how to buff white linen micarta?

H

Hagar

Joined
Aug 15, 1999
Messages
147
Try as i might I cant buff white linen micarta. sanded up 600 grit, tried different compounds(zam, white rouge, emery,and the stuff you are supposed to use on plastics) the results are all the same. A dirty white handle.
Is it possible to buff this stuff?
Thanks for any tips
 
Yes, it's possible. I use white compound. If you are getting black streaks from white compound, your wheel is dirty, clean it with a rake or buffing wheel brick, reapply compound and go back at it. Go lightly, and try to avoid the pins/bolts as much as possible. At the very end, just use the lightest touch, on the edge of the CLEAN wheel. If you still have a dirty handle, just use some WD40, and then some 409 and hot water, followed by another very light buff, no compound this time. if it does not shine, try a little compound. It always works for me. :D

The main thing is to keep the wheel clean, and avoid the buildup of dirty compound.
 
I tried white rouge..... cant avoid the pins lol...there are six pins on the handle.
tried cleaning the wheel...will have to try using a brand new wheel.
never thought to try wd-40 to clean it i'll have to give that a shot.
thanks
 
A trick that I use on light woods is to buff in a coat of wax after fine sanding then buff with compound. The wax seems to fill the pores and reduces the dirt buildup.
 
I had so many hassles with it (the stuff you are talking about here), I just abandoned it. But what I recommend if using as high a grit as possible to hand finish. I find that 1200 is not enough. I need to use 1500 and 2000grit, and do it WET, ie.- the handle is always dripping wet. Do that even before thinking about the buffer. The idea si to get the surface so fine that no crud can get imbedded when buffing or final finishing.

Other have told me to rub in carnauba wax before going to a buffer - that works too, but I haven't done it often enough to say for sure what the ins and outs are.

White rouge is definitely the way to go. I find it quite hard to get a completely clean buff unless I'm using a new one each time. The area around the pins will smear some but on a different thread, I learnt about washing up with warm soapy water - it works better than it sounds to get buffing crud out.

Hey, wanna buy my 6x12" plate of white and antique white linen Micarta ? Jason.
 
Hand sanding to 1000 grit or better will help. Very light pressure on the buffing wheel. As soon as you start to see the black starting, put more compound on the wheel. The higher the grit you go before buffing, the less chance of halos around the pins or undercutting around a full tang.

Hot water, Dishwashing detergent and an old worn out toothbrush will remove the Black residue from the buffing compound. I try to keep anything with oil ( Like WD-40 ) away from synthetic or stabilized materials.
 
warm windex w/amonia disolves the black waxy build up in a heart beat...I use it between compond/wheel changes on the blade not the wheel,lmao...
 
I use white linen micarta sometimes, and buffing can be a chore if you are using brass or carbon steel pins. I usually use slack micron belts and just finish to satin. Some folks I hear have luck with the woven belts.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I'll have to try them out if i ever get more white micarta:barf:
sorry Jason I dont want your white micarta!
I took off the white micarta and put some pearl micarta on instead.
Waaaay better!!
 
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