Where To Buy Buffer?

[Wallbright]

I have been wanting to purchase a buffer to buff my pipes that I am restoring on and have no idea where to even begin on what to purchase. I was wondering if you guys know of any cheaper models that would be good to use to clean up estate pipes?

[Dixie_piper]

I have an old home made grinder/buffer that's just an electric motor with a $15 arbor from amazon, and a 5 speed benchtop drill press with a 1/4" to 1/2" adaptor arbor to run 6" buffing wheels that I picked up @ home depot.I haven't a clue as to a prefered brand, but I'd stick with a tried and true type brand for the most part.
Places to look, local hardware stores (Lowes, Home depot, etc) flea market, and I would hazard to suggest amazon or eBay?
The thing to keep an eye out for is speed ranges, if only using it to buff then the highest speed you would need should be 1800 RPM, on down to 500-800 RPM. Either way, Ideally you're looking for a variable speed buffer with (round about) 1800RPM, 1200 RPM, 800 RPM & 500 RPM speeds, not one or the other, but all of them. I may not be 100% correct on all that, but tis my best assumption from hours upon hours spent browsing this forum.

[KurtHuhn]

You can get by very inexpensively if you purchase some bits and pieces and pick up a 1/3 or 1/4 HP electric motor. That way you can change speeds as needed. To make your own, you'll need two pillow blocks, two step pulleys, a shaft, a v-belt, and a work arbor to hold the buffing wheels. My preference would be to use jacobs chucks, that way you can use them to hold other crap as well. With a setup like this, you could easily use one tool to shape, sand, and buff. All tallied, I'd say you make a really nice buffing setup for about $70 if you already have the motor. And this would be something that would go from very slow to very fast just by changing the belt position on the pulleys.

HOWEVER! It might be worth your time to simply cruise Craigslist in your area for a buffing station already put together for you. I don't know how good you are with tools and mechanical things - and if you're not, making your own buffer could prove disastrous. Try and find one that can be set to as low as about 800 RPM (give or take) and as high as about 3000 RPM. A lot of the buffing stations sold as "grinder/buffer" can't be set low enough to be effective for pipe making purposes. Their speed ranges from "holy crap" to "OMGWTFBQQHOLDON!!!".

[Dixie_piper]

Wow, that's a kick ass idea Kurt. Scratch my idea, listen to this guy
Couple questions if I may Kurt;
I have a motor and the equivalent of the two pillow blocks w/ shaft (some funky piece out of a cotton mill)
Really only 2 questions; is there a particular brand of step pulleys to trust or stay away from?
Is V-belt or flat belt more trustworthy?
I'm definitely gonna look into that setup, because it's a bitch to sand horizintally via my P.O.S. drill press.

That speed you mentioned, the "OMG-BQQ" one, is that required for the ass-less chaps method?

[KurtHuhn]

Really only 2 questions; is there a particular brand of step pulleys to trust or stay away from?
Is V-belt or flat belt more trustworthy?

As far as I'm aware, they're pretty much all made by one factory. If you get them from McMaster-Carr, you can be assured of quality.

That speed you mentioned, the "OMG-BQQ" one, is that required for the ass-less chaps method?

Absolutely integral to the method.

[Dixie_piper]

Nifty little diagram I found for determining pulley speeds with a 5", 4", 3", 2" OD 4 step pulley set up on a 1725 RPM motor.
I know some brainiacs on here can probably figure this up in there head, but for the rest of us neanderthals, this helps

*EDIT* the equation given in the article was
Drive pulley divided by driven pulley multiplied by motor speed (Drive/Driven X RPM) claim it'd be "close" to accurate

[Wallbright]

Holy Jesus this is getting technical. I have a 3450 RPM 1/2 hp 6" bench grinder. Is there anyway to use this set up or to adjust it slightly to be able to use as a buffer?

[Dixie_piper]

Yes. There are a few ways to choose from. As Todd (Sasquatch) pointed out in an earlier post today, you can get a rheostat type switch thingermabob (speaking technically of course ) that basically varies voltage allowing different motor speeds or find/make a work arbor and add step pulleys.
It looks a lot more technical than it really is, the work arbor can be made with pillow blocks and a 1/2 shaft with an arbor. The step pulleys are simple, flip one upside down on one shaft so the the smallest and biggest pulleys line up. They usually set in place with an allen screw. Other than that, it's just bolting em down and figuring out a tensioner.
Sas's idea actually sounds better, have to ask him details about the rheostat thing, I'm lost there. But it would give you more variable speed.... I think?

[KurtHuhn]

Not necessarily. See here for warnings on this subject:
viewtopic.php?p=47094#p47094