What size buffer wheels

I have done my reading on the subject and picked up a small bench grinder with approx 1/3 horsepower motor that runs at approx 3000 rpm. I know that I will need to run 4 inch wheels to keep the sfpm to the range I want and will pick up a 2 inch for plastics etc when I really want to slow it down.

My questions are after all the reading no one mentions what thickness the wheels that they run and I prefer 5/8 hollow ground razors and are 4 inch wheels going to be good for this size razor or would 3 inch be better.

I know the pitfalls of grinders and will be getting an extension to go on before the tapered spindle and by raising the grinder slightly also should have plenty of room. Thanks for your help. Ed

This is the same question I've had. Went down to 4 inch but didn't make the extender. Ended up settling for doing more work by hand. I'm going to go read those posts and put in an extension I think but would also like to know best wheel diameters and also does anyone use leather wheels on bench grinder?
Thanks for the post, this brings up issue I need to work on.
Sorry I couldn't help..

I use 3" mainly and 4" on rare occasions, you may also need 6" for large blades.
For plastic I go for 8" loose cotton, it works very well for me.

I use the 3” X 1/4” and 4 X ½” wheels without all that much difference in performance. The 4” will get into the hollows just fine. I have also doubled up the wheels for about a 1" buffing surface, but prefer the single wheels for better control and view of the buffing surface.

Castwell’s has all you will need including the extenders and tapers.

Personally I would buy a Harbor Freight buffer for $40, rather than cobble together a buffing system. Buffing Straight Razors is dangerous and anything you can do to make it safer is a very wise move. Buffers are designed with narrower motor housings just for buffing clearance, it is not just about the spindle length.

If your spindles are too short you will have to compensate on how you hold and buff the razor and that can compromise safety. Not worth $40, in my opinion.

Do think about what you are about to do and if you think, it may be unsafe, don’t do it.

I also lightly bread knife the razor edge, with a diamond file to remove the edge, just another layer of safety. You will have to rehone the razor anyway.

No leather, if you need a stiffer wheel for aggressive cutting, the Sisal wheels work well with low grit Greaseless.

Make sure that you understand the SAFE ZONE for buffing. Keep the blade low on the wheel so that if it grabs the blade it is thrown away from you.

I buff on top, bottom and anywhere in between, on the side of the wheel facing me, where I find it comfortable for the blade at hand. For me the important factor in buffing is pressure, and where it is applied. As little pressure as possible will assure less chance for the wheel to grab the blade and spin it, and also longer time to generate heat in the steel. Smaller wheels, which spin slower are less prone to blade grabbing.

I brought a 6inch grinder but the motor is small closer to 4 inchs around and with a glove on I can easily stop the motor and even with just my fingers on the spindle can slow it considerably. Buffers are not found in the hardwares etc here and would cost well out of my price range. Have checked out caswells and the tutorials etc and been searching the threads for the last week for compounds, saftey, rpm , buffs etc. The buff thickness is the main thing I needed and just to confirm that 4 inch wheels would work fine. Will have to check the caswells site to see what they have. It's less than the American site which is in all the links.

I use 2" & 4" sewn cotton wheels for pastes & polishes etc dependent on blade hollow, then use a 6" clean MOP only for finishing on my Converted 6" grinder with extension spindles

Dion do you use the clean mop just for buffing to clean the blade at the end?

If you don't mind could you tell me where you got your mops from. Thanks

Got my buff wheels from www.polishup.com.au
These white stitched wheels
Buffs Wheels Pads - White Stitch Wheels - Polish Up Store

I also got a couple of denim wheels for the course grit compounds as these are a lot stiffer tha the White stitched
http://www.polish-up.com.au/products...2-section.html


Then the 6" is a loose calico wheel and yes just for final quick clean polishing
http://www.polish-up.com.au/products...2-section.html

That is something else I have been trying to figure out the difference between wheels. Cotton, muslin, calico swansdown etc. Cotton is pretty popular but I can get calico, swansdown and muslin locally.

I think the muslin is like sisal and to course for str8s - correct me if I'm wrong
My white stitched are cotton and fairly loose and soft
The denim is rather tight and stiff
The calico is a bit courser than the cotton
The swansdown are super soft

I think there is an important consideration in wheel size - in terms of what you are going to apply to them. As an example, grease-less compounds need to dry to a hard/crusty state, therefore you would be better using the 3" cotton mops in order to get into the blade hollows. On the other hand, polishing compounds still leave the mops with enough flexibility to get into hollows even with bigger mops.

Bear in mind, the bigger the mop, the greater the surface speed, so watch out when polishing man made materials as you can easily get 'flats' from heat build up. As Mainaman pointed out - low pressure is the key.

At the moment I use a dremel with attachments I get from a jewellers supply. They are little rubber like discs of sic in various grits. I dont remove all pitting just the exvess and think to start I will work from the emery compound up. If I find that isn't enough I will look to greaseless. I try to buy blades in reasonable condition to start with so many wouldn't need something super aggressive. Need to look into greaseless availability as well. Caswells here go from 320 greaseless to emery and I am unsure of this jump as many seem to go to 600 greaseless

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eddy79

At the moment I use a dremel with attachments I get from a jewellers supply. They are little rubber like discs of sic in various grits. I dont remove all pitting just the exvess and think to start I will work from the emery compound up. If I find that isn't enough I will look to greaseless. I try to buy blades in reasonable condition to start with so many wouldn't need something super aggressive. Need to look into greaseless availability as well. Caswells here go from 320 greaseless to emery and I am unsure of this jump as many seem to go to 600 greaseless

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Yeah the 600 is the highest greaseless I've found but there are dry blocks that take it from there. I'm trying to stay away from the table grinder as I'm not that happy with the finish until i can find better wheels and learn to perfect it. I'm discovering that its best to use a number of techniques and tools. Right now I'm focusing more on hand sanding and rediscovering the value of a Dremel used right.
Thanks for the tip on the jewellers wheels!

As you have said, a lot depends on the condition of the object to be polished and what the goal is, metal removal or polish. You can remove deep pitting with low grit Greaseless, but hand sanding gives you much more control and if it needs that much work… those are decisions best made at purchase.

Cotton wheels work best in all but, very low grits, a loose cotton wheels works well for final polish, I use 6&8 in. I final finish, by hand with Novus and other metal polishes.

A good tip is to buy at least, 2 wheels, for each Greaseless and greased grit, so one is drying, as the other is in use. Buff bare handed and quench frequently in water at the slightest rise in heat, if it is uncomfortable, it is too hot.

600 greaseless is a great for cleanup of most blades, I actually keep 3 sets of 600 wheels so that I always have a “worn” 600 greaseless wheel for general cleaning. (Great for Jimps), 600 scratches buff out easily and if it needs more grit, it will be readily visible.

Castwell’s does have a good buffing tutorial here, hidden at the lower left bottom of the home screen, (Not a fan of their new website).

Do buy the wheel rake and use often to keep clean, fluffy and easily accept compound. Rake new wheel well and cut off threads with a sharp scissor before loading.

Use a lite hand and do pay attention to your position on the wheel, as you get more experience you can experiment with positioning, but be well aware of the danger, weigh the risk vs reward, error on the side of safety. A heavy cardboard padded bench and backboard is good insurance and keeps the shop clean. Make a Cereal box loading splatter guard to keep compound off the walls and you.

As Euclid says - keep your fingers well away from the wheel. But when you get to the stage when that makes sense to you, you will know just as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeT

Right now I'm focusing more on hand sanding and rediscovering the value of a Dremel used right.
Thanks for the tip on the jewellers wheels!

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Found the jewellers supply have stuff not made for dremel but same fittings good quality and about a third the price with a better range. Also found a small anvil and hammer, some polishing compounds etc.

My options
400 greaseless, grey tripoli, green Chrox, red rouge/ferrox, Autosol, RenWax and then the clean Calico

Attachment 208631

The denim vs cotton before any use the denim is a lot firmer

Attachment 208632

My converted grinder
Attachment 208633

My storage system so I don't get foreign grits on my wheels LOL
Attachment 208634

Thanks for the pictures and info. I plan to get the kit from caswells that goes from emery through to white. Think its six bars so should be a fairly good range. Maybe with that yhe jump from 320 greaseless to emery isn't that much and should be fine.

Thanks for the info! It's good to see other people's array of tools and products. I'm gonna try the denim.
Also I need to keep my wheels trimmed, was a bit lazy about that.
Dremel attachments are very expensive, I'll try out those other ones.
For a while I was trying to use 6 inch cotton wheels for everything. Have some smaller ones now and much better. Been using larger ones for buffing.
I noticed after finishing a blade that upon close inspection I could see dull grooves. I equate this to a few factors : not trimming wheels, not changing angles, not raking wheels, too much pressure... any more?
Good info, thanks! :D

I would get a stick of 600 greaseless, to make the jump, 320 is pretty aggressive. 600 is the grit I use most and will easily polish out with the rouges.

Also be aware that many of the bars that Castwell’s sells are for commercial use and are 2x2 x 10 inches, way more than, 10 people will use in a life time.

The kit of 6 bars was 40 bucks a 300g each. The Aus sites I have seen so far 320 is the highest greaseless so maybe I may have to import that. I will start with the kit and add greaseless if needed. Setting up with this much with mops, spindles, extensions etc is costing enough atm so greaseless will have to wait a while.

Definitely still work from the finer grits back as normal
When I ordered my greaseless I had the 400 & 600 but the 600 was back ordered so still haven't got it.

The grooves are from the polish compounds also, as the wheels flex they tend to dig into the edges of any pits, where sanding with a hard back doesn't do this.
Reduce pressure & change direction more often helps even it out some times

Did you manage to get the 400 and 600 in Aus or did you have to import it.

Athey from polish up in Aus
Haven't checked back yet if the 600 was back in stock but

Looking at the website they only list 120 to 240. Caswells from 80 to 320. May need to call as maybe just not on the website.

No, they still carry it, here’s the link. They re designed the website and it is difficult to search as you can only see a few items at a time.

For 54 bucks you can get all the greaseless from 80-600 grit.

Thanks. That is the American site. The Australian site only goes to 320 according to my search for greaseless. Will probably need to import it or call them directly and see if they do indeed stock it