Buffing Lint

Catch · Post by **Catch** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:41 pm

I am new to the forum, although I have lurked for a couple weeks. I am also new to the world of pipe making. I don't have any that I feel good enough to post in the gallery yet, and I am impressed by those that are posting their first or second pipes and they look great! In my quest for a pipe to post in the gallery I have a question about buffing (I am new to this also

) I seem to keep getting a lot of lint off the wax wheel stuck on the pipe. It comes off with some gentle rubbing but I am not sure if this is normal or not. I apologize if this has been covered before but my searchs turned up nothing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:17 pm

New buffs always throw off a ton of lint.

It'll settle down after a while.

Rad

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:34 am

Are you referring to a stitched wheel for buffing or a loose wheel for applying carnauba?

If it's a new stitched wheel, you can break it in by holding a very coarse sandpaper (24 to 48 grit) against it for a few seconds. This will remove much of the loose lint, as well as raise a bit of a "cotton storm". You might need to trim the longer threads with scissors.

If it's a loose wheel, don't ever try to rake or sandpaper it - that would shred it to pieces. As Rad says, give it a little time to wear in. The longish threads that are sticking out of the face of the wheel can be trimmed off with scissors. If the lint is sticking to carnauba on the pipe, you just might be using too much wax on the wheel. A couple of seconds application of wax to the wheel is all that's required, plus a light touch of the pipe to the loose wheel. The shine is obtained either by hand with a soft cloth, or a completely clean loose wheel.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:44 am

Ditto what Rad and Frank said.

Also, if you have a dust collector, use it to keep the cotton storm under control. I have mine sucking in from behind the buffing wheel while polishing and applying carnuba. It works wonders.

Another thing you can do is make sure you're using quality buffing wheels. The ones available at most big-box retail outlets are of only marginal quality, and I've found them to be rather frustrating to work with.

Catch · Post by **Catch** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:18 am

Thank you for your replies. I will trim the long threads and give the wheel time to break in. I will ease up on the wax too. The wheels were a set that came on a long mandrel that I could use on my lathe so perhaps they are not of the highest quality and I will replace them as they wear out or I get ticked off

Thanks again for the help.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:36 pm

I neglected to mention, if you use sandpaper to "rake" your stitched wheels, make sure to use quality, heavy weight cloth backed sandpaper where the grit that is bonded to the backing is integral to the bonding adhesive, not the cheap kind where the adhesive is applied to the backing and the the grit sprinkled onto it. I use quality Klingspor sanding belts, made in Germany. Norton also make quality belts, but don't get the cheap stuff they supply to places like Home Depot, it's the worst crap I've ever used.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:19 pm

A wheel rake is also good for "priming" your buff, to help true it up, and to remove compound build up.

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/wheel_rake.htm

I prefer it over sandpaper.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:50 pm

kbadkar wrote:A wheel rake is also good for "priming" your buff, to help true it up, and to remove compound build up.

I prefer it over sandpaper.

I prefer not to use a wheel rake on my non-metal buffing wheels. The metal rake has a tendency to "dirty" the wheel, turning it grey.

For those who decide to use a metal rake for the first time, a word of caution: Hang onto those rake handles like grim death when you apply it to the wheel. The wheel will make every effort to wrench it out of your hands.

A word to Kurt if you use a metal rake: If you can manage it, try to harden and temper the rake. They seem to be made of mild (or annealed) carbon steel and get blunt pretty quickly.

Catch · Post by **Catch** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:21 pm

Well thats one for my side! I HAVE been a wood turner for awhile and have a good suppy of Klingspor paper. I find I can hold it for quite a bit longer before it burns my fingers.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:40 pm

Catch wrote:Well thats one for my side! I HAVE been a wood turner for awhile and have a good suppy of Klingspor paper. I find I can hold it for quite a bit longer before it burns my fingers.

I'm not sure Frank was suggesting that you use hand-backed sandpaper on the buff (though it's ok for woodturning). I've used a belt sander. I'd think you'd want a hard backing to keep your sandpaper on a flat plane. It's nice to get the working profile of the buff as straight as possible.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 1:53 pm

kbadkar wrote:
Catch wrote:I'm not sure Frank was suggesting that you use hand-backed sandpaper on the buff (though it's ok for woodturning). I've used a belt sander. I'd think you'd want a hard backing to keep your sandpaper on a flat plane. It's nice to get the working profile of the buff as straight as possible.

I use the heavy weight cloth backed stuff by hand. It's pretty thick.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:13 pm

Frank wrote: I use the heavy weight cloth backed stuff by hand. It's pretty thick.

I stand corrected. My motto: "Whatever works."