Thread: Need advice to polish with buffer machine

Hey everyone,

as you could see i gave a try to polish some of my blades with a buffer machine of a friend. i'm pretty happy with the result. so i think to buy one for myself. but i'd like to ask you about pastes with grit (greaseless). as i see there is so many grit from 60 to ~200. you guys who use this polishing technic could give me some advice? i need to have all of these grits or just some among them will be enough to continue by final polishing?

i know some of you are oldschool and don"t like this kind of polishing, but this is not my question. so any advice for hand sanding won't be considerated.

otherwise thanks by adv.

I only use 600 greaseless, but I'm looking to get at least two more grits. Not sure exactly what advice you're looking for. The deeper the pits, the easier they will be to remove with lower grit greaseless. If you plan on restoring a lot of blades, in pretty rough shape, get as many grits as you can. If you just wsnt to remove light staining and surface rust, you won't need as many.

Originally Posted by Oustoura

Hey everyone,

as you could see i gave a try to polish some of my blades with a buffer machine of a friend. i'm pretty happy with the result. so i think to buy one for myself. but i'd like to ask you about pastes with grit (greaseless). as i see there is so many grit from 60 to ~200. you guys who use this polishing technic could give me some advice? i need to have all of these grits or just some among them will be enough to continue by final polishing?

i know some of you are oldschool and don"t like this kind of polishing, but this is not my question. so any advice for hand sanding won't be considerated.

otherwise thanks by adv.

First and Foremost, Please keep in mind that a high RPM machine is best treated with A Lot Of Respect! I've worked around machinery all of my life and I've seen far too many injuries when the Respect of the Machine had been momentarily lost.

As long as you respect the powers of the machine you'll be fine.

If you are going to use a buffer get some 4" spiral sewn cloth wheels. Not only will they get into the contour better, but the surface speed is much less than with larger wheels. Speed ='s Heat and too much Heat ='s loss of temper.

When you are buffing, keep your finger behind the blade as the heat builds your finger will tell you that it's time to pull back and let things cool down.

As far as compounds please remember that the speed of the wheels multiplies the cutting effect so a 80 grit on a wheel can eat through an edge very quickly.

Here's my go to greaseless grits;

80

120

240

400

600

With that said, I like to see what the 600 will do Before I start to a lower grit.

I hope this will be of some help.

OH! I wouldn't be so quick to reject any counsel on hand sanding as there is much that can be done Before and After Buffing to enhance a blade by working by hand.

I have the full range but I have yet to drop below 240. Most of the time I stick with 600, emery, white rouge, and crox

Originally Posted by RezDog

I have the full range but I have yet to drop below 240. Most of the time I stick with 600, emery, white rouge, and crox

Same here. As a matter of fact, I rarely go below 600 on anything but heavier wedges.

I actually use my buffer very little and do a lot of the work by hand.

I'm also thinking about buying a bench buffer, so here are some things that I am considering...
Take a tour of your local resources before buying a bench buffer. Go to your local hardware stores and see what the most common arbor size offered is.
At my local Lowes', they offer 2 sizes of shafts on their machines, 1/2" and 3/4", yet they only stock wheels with 5/8" arbors (and no adapter plates).
I've found most of my wheels at Ace Hardware and a local thrift (used) hardware shop called This and That. See what type and size of wheels are offered.
4" spiral sewn is the size your looking for, but I'm still using a couple of 6" sisal buffing wheels (less time on the wheel and watch the heat) just because of
my budget restraints. I have some 4" spiral sewn wheels that I use for my finest grits and 1 that I have dedicated as "clean" (no compound). See what kind
of compounds are offered (not all compounds will be straight razor steel friendly), do some online research to see what you will need and what you can get.
Once you know where to get your supplies, you will know more of what to look for in your buffer. I am using a converted bench grinder that has too short of
shafts and too high of rpm. I have to be very careful not to ding or burn my steel. I don't know if this will help, but happy hunting.

Sorry, forgot to add...I am currently using white polishing, CrOx (green) and jeweler's rouge (red) compounds and have found this selection to be lacking. I
will looking to add more to get the full range.

So, as with most thing in this hobby, there are, a lot of variables and results can vary dramatically. Different buffers, speeds, (slower is better, but for $30, a HF buffer is hard to beat), compounds, wheel, sizes, thickness, wheel materials and loose/sewn (hardness/softness), greased compounds, and most importantly, technique, (pressure).

Good advice from Roy, and others. I have all the greaseless grits. A lot depends on the condition of the metal you are finishing and what your expectations are.

When I started buffing, I restored beaters. Now days, I buy razors in much better condition or don’t always go for a mirror finish. it just takes way, too much time and you remove too much detail by using aggressive grits. I do not like the look of an over buffed razor, where the detail, has been rounded off.

I find myself hand sanding more, and buffing with greased compounds to finish.

Mostly I use 600 and 400, then greased, on razors that just need a clean-up. You will find, you can get very different finishes from a 600 wheel, depending on how much compound is on the wheel and technique. Experiment with it, I keep 3 wheels loaded with various amounts of 600 on them.

I too, almost always start with 600, then you will have a very good idea of where you will need, to go from there.

A good metal finish is built, much like, a painted finish or a razor edge. How you get there, really does affect the final look. There are mirror finishes and there are MIRROR (Black) finishes.

With polishing there is a lot to learn, and like honing, you can only get it with, hands on experience.

Do use 4 inch wheels for greaseless, but buffer speed does not make all that much difference in performance. Quench in water frequently, when buffing. Make sure to dry the blade, your greaseless will last longer. The finger technique on the back of the blade, is the best way to gage heat.

Start with 400 and 600, lower if you are doing beaters. Experiment with greased, there are tons of greased compounds, find the combinations that work, for you.

Polishing is another rabbit hole, I have boxes of compounds, wheels and still experimenting, making my wheels and gluing on finishing abrasives.

While there is some baseline equipment, your mileage may vary.

Start with 4 inch spiral sewn wheels, 2 per greaseless compound, 400 & 600, Black emery, Green stainless and white to finish, (one per compound). Lately I have been using Jantz pink scratch less to finish. I use 6inch wheel to finish on greased compounds. And 8-inch lose wheel for final buffing without compound or buff hand rubbed, metal polish.

80, 240, 400, 600 greaseless, and when done right you don't even have to go to emery or rogue.

Here are a couple links might help. The Caswell site has good information on the grits and using buffers

http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...lustrated.html

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