Set-Up Wheels

Made up by stacking spiral sewn buffs, which have been glued together and balanced. Canvas covers are often glued to the sides. The wheels are commonly available from 1/2" through 4" face widths.

Set-up wheels can be used with grey or tripoli cutting compounds, but is mainly used with Aluminum Oxide or Turkish Emery grits.

When used with various grits of Aluminum Oxide glued to the face of the buff, it becomes the coarsest cut buff application. These wheels are used to grind steel and stainless steel surfaces.

The set up wheel, when used with any varied grits of Turkish Emery can be used as a grease wheel. For example, using grease and 180 grit emery on steel bumpers will give a good finish which can then be nickel leveled and chrome plated.

When setting up the wheel with Aluminum Oxide grit, it is applied with cold glue. The glue is brushed on the face of the wheel and then rolled in the abrasive grit. This is repeated three times and then allowed to dry for twelve hours. This same process is used for the Turkish Emery grease wheel, except hot glue is used and the wheel is dried at 105 degrees for 12 hours.

Both the Aluminum Oxide Cutting Wheel and the Turkish Emery Set-up Wheel are then mounted onto the buffing lathe, rotated by hand and cracked with a mallet or rod to produce flexibility in the wheel. (The cracks should be approximately thumb size.) The Emery Wheel is greased throughout production to produce a better finish.

A Set-up Wheel is good for approximately two to four hours of production. Most production facilities will have multiple Set-up wheels per person made up daily. The used wheels can be faced off using a carbo grinding stone and then reglued and set up after the production shift.

TOP

Sisals

Bias Spiral Sewn Sisals: This is the same construction as the previous spiral sewn buff, with the difference being that the fabric is cut on a bias to minimize raveling. This helps the buff to last longer as well as providing better cut and color. They are cooler running, thus more burn resistant. The buff is constructed with a steel center and is mainly used on automated buffing equipment.

Open Faced Sisals: The same information applies as with the Spiral sewn sisal, but this buff is constructed with a wavy, flexible open face. It holds compound better than the spiral sewn and allows flexibility to flow over a work piece and approach difficult areas.

Finger Sisals: This buff is also constructed of sisal cords wrapped with cloth. It comes in various treatments. When grouped with multiple buffs, the Finger buff contours well. The fingers can grab parts easier than other buff constructions, therefore should be used by experienced buffers. This buff is the most aggressive cut sisal buff.

TOP

Airway Ventilated Buff

Most widely used production cut buff, this buff is designed to flow air from the center and force it through the buff to cool the work piece. The Airway buff is made with a steel center and must be used with a specific ventilated flange for air flow to prevent delamination from the steel center.

The Airway buff comes in two different mill treatments; a white firm and a yellow maze. These mill treatment buffs are good cutting buffs for brass, copper, and aluminum. The Airway buff can also be treated with various manufactures colors that make them stiffer than the mill treatments. These stiffer treatments are good cut buffs for harder and tougher metals such as stainless steel and steel.

This buff is constructed with different densities (packs) 2, 4, 6, and 8 with the 2 and 4 being the most popular. The higher the density, the more cloth is used in the buff, the more flex and the longer the life of the buff. The Airway buff is also produced with different plys ranging from 12 to 20 with 16 being the most common. The ply will determine the thickness (or face width). The Airway is also available with 3", 5" and 7" center. The larger the center, the less material and therefore the less expensive the buff will be.

TOP

Finishing Buffs

Loose Full Disc Buffs: This buff is constructed of individual cloth sheets, sewn once around the arbor hole. Each cloth sheet is considered one ply. Sixteen to twenty ply is fairly standard. It may be necessary to stack buffs together when additional width is required. The buff cloth comes in two standard mill weaves of 6060 & 8080. The 8080 with a higher thread count produces a better finish. The loose buff lacks firmness, but is a good standard finishing buff on all metals and plastic.

Concentric Sewn Buffs: This buff is constructed of individual cloth sheets, sewn concentrically from the center arbor hole in 1" spacing increments completely around the buff. It is commonly produced in approx. 1" thickness and because of the way it is sewn, it is a firmer finishing buff than the loose buff. As the buff wears down to the seam line, it is common practice to cut the stitching and work the buff to the next seam line. This buff is very popular in the jewelry finishing industry. Because of the width and firmness it is often requested over the loose buff and produces a good finish on all metals and composites.

Airway Buffs: This buff is the most popular production finishing buff. It runs cooler because of the air flow from the center of the buff to the work piece. It is firmer and holds compound well. The standard finish buff is the non-treated mill cloth. The Airway buff is an excellent choice for all finishes.

Flannel Buffs: This buff can be constructed in the form of a loose, concentric sewn, or airway buff. It is the softest finishing buff, leaving fewer scratches than any other type of buffing material. The flannel material undergoes a "picking" operation at the mill which pulls up the nap, giving it the softness. The Canton flannel is softened on both sides and is used in gold and silver jewelry buffing. The Domet flannel is softer on one side only and is used on fine brass and wood, such as guitar bodies.

TOP

Cutting Compounds

Greaseless Compound Primarily used in satin finishing, cutting and flexible deburring. The binder is glue and water, which will clean off of the work piece easier than Tallow. The abrasives used range from 80 to 400 grit Aluminum Oxide.(Silicon Carbide may be used in specific applications). The finer the grit applied, the brighter the satin finish will be. Grease less compounds will dry on the buff, but depending on the type of buff being used, will still remain flexible. Often it is used in place of a Set-up wheel for flexible applications on complex shapes. Grease less compounds may be used on all metals.

Stainless Compound (Grey) The most popular application for this compound is in cutting polishing lines on steel, stainless steel, nickel, and chrome. The binders will vary, however the cutting element is a blend of 150 to 400 grit Aluminum Oxide.

Tripoli This compound is mainly used in cut applications of aluminum, brass, copper, zinc, white metals, and die casting. It is a natural mineral classified as a silica. Proper ventilation and respiratory protection should be used when buffing with this product, and for that matter, all buffing operations.

As you reach surface speed with a given sized buff, a certain amount of horse power is required. The larger the buff diameter and work piece, the more horse power required. For example, using a twelve inch buff on a 7" x 10" work piece will require 1 to 1-1/2 HP. A 16" buff on a larger work piece will require 2 to 5 HP. The buffer will stall easily if the proper amount of horse power is not used. If the buff diameter and horse power match up, but the surface speed is not high enough for a given sized part, the desired finish may not be reached and the job will take significantly longer.

TOP

• Dedicate a particular buff to a specified compound so that a larger grain size will not scratch the final finish.
• With each different buffing operation, switch buffing directions on the part if possible.
• Loose threads from a buff can drag over a work piece,creating undesirable results. To remove any loose attached threads, run an abrasive belt attached to a board over the surface of the buff.
• To remove final buffing compound haze and very fine web type scratches, wipe the part with a nap out (soft) glove and whiting compound. Flour will also work, but not as well as the whiting compound.
• If one needs to cut faster with a given buff and compound, increase the pressure to the work piece and add more compound.
• To reduce compound left on a part, reduce the wheel pressure to the work piece.
• Fifteen to twenty-five percent of the buffing time is devoted to applying compound to the wheel.
• It will decrease the life of the buff if too little compound is used or if the buff is allowed to get too hot during operation.
• If buff wheels are worn out or allowed to get too hot, finish performance will decrease.
• If the wheel is tearing (or ragging), the buff wheel may be out of balance, running the wrong direction, being run with too much pressure, or using the wrong wheel for a particular part.

TOP