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Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

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Buffing

Posts

Buffing

#1

Buffing

mkauder

I do clear gloss finishes on all my work. I am kinda known for it. In the past I used regular Nitrocellulose Lacquer but because of the long out-gas time, and the continual shrinking of Lacquer, Since coming back after a 8 year break, I have moved to catalyzed finishes (lacquers, Poly, etc). In the past, I have hand sanded my work after final spray coat, starting wet sanding with 600 grit and working up to micromesh 12000 (1 micron). I have begun to consider buffing. Most guitar makers do it, and they are a good model for the materials I use, and of course automotive finishes are done that way. My concern is that I do not want a wavy appearance at all. I would like to hear from any of you that do buffing, especially on Lacquers. What do you sand up to (if at all) before buffing, and what is your buffing grit progression. You can check out my recent photos to see some of my recent work to see what I am looking for. The catalyzed finishes are cutting my spraying time, and now I am looking to save the 2-6 hours of hand sanding on each piece. Thanks. Mark

Re: Buffing

#2

Re: Buffing

John C Lucas

Mark. I use buffing purely to.finish the finish. I sand to 600 and sometimes higher until there aret anh scratches. Then i put on whatever finish and build it to the desired thickness or gloss. I sad to 600 to level the finish and then apply one more coat. I buff that last coat. On high build finishes like yours i let the last coat dry a lot longer. Its very easy to buff through the finish. I buff with 4" buffs at about 2000 rpm. Whe i used 8" wheels it was too easy to burn through the finish. Ive watched guitar makers use large wheels at high speed.and really lea into it. I dont kow what lacquer they use or what abrasive on the wheel.

Re: Buffing

#3

Re: Buffing

David Walser

Don Pencil, when he was still selling buffing wheels and compounds, had a special compound for buffing plastics. He suggested that I use it on lacquer finishes, too. It's a finer compound than white diamond and works very well. The wheel he recommended for it was the same as the one he sold for use with white diamond. He recommended about 800 rpm with an 8" wheel.

I've not seen other woodworking suppliers sell a similar compound, but I know that they are available from industrial suppliers.

HTH

Re: Buffing

#4

Re: Buffing

mkauder

Just an update.....I am no further along with this research. On other forums, I just hear the "I use Beal" or I just use on Wipe-on-Poly stuff.

That and I have 11 pieces the I am trying to get finished and sent to the gallery so that they can stop bugging me, and THEN I can work on a piece at my leisure, and experiment.

thanks

Mark

Re: Buffing

#5

George Balock

Re: Buffing

George Balock

Mark,

I mostly finish with its oil finishes, but sometimes use shellac and lacquer. I sand my gallery finishes to 1500 grit, then apply oil. I use steel wool between coats to remove bumps in the finish. I use the Beall system to buff all of these finishes. I can really be aggressive in buffing the oil finishes. I am considerably less aggressive with shellac and lacquer. I use 8" wheels at around 800 rpm and very light pressure against the wheel. I find that at that speed, the wheel will deform dramatically if I apply too much pressure. Hope this helps.

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