread the nut on. Compressing the washers and the wheel by hand is enough to keep them on tight. I can almost change wheels as fast as Charlie… almost.

If your wheels are slipping, you are using too much pressure. The tapered spindles do space the wheels out further, but then you need more space on the bench, it’s a trade off. The distance from the motor has never really been an issue for me with this set up.