Buffing

Rob Keeble

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12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Any tips or pointers you guys can share on buffing? Would you buff a small item that has been coated in wipe on poly and is now dry? What benefit would one get? How dry would it need to be to buff it?

Or is buffing only for the paste or oil finishes?
 
In my opinion, buffing is what makes the difference between a good finish and a great one. I buff nearly everything I make, both lathe stuff and flatwork. While it's especially important on glossy finishes, it also improves a satin or semi-gloss as well. Rub a finger lightly over something you've finished. Do you feel any little bumps or irregularities? I'm not talking about in the wood, but in the finish itself. Buffing can get rid of those.

For small things (like turned items or small flatwork projects), I prefer to use buffing wheels. I have adaptors for both of my lathes and separate wheels for each buffing compound I use. In some cases, I use the common "tripoli/white diamond/wax" trio. The tripoli and white diamond compounds are fine abrasives (tripoli is coarser than white diamond), and the wax is a finishing touch that adds slightly to the protection of the piece. Most folks use carnauba wax, but I'm not fond of the results I get with it, so I apply Renaissance micro-crystalline wax by hand, and buff it out with a dry buffing wheel (or a microfiber towel, in some cases.) Other times, I only use a single buffing compound, called PL compound and sold by Don Pencil. Best I can tell, it's somewhere between tripoli and white diamond on the abrasive scale, but it's also in a bit stickier carrier and behaves a bit differently than the other two. I can get good results just using the PL compound followed by wax.

For larger pieces (like my pool cue case), I've used automotive rubbing compound, followed by automotive polishing compound, then wax. I applied each by hand and rubbed out the irregularities as I went. You can also use pumice and rottenstone, with either a light oil (like mineral oil) or water as a carrier. Much like rubbing, polishing, or buffing compounds, they are just a very fine abrasive, with one (pumice) being a bit coarser than the other.

Regardless of the method you use, you do need to be careful to not buff too hard, or you risk going through the finish. This causes bad words to be said. Don't ask me how I know this. :rolleyes: I think pretty much any finish can be buffed, including polyurethane, lacquer, shellac, and even bare wood. If you're buffing a finish, it's important for it to be cured, but I suspect your poly is ready to be buffed after a couple days of waiting.
 
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