Thread: Finally picked up a buffer today at Harbor Freight

I know some guy use them and never heard of a problem, I have not had the need for more that much clearance.

I have read some old post of guys using the tapered spindles that suggest re-enforcing/stiffening the hole with wood glue, to keep the hole from stripping out with repeated mounting, don’t know if it is needed, but sounded like good advice.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I too have been looking to expand the capabilities of my buffer that I built:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...-part-one.html

However I'm very concerned with the tolerances of the products that I've found online. The same machinist (referred to in the original thread as Pee Wee Herman) is also concerned. He tells me that the higher the RPM the more any imbalances (wobble) can work on the bearings. He's doing some research for me and had asked me for measurements of my (1/2") shaft. I found it to be between .497-.499 probably due to me polishing the original precision tolerance shaft that he'd had me purchase.

I doubt that you would have a dial readout setup (I don't) to check for run-out but I would think that once you have them in place listen to the machine and watch it carefully. I would think that once you shut the buffer off watching it would be of some help.

A good reference point would be to have run it before hand.

I hope this has been of some help.

Thanks Cudarunner. I have done some machining as well so I will look for any problems you mentioned.

I use tapered spindles and have no problems whatsoever in terms of wobble. In my experience, the leather washers used on mops are strong enough without resorting to glue - however I do generally set them up initially on a specific side and direction and keep them that way when mounting - it ensures that they are always threaded in the same direction.

The tapered spindles arrived yesterday and they work great. Turning them by hand there is a slight wobble at the very tip of them but it doesn't affect it and there is no vibration so it shouldn't create any problems.

Sound good, what's the ID/OD of the wheels you plan on using?

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Sound good, what's the ID/OD of the wheels you plan on using?

I am using Caswell's 4" sewn wheels with a 1/2" center. They are actually quite a bit smaller than 1/2" but they fit on the tapered spindles very good.

While my 4" OD x 1/2" ID weren't purchased at Caswell they fit very tightly on my 1/2" shaft so there might be some kind of industry standard for sizing.

I hope the info on the tapered spindles and the wheels will be of some use for others.

Originally Posted by ProudMarineDad

The tapered spindles arrived yesterday and they work great. Turning them by hand there is a slight wobble at the very tip of them but it doesn't affect it and there is no vibration so it shouldn't create any problems.

Congratulations I had a slightly smaller diameter than a true half inch. I used a piece of 0.002 brass shim stock to assure a good fit. A bit of a pop can will work..if it makes a complete covering of the threads. Also it protects the threads from gnarling up from the set screws.

Also, I found it to be good practice to cover the shaft and motor side of the spindles with a few layers of duck tape or friction tape. I have slipped with a piece of work and it fell off the buff and hit the spindle...Set screws really raised hell with sterling silver flatware!
Have fun!
~Richard

Good ideas Richard. Yes my set screws are not flush either as.advertised but that's Ok. I could grind the ends and make them flush but I dont want to hassle with that.