Buffer Horse Power and Speed

M

Marcel J.B. Morin

Gold Member
Joined
Sep 17, 1999
Messages
602
Can anyone tell me what size motor I should get to buff with and what r.p.m. to get. Thanks in advance for the help.

Marcel

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My baldor is a 3/4 hp running at 1800rpm. I had a 3/4 hp 3600rpm, and I'm here to tell you, that thing was the most dangerous piece of equipment you could ever have in a shop! Fully sewn wheels were not too bad, but with a loose buff on there, it was flat bad news. I highly recommend that you use an 1800 rpm or slower. With the slower rpm there will much less of the chance that something will get thrown through the wall of your shop, your buffing jobs will be much nicer, heat build up will be more managable, and since your less likely to have an accident with a slower buffer, you won't get "high speed buffer paranoia" like I have. Take care!



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Ed Caffrey
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.caffreyknives.com
 
I haven't seen any buffers from Harbor Freight or Grizzly that run at 1800 RPM; it looks like all their models are at about 3400 - 3600 RPM. Is there a model I'm overlooking?

Ryan

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For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:23


 
RPM is not the determining factor in getting a good polish. In order to mirror polish stainless steel you need 5000 surface feet per minute(RPM X Buff diameter in ft.)

It follows that you can either run a 12" buff at 1800 RPM or a 6" buff at 3600 RPM and get the same surface feet per inch.
The downside is that the 12" buff is more susceptable to stalling because of the mechanical advantage of the larger diameter.

If you are going with a 1800 RPM motor look for a little more HP.

Ed is right about the loose buffs they can be extremely dangerous and don't do a thing that sewn buffs can't do.



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george
www.tichbourneknives.com
sales@tichbourneknives.com


 
Thanks for the help. I think I'm going to go with your advice and get a Baldor in either 3/4 or 1 h.p. running at 1750 r.p.m. Really appreciate the help.

Marcel

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