Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
buffing finish
Sean Troy
>Hey all, has anyone ever buffed a finish with just the white wheel? lacqure or oil based poly. Gloss finish. I don't want wax as the top coat but do want to get a smooth gloss finish. Right now I'm talking about an oil based poly.Does just the white wheel do any good for smoothing a finish? thanks, Sean
Re: buffing finish
Mike Schwing from Md.
>Sure it does just fine - IF the surface is ready for it. Most wiped on finishes are not, nor are sprayed on lacquer finishes, (as far as I am concerned anyway). White diamond has an abrasive and it polishes, too, but it won't do very well on a surface that is free from large scratches, or other imperfections. Tripoli prepares the surface for white diamond, and is normally proscribed for that reason as the first step.
When I sand a finish that has cured and I want a real gloss, I wetsand to 12000 and then use only the white diamond wheel to produce a showroom gloss. But if it is a salad bowl, an "in the wood" finish or something that doesn't need to be optically flat or a finish with a medium sheen, I'd go to the tripoli wheel first, then white diamond. I often skip the carnuba as it is difficult to improve on a glossy finish after white diamond, but a satin/high sheen finish is normally improved with the wax wheel, for me at least. Hope this helps some, or at least helps to confuse.
Re: buffing finish
Ric Taylor
>Yep, I do that all the time.
Re: buffing finish
Sean Troy
>Great info, thank you very much, Sean
Re: buffing finish
RonZ
>If you've done your finish well [little or no faint rings] you can go right to white diamond, I do it very often especially when I use pure tung oil that has been sanded to 400 and cut back with 0000 steel wool between coats. I would recommend that you use a plain buffer wheel that hasn't been charged woth any material to get the remnants of white diamond off. When I use the carnauba, its not just to get a glossy finish but more to protect the work from handling.
