Buffers and Buffing

[David Wesner]

Most of my knifes have a hand rubbed finish. I have several styles that I would like to mirror finish. What is the technique you guys use. What type of buffing wheels for a given compound ? What type of compound ? One thing that I'm not sure of is how much compound do you use on the wheels and how often do you re-apply the compound ? How much pressure do you use on the wheel ? How do you know when its time to replace a worn out buffing wheel ? How much time should a guy be spending on the buffer to acquire that mirror finish ? What type of finish do you have on your knives before going to the buffer ? What is your preferred buffer speed, HP and wheel size ? Searching has not found the answers to the questions I have :grumpy: , and there are obviously quite a few . Thanks a bunch for any help you guys can offer. :thumbup:

 

[Matthew Gregory]

I've been trying S.R. Johnson's method that jumps from a worn 400 grit belt to a 'prepared' cork belt loaded with green chrome rouge, and it works pretty well... although, I still run the belts up to P2500 (A6 3M Trizact belts) and then use the cork belt method, because I'm not as cool as Steve is (yet!).

Here's a link to a thread on another forum with lots of info on this method:

Steve Johnson's Polishing Method

Buffers scare the piss out of me. Anything to do to avoid using it is good by me!

 

[Bufford]

First off I grind down to a 9 micron finish before going onto the buffer. 1st step the black compound. I reload the wheel often, and it is easy to tell when the wheel needs to be reloaded with compound as the wheel looses that resistance and simply wants to spin and heat up the blade rather than buff.

When I first start up the buffer I dress the wheel using an old hack saw blade- you know the ones that are about 12 inches long and about an inch and a half wide. Turn buffer on, and make a couple of passes over the spinning wheel to get the old compound off. Then apply the compound to the spinning wheel using light pressure and coat completely. Use only enough to coat the wheel or it will just fly off as it spins.

When buffing use light pressure. Heavy pressure risks the chance of causing orange peel on the finish or very quickly an accident. If orange peel happens, then one has to go back to the grinder and start over again from the 320 step.

Once the blade is cleaned up and has that mirror finish and all the scratches are gone, then it is on to the Green Chrome rouge to bring the luster up. Use a different wheel for each compound. Scratches from previous grinding steps often show up, and often one has to go back a couple steps to the grinder- that's just the way it is with knifemaking. Patience and more patience.............

I go one step further and finish up using the fine white aluminum oxide applied to a loose fluffy wheel, for that extra glow. Just be really careful with the loose fluffy wheels as they catch the blade and can easily send it flying across the shop or into your body.

For safety, pay attention to what you are doing, as buffing is the most dangerous step in knifemaking. You must know exactly where the blade is in contact with the raging spinning buffer at all times. Where goggles and a good leather apron too. Gloves are optional. I buff without gloves so that I can have a better feel for the work. Gloves can get sucked into the buffer aswell.

Do not buff if you are angry or in a hurry.

 

[David Wesner]

Thank you for the tips Bufford :thumbup: Thank you Mr. purple , and wow, S.R.J. :thumbup: :thumbup:. I'm chasing that level of perfection too. I can appreciate the question you asked about something being left out of the DVD The guy makes it look way too easy. I use a similar technique too (cork belt), and my blades are coming off the grinder looking better every day. Not "that" good though :grumpy: Practice. Practice Anybody else have any hot tips ?

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

The best suggestion that I can ever give to any one is DO NOT expect buffing to remove ANY scratches!
Ever!.
I fyou are buffing to remove scratches - you're doing it wrong.
All buffing does is polish.
There should be almost NO buffing required to achieve a good polish, and that should only take a few minutes.
The best polish job you will ever get is when you polish a piece of steel that has NO scratches on it less that 1500 grit.
Put the correct effort in to the job in the first place, and the buffing will almost be unecessary!
You'll save a LOT of buffing time by having the correct work done first, and it'll end up being a better job in the long run.
www.andersenforge.com

 

[Solstice]

Maybe OT maybe not...but I've owned countless fixed blades and this is one of my all time favorites!!! Thanks again David...keep up the great work bro! :thumbup: