Buffing some twisted Wire

[JTknives]

I need to polish some twisted nickel wire and i first thought the buffer would work great. but then images of some ones face poped in my head. this face had goten beat with a guitar string that stuck to a buffing wheel . sory i could not stop my self. so any ideas?

 

[65535]

Dremel polishing wheel, or hand polish. Mothers mag polish works great.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

For final buffing of a twist wire in a fluted handle, use a rouge cloth from a jeweler.
Never buff it on a big power buffer.It can pull the wire from the handle, and even if the handle survives, it may pack polish in behind the wire where it will be nearly impossible to remove.
If you have a low speed unit ( 500-700RPM), use a 3" linen or soft cotton buff and white rouge,( go light on the rouge). Give it light passes. Hand buffing is far better, and has much less cleanup problems.

I'll send you a couple polishing cloths in trade for some used videos.

Stacy

 

[Phil Dwyer]

If you're buffing it prior to installing on your handle...

You can wrap it around a large diameter mandrel (2" or 3" or so) to prevent it's getting hung up in the machine. NEVER buff it "loose" while trying to stretch it tight between your two hands! On-the-other hand, if you clamp one end in a vise and stretch it out tight with one hand you can do some good hand buffing by quickly rubbing back and forth along its length with a cloth like Stacy referred to.