Buffing Compound

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
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What color buffing compound is normally used for finishing wood? I have zero experience with this but I just talked to a local knife maker from Rapid River Knifeworks, and while I'm sitting at home hand sanding and trying to put a nice glossy coat of poly on some birdseye, he took a bare wood knife handle, threw it on the buffer for 5 seconds and it looks beautiful!
I briefly looked on USAKnife and they have one made for phenolics and only some woods.....Will this theoretically work with most woods?
 
I use white compound on a clean buff but you still need to sand the wood smooth first I go to 600 grit.
Others will reply and you will find that they do it differently.

Richard
 
Tinbasher said:
I use white compound on a clean buff but you still need to sand the wood smooth first I go to 600 grit.
Others will reply and you will find that they do it differently.

Richard
Click to expand...

Oh yes, I do realize I will still have to sand it smooth. I also go to 600 grit but when coating wood with oils, or poly, sanding between coats seems like a must for me.
 
colu41 said:
Oh yes, I do realize I will still have to sand it smooth. I also go to 600 grit but when coating wood with oils, or poly, sanding between coats seems like a must for me.
Click to expand...

I sand to 2000 or 2500 before buffing stabilized woods.

Eta- I use the white buffing compound as well.
 
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Generally white tends to work best as an all around. Be aware there are several "grits" of white and the industry doesn't help by using vague terms like "medium" and "aggressive". White compounds can be from 1000 grit to nearly 2,000. It depends on the maker.

Trial and error on scrap wood will give you better results. Try not to experiment on the finished knife. Easy to say, hard to do.

Some woods have large pores and build up buff compound to give it a dirty appearance. Seal the pores with tung oil or something else. Sand smooth with a very smooth grit abrasive. Think fine furniture finishing. You may have to repeat this a couple times. Surface prep really makes the difference on buffing up a handle.

Your local home building store will have packs of small sticks of assorted buff compounds fairly cheap to allow you to experiment. Dedicate one wheel per compound.

After white, I find pink no scratch works well for a final gloss as White is generally a cutNcolor, pink is a color/shine.

Avoid using black ("agressive cutting", tripoli (for non-ferrous) or bobbing compound (all around cutting compound). Those are for cutting and will waste your time.
 
tmickley, excellent post/response. I've been wondering about this same thing and I'm so glad you mentioned the different variations in the white. I feel like I can move forward now with the knowledge you shared, thanks a million!
 
tmickley said:
Generally white tends to work best as an all around. Be aware there are several "grits" of white and the industry doesn't help by using vague terms like "medium" and "aggressive". White compounds can be from 1000 grit to nearly 2,000. It depends on the maker.

Trial and error on scrap wood will give you better results. Try not to experiment on the finished knife. Easy to say, hard to do.

Some woods have large pores and build up buff compound to give it a dirty appearance. Seal the pores with tung oil or something else. Sand smooth with a very smooth grit abrasive. Think fine furniture finishing. You may have to repeat this a couple times. Surface prep really makes the difference on buffing up a handle.

Your local home building store will have packs of small sticks of assorted buff compounds fairly cheap to allow you to experiment. Dedicate one wheel per compound.

After white, I find pink no scratch works well for a final gloss as White is generally a cutNcolor, pink is a color/shine.

Avoid using black ("agressive cutting", tripoli (for non-ferrous) or bobbing compound (all around cutting compound). Those are for cutting and will waste your time.
Click to expand...

The white I'm looking at from USA Knife is labeled as 1200 grit.

So you say to seal the pours would stain work for that? Or will I still need to use an oil? I have a huge can of tung oil that I haven't been using so, that will work if need be.
 
colu41 said:
The white I'm looking at from USA Knife is labeled as 1200 grit.

So you say to seal the pours would stain work for that? Or will I still need to use an oil? I have a huge can of tung oil that I haven't been using so, that will work if need be.
Click to expand...

I've heard of them and that sounds about right. Pink will come in around 1900 to 2200, green is higher.

the tung oil will seal the pores up, it may take a couple coats as the first one soaks in and seal. Follow up coats fill the pores.
 
Are buffing compounds normally used on a wheel essentially the same stuff guys imbed into their sharpening strops?
 
I've heard from a few guys the buffing can wash out some of the detail in figured wood. I've also heard CA glue works well for finishing wood handles.
 
I use 1200 grit white alluminum oxide for wood after hand sanding and then use a loose buff with no compound for the final buff. Buff with the grain of the wood, and in one direction buffing compound will not load up as much in the grain and go in that direction. and use light pressure. Avoid overheating the wood.
 
Col Defender said:
Are buffing compounds normally used on a wheel essentially the same stuff guys imbed into their sharpening strops?
Click to expand...

Short answer "generally no"
there are lapping compounds made especially for barbers. Check a barber or or hair cutting supply place for shaving strop compound. A small amount will last nearly forever.

in our shop we use Clover brand "fine" lapping compound machinists use or Flitz will work also.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I really want to get it out of my head that to get a nice smooth glossy finish I need to add poly but, its just a pain in the butt to get it to look good. Coat, wet sand, coat, wet sand... :jerkit:
I'll be ordering some white compound when I'm ready to make my USAknife order.

Thanks again

While I'm on the subject of ordering...Does anyone know where I can get some damn 1084 1/8"x1.5"????? Sold out everywhere and I don't want to keep ordering the 1080 from Texas Knife. Although its probably very similar. I just want to stick to Aldos 1084 but, its never in stock..
 
colu41 said:
Thanks for the tips guys. I really want to get it out of my head that to get a nice smooth glossy finish I need to add poly but, its just a pain in the butt to get it to look good. Coat, wet sand, coat, wet sand... :jerkit:
I'll be ordering some white compound when I'm ready to make my USAknife order.

Thanks again

While I'm on the subject of ordering...Does anyone know where I can get some damn 1084 1/8"x1.5"????? Sold out everywhere and I don't want to keep ordering the 1080 from Texas Knife. Although its probably very similar. I just want to stick to Aldos 1084 but, its never in stock..
Click to expand...



Supposed to be back in stock early this month from what I've heard. I think he may already be taking orders on it.
 
Another quick question. Theres so many different kinds of buffing wheels out there. The compound I'm getting says to use a muslin wheel. Well I looked up some wheels and theres' sewn muslin, loose muslin. What am I looking for here?
I did read somewhere to use a loose muslin wheel with no compound for the final buff. I just need to know I'm buying the right stuff.
I received this homemade 3 motor buffing setup from a family friend. On a "truck rim" stand, with 3 separate motors and wheels, but all the wheels have been heavily used, I would like to replace them.
 
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