Buffing wood?

David Loukides

David Loukides

Joined
Mar 17, 2006
Messages
1,363
Hello,
I just finished buffing some wood knife handles. I can hardly ever keep the stain from the buffing compound or the bolsters from getting deep:thumbdn: into the maple. I have tried cleaning it with actone and other chemicals afterword with no luck. Since I do not stain the maple this turns into a real detraction from the finished knife.:eek:
Any Suggestion???
Thanks
 
yup- don't buff it. I sand wood handles through 1500 -2000 grit, and apply Renaissance or Johnson's paste wax. Works for me.
 
I agree with Don, the only way to keep the buffing compound from staining the wood is to not use it. You can minimize the effect by first waxing the wood until the grain is full of wax, then when buffing use a clean buff for the wood and don't hit the metal surfaces with this buff. If you use nickel silver or any other copper alloy, the metal dust in the buffing compound will leave the black residue in the wood grain. When buffing the wood (maple) use a compound similar in color to the wood. The nail buffs the women use that come in a four grit progression work fairly well, but this is basically the same as Don's suggestion because you age sanding vs buffing with compound.

Jim Arbuckle
 
You can also use "designated" wheels - wheels for only one purpose.
I use one for wood that ONLY touches wood. Just plain, and NEVER put compound on it. Take the wood up to about 1500 and then just a light buff with a clean wheel.
I also have one that only touches antler - NOTHING else. Plain, with no compound. Put a small piece of quick release tape on the guard/bolster.
When you use different compounds, only use that compound on that particular wheel. Never mix 'em up.
 
I also have a seperate fine grade mop for wood only. I use canuba wax onit but that may not be for every one. Mayby another wax or polish but just for wood.

I have cleand a couple of times by buffing some 36 grit paper the top few mm clean out fairly quickly but it does send a fair amount of cloth fibre into the air and your lungs if you don't have a mask on.
 
I used to use an alumina white compound (cylindrical container) that was aprox 1000 grit and with a loose buff and a light touch would even polish polyester to a mirror finish if you did your part. Wouldn't streak and add color to light woods, ivory Micarta, etc. as long as you kept the buff clean and loaded with fresh compound, and didn't go over NS pins and such too much and cause streaking, but if you did, you just hit the streaked area with the buff, keeping clear of the pin/bolt and it would remove the discoloration.
The knifemakers supply company I bought it from no longer carries it, and replaced it with white diamond. The bare bar of that is a dark tan and when I tried the other day to buff a fiberglass stock with it, it scratched like Hell and I was using a very light touch.
It says it's a finishing compound but it's more like 220-320 grit. I was ticked.

Seems like the good stuff that always worked well, is slowly being replaced with cheap crap.:mad::barf:

This stuff goes back tomorrow.
 
Using designated wheels helps,but the real solution is not getting the polish into the wood grain.Use a good professional brand of clear sanding sealer on the handle when it is nearly sanded out (thin it out very thin for the first coats).Apply several coats until the wood is completely sealed.Finish sanding out and apply one more coat (BTW - forget about spray cans of sanding sealer).Sand to the final grit again and polish,Clean up will be much easier since the polish will only be on the surface,not deep in the wood. This is another reason I like stabilized wood. Even with stabilized wood a final sealing is a good idea on some open grain species.
The other way to avoid this is not to "buff" the handle at all - sand to 8000 by hand and buff with carnuba and a soft cloth.The bolster will get shiny at the same time. If you sealed the wood with sanding sealer,it will look like it is made of polished granite.If you need to touch up the bolster/guard after hand sanding the handle- tape off the handle and buff the metal.Remove the tape and give the handle one more quick buff with a soft cloth.
Stacy
 
Use a backing for your sandpaper when doing handles. I use a couple of pieces of 8-9oz leather glued together flesh side in(rough side, so smooth side is out), about 1.5"x2.5-3".

That will keep you from dishing the wood or whatever out around your pins/bolts, etc.
You can easily bend the leather backing to round over edges, or irregular surfaces, and use the ends or edges held straight for flats.

Use good wet or dry paper too. Many people just don't realize what a difference in finish good paper makes over cheap, not to mention the residue left in the grain with some cheap paper.
I use 3M wet or dry. It's worth the little extra as it lasts longer than the cheap stuff to begin with.
 
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