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So, I have been using this brown tripoli that I bought from ottfrei, for a good while now. http://www.ottofrei.com/Brown-Tripoli-C ... pound.html

I just wonder if it it the correct stuff? The reason for my question is that I read all the time on the forum how aggressive it is, that it removes alot of stain, that it's unecessary to sand stummels to higher than this or that grit because the tripoli is lower grit anyway etc. In my experience it isn't as aggressive as it is discribed, which makes me wonder if I'm actually using the same compound as everyone else.

Or maybe I'm not using it correctly. I use 4 inch buffing wheels because that's the biggest wheels I can fit in my current setup (I buff and polish with my taig lathe, but I run the lathe at the highest speed to counteract the small wheel size).

Thanks,

/Albert

Yeah, that's the right stuff.

Cool, maybe I'm not pressing the pipe hard enough into the buffing wheel, and that's why I don't perceive it to be as agressive as others do. Atleast I know I'm using the right stuff now.

Thanks.

You don't want to press hard.

"Aggressive" is a very relative term. It's not at all aggressive compared to a sanding disk or something. Maybe your interpretation and expectation for aggressive is misaligned?

Lastly 4" wheels are going to make your life difficult. I wouldn't go any smaller than 6", and 8" is better. The quality and type of wheels also matters a lot. Not all wheels are created equally.

True, "aggressive" is relative. I don't really have a reason for why I'd want it more aggressive than it already is (for me when I use it) because i do get quite good results as it is, but I sand my stummels to at least 800 grit before the finishing process begins, and I see pictures of other peoples pipes that are shinier even though they sand to as low as 600. I guess I just thought maybe my compound or my use of it that was the problem, because I'm very thorough when I sand.

And why will it make my life difficult to use 4" buffs? They seem to be working fine. these are the ones I use: http://www.ottofrei.com/Unstitched-Fine ... enter.html

Albert.A wrote: And why will it make my life difficult to use 4" buffs? They seem to be working fine. these are the ones I use: http://www.ottofrei.com/Unstitched-Fine ... enter.html

Smaller wheels mean a lower surface speed, which means you would need to double your motor speed (from 1700) to make up for the half sized wheels. You need a little bit of heat to get the compound the right temperature to apply onto the wheel and the stummel. At lower surface speeds, it isn't going to happen. Also, a bigger wheel gives you more clearance between arbor and edge for the times you need to use the inside edge of the wheel.


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Makes sense, I don't think I quite manage to double the surface speed of my wheels, but I think I come pretty close by using the pulleys on the taig. The clearense issue I have first hand experience with, but most of the time I manage to work around it, although it would be nice to not have to worry about it. Unfortunately my workshop is so full of tools already I hardly manage to fit myself in there, let alone have a dedicated buffing set-up.

It's my understanding that brown tripoli is slightly more aggressive than red. I know pipemaker's who use one instead of the other and both and get good results.

I often use brown or green before the red, then white last.Then carnuba. Flawless!