Felt wheels

J

John L

Joined
Oct 28, 2004
Messages
1,330
Is there any use for these wheels...hard or soft? I have access to a few and wonder if anyone uses them for cleanup and/or final finishing?
 
Both can be useful, John. The hard wheels can go a long way to preventing orange peel when polising in susceptible steels like D-2. They can also be good polishing tangs on fulltang knives so it won't undercut the wood. I keep a couple of hard wheels for things like that.
 
I use an 8" medium hard felt wheel for sharpening. Beats a strop, or leather wheel all to Hell. Hard or soft felt would work fine too.

You have to be very careful using them in polishing operations on the bevels, as if you get slightly uneven to the wheel, the edge can cut into the blade in a split second. It can Leave a nasty divot.

I use mine to remove the burr put on by primary sharpening on the belt grinder.

Load it with green SS compound, make one light pass, burr side up at a 45 degree angle and a second light pass at about 25-30 degrees. Repeat on the other side.
 
John L said:
Is there any use for these wheels...hard or soft? I have access to a few and wonder if anyone uses them for cleanup and/or final finishing?
Click to expand...

I use them because they are safer than stitched muslin wheels which when frayed can snatch a knife right out of your hand.

Like mike said they can easily cut into a blade. To avoid this I round over the corners on the wheel (just use sandpaper while running) and use the least agressive compound.

I hand rub through 600 grit so I can use the red or white compound depending on the steel. And I use light pressure and keep the blade moving.

The small felt buffs and bobs for dremmel tools work good for polishing rivet heads and bolsters and guards when you don't want a high gloss shine on the handle maderial. You use masking tape over where you don't want to polish and use a low speed on the tool. You can shape these with sandpaper and the tool on high speed to get into tight areas like the junction of guard and blade or in the corner of the plunge cut.
 
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