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BUFFING
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BUFFING
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BUFFING & POLISHING TIPS
Bringing your project to a perfect mirror finish is a very difficult and
complex undertaking requiring certain steps in the proper sequence.
Skipping too many steps will force you to redo your work, and cutting away
more material than necessary by overdoing your polishing process is a waste
of time and money.
Important note:
Never use the same buffing wheel or belt for more than one compound,
especially from coarser to finer.
It just won't work. Once the grit has been applied, it is almost impossible to
remove it. You could end up with unexplained deep scratches all over your work
and will have to backtrack a couple grits to start afresh and having to
purchase a new wheel replacement for the finer grit. This could be most
expensive if it was a hard felt wheel. Mark your polishing wheels and belts
with the permanent ink marker with the grit applied to it.
Keep all bars and wheels in Zip-lock bags when not immediately in use to
prevent
grinding and polishing dust contamination - translated into SCRATCHES.
Recipe #1
| STEP 1 | 80 grit applied to a felt or polishing wheel |
| STEP 2 | 120 grit applied to a felt or polishing wheel |
| STEP 3 | 150 grit applied to a felt or polishing wheel |
| STEP 4 | 240 grit applied to a felt, polishing or sewed muslin wheel |
| STEP 5 | 300 grit applied to a felt, polishing or sewed muslin wheel |
| STEP 6 | 400 grit applied to a felt, polishing or sewed muslin wheel |
| STEP 7 | Cut & Color bar applied to a sisal wheel, or Blending bar applied to a sewed muslin wheel |
| STEP 8 | LA555 applied to a loose muslin wheel |
Recipe #2
| STEP 1 | Grind blade using 60x |
| STEP 2 | Clean up with 120x |
| STEP 3 | Go heat treat at this time |
| STEP 4 | After heat treat, thin your blade and clean up any scale using 120x again |
| STEP 5 | Now clean up 120x marks with 220x. Make sure your grind
lines are where you want them, they are hard to move with finer grits. |
| STEP 6 | Proceed to 320x or 400x, try both and see which one
works best for you. At this point you can go from Aluminum Oxide to Structured or Trizact belts. |
| STEP 7 | After 400x or A45, proceed to 800x, than to 15 micron
belts. If you like structured abrasives, you can finish up with A16 and A6 belts. |
| STEP 8 | Go to a buffer using Matchless Green or K & G green,
follow up with Pink no scratch. If you see any scratches that won't come out with the buffer, repeat the steps with 600x and up. Do not try to buff out a scratch - it will hurt your finish. |
| STEP 9 | Most important - use 1750 -1800 RPM buffer. 3600RPM buffers are asking for trouble. |
Recipe #3
| STEP 1 | Rough grind your blade with 36x or 50x |
| STEP 2 | Remove coarse grind marks with 80x |
| STEP 3 | Grind with 100x or 120x |
| STEP 4 | Finish all grind lines and flats with 160x to 220x leave about 1/16" flat edge - blade too thin will warp by the heat treatment. |
| STEP 5 | Stamp your trademarks, numbers, drill holes, sand off raised metal at the stamps |
| STEP 6 | Harden and temper your blade |
| STEP 7 | Clean up the scale and discoloration with 220x. Do any final grind line matching. |
| STEP 8 | Follow with 320x to 400x |
| STEP 9 | Polish marks off with aggressive Green grease bar on the buffing wheel or belt. |
| STEP 10 | Time for the 320 degree oven and cryogenic treatment
to
temper the blade to relieve the grinding and polishing stresses. |
| STEP 11 | Do not worry about "cloudiness" till you finish the handle and sharpen the blade |
| STEP XX | Most important step: - - - - - (-: COUNT YOUR FINGERS AGAIN :-) |
Created and maintained by Tony Hnilica
