Favourite Buffing Wheel?

[Moses_3]

Hi All,

I recently picked up a buffer and need to get a few wheels, I was wondering what everyone's favourite buffing wheels were. My buffer has a tapered spindle, so I will need to use wheels with that little pin-hole attachment that threads on, or find an adapter for bolt-on wheels. So, what are your favourite wheels? Do you have any wheels to recommend or avoid?

Thanks in advance for your time and expertise.

 

[Ken H>]

Suggestions are going to need type of motor, rpm, hp, etc. Do you have a brand/model number so we can exactly what you've got?

You did mention a tapered spindle? Let's see what folks say about that, I'm only familiar with the straight shaft with washers and nut to hold wheel to spindle.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

For a tapered spindle on a standard buffer , use 6" wheels 60 ply stitched muslin for the coarse polish (Tripoli or black) I like the yellow treated buffs. For final polish on blades, use stitched cotton or linen with chrome green. On handles and ivories, use unstitched cotton or linen with matchless white.

 

[Ricky-O]

For a tapered spindle on a standard buffer , use 6" wheels 60 ply stitched muslin for the coarse polish (Tripoli or black) I like the yellow treated buffs. For final polish on blades, use stitched cotton or linen with chrome green. On handles and ivories, use unstitched cotton or linen with matchless white.

Would those recommendations be the same for a bolt-on wheel? I have a cheap HF that runs about 3400rpm.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I like the airway buffing wheels, nice for cleaning up finishes, rounding edges, etc. My next setup will be Airway coarse/black compound on left and and a standard stitched wheel with white compound on the right.

Be careful with the buffer! I like to use scotchbrite, cork and leather belts fo a lot of that stuff... but sometimes only the buffer will do.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Would those recommendations be the same for a bolt-on wheel? I have a cheap HF that runs about 3400rpm.

It depends on the size of your buffer and what size wheels it takes. The wheels I listed are for a smaller tapered spindle buffer. Similar wheels with a center hole are available for bigger buffers. I still recommend stitched wheels for buffing knives. On a buffer with bolt on wheels, use the biggest arbor flanges you can find. 3" is sort of the minimum on a 10-12" buff. The Stewmac 1" hole by 6.5" flange are really good with 12" buffs.

 

[Ken H>]

I like the airway buffing wheels, nice for cleaning up finishes, rounding edges, etc. My next setup will be Airway coarse/black compound on left and and a standard stitched wheel with white compound on the right.

Be careful with the buffer! I like to use scotchbrite, cork and leather belts fo a lot of that stuff... but sometimes only the buffer will do.

Daniel, you mention the Airway buffing wheels - is this the one's you talking about "B0CH82NNRC" that's the item # on Amazon. It mentions this is for angle grinders - looks like it would work with a standard buffer.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Daniel, you mention the Airway buffing wheels - is this the one's you talking about "B0CH82NNRC" that's the item # on Amazon. It mentions this is for angle grinders - looks like it would work with a standard buffer.

There are a couple of kits out there marketed to mirror polish knives, one is Combat Abrasives which I think might be the original. The kit you showed looks to be about the same thing but maybe a knockoff? It works really well but is not the shortcut I thought it might be, you really need a perfect 400 grit finish (like a hand rub) to make it work well. I decided to ditch the high grits and use the setup I described because I don't really mirror polish my blades very often. The stiffness of the wheels and cooling effect is nice.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

These were in progress when the pic was taken, the bottom three were a decent 400 grit directional finish/spotty 1200 grit finish before I ran them through the Airway wheels kit.

Top three are just a hand rub, no buffing besides the Deba (third down) with a mirror bevel/hand rub flats.

I think I just had the three wheel kit at the time and added the coarse wheel later.

 

[Ken H>]

Those look good - what I'd call a mirror finish. I REALLY like the handle joint you made on the bottom three. Really nice fit. The keyhole joint in the 2nd down is impressive also. I've thought about trying one of those, but never had the nerve to try.

A while back I ordered the Combat Abrasives set and am impressed with how well they work. As you said, it needs to be a very good 400 grit finish before starting to polish. I was thinking the $35 linked set sure did look like the Combat Abrasives set I got, and a LOT less expensive.

 

[Ricky-O]

Any suggestions on what compound to use for buffing handles (wood and micaela)? I don't buff my blades, but find that buffing the handles makes them look much better. I tried a couple of colors of the cheap compound at HF, but couldn't distinguish between the results. Are the colors standardized across brands for materials? Looking for brands/colors.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Matchless white

 

[Moses_3]

Thank you guys for your expertise and suggestions.
Stacy - You continue to provide impressively detailed answers, your willingness to share knowledge is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Ken - It is an 84 Engineering attachment that goes on my 2x72 Reeder, powered by a 2hp Baldor 1725RPM motor connected via a 7" Ameribrade drive wheel, and I have a KBAC27D VFD so my RPM is fully adjustable. I hope all that info helps.

 

[lukusamongus]

Daniel, you mention the Airway buffing wheels - is this the one's you talking about "B0CH82NNRC" that's the item # on Amazon. It mentions this is for angle grinders - looks like it would work with a standard buffer.

I have a couple of the airway wheels that I got from Red Label Abrasives. They do work well. Red Label has a pretty good selection of buffing wheels and compounds, they're under "accessories".