Recommendation? Buffer Vibrations

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gatorforge

Joined
Jul 2, 2010
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176
So Just bought two new Harbor Freight (I know, I know) 8" buffer/grinders. I started them up when I got them to make sure they ran, and they ran nice and smooth. I stripped off the grinding wheels and put new buffs on all around. They now vibrate so badly they shake everything off of the bench and walk a foot before I can stop them.

Any ideas on how to fix this or how to isolate them enough that the bench is still usable?

Thanks
 
Bolt or clamp them to the bench. Buffing wheels aren't balanced so they'll tend to vibrate. You might try loosening a wheel and giving it a quarter or half turn, then tighten them up and see if that helps.

Eric
 
Thanks Eric, I tried bolting them down and that didn't work, so I'll ty loosening and reattaching them. One thought I did have, is the arbors are different lengths.
 
Harbor Freight makes true buffers (6”), too. I have two. Smooth and quiet.
 
Yeah Dave, I wanted to go with the 8" so I could run the combat abrasives buffing package (8" buffs) but kinda regretting that right now.
 
I have mine still with grinding wheel and buffer on one side. Vibrates uncontrollably. I made a wood stand for it and have about 200 lbs of dumbells holding the stand steady. Relatively smooth now. I only use the stick buffer, but I rarely buff anything.
 
Had same problem.

Switch to 6" buffs and they purr with no vibrations.
 
Just out of curiosity, what RPM is this grinder you bought?
 
If the motor runs smoothly without the buffing wheels, then it's not the "cheap a**'d Harbor Freight stuff. You've got a buffing wheel out of balance. The hole in the buff might not be centered, Bet that's a 3600 rpm motor? MUCH higher speed than is needed.
 
Forgot to ask is your arbor the same size as the buff hole? Slower speed is definitely better, I've got a two speed motor on my buff but never run it higher than the slow speed, 1750RPM.

Eric
 
Agreed, would have preferred variable speed, but sometimes you work with what’s available in the budget. I’m mostly polishing handles, so speed isn’t as big of a concern.

They are 5/8” arbors.

I did notice the other night that where it fits in the whole on the wheel could be part of the issue. I’ll address that this afternoon
 
Do you have arbor collars on both sides of the buffs? They should be about 50% of the buff diameter.
 
I've seen people fix this problem by adding a little extra weight to one side, or the other (maybe if you have an extra spacer you can put on it). It probably won't fix the issue, but it doesn't hurt to try.
 
Do they vibrate with the buffs removed? If not, then your buffing wheels aren't concentric. I don't have the HF buffers, but IIRC, my buffer has something like a 1/2" threaded shaft, where as my wheels have something like 1" holes. The wheels came with arbor adapter bushings that go on either side of the wheel in order to reduce the hole size down and help to keep things concentric. They have a little bump out on one side that fits into the larger hole of the buff, but you have to make sure they're facing the right way.
 
Thanks everyone for the help. It runs fine with one removed. I’d ordered an airway which has correctly sized holes, and sure enough runs fine with that on there, so I’ve got a set of bushings on the way that should hopefully fix the problem. Also if anyone has a line on 2” arbor extensions that are left hand thread, I’d appreciate it.
 
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