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Just build me a buffing maching similar to stew macs. and WOOOOW what difference in polishing guitars. it alike night and day to use this machine. here are some shots of my latest guitar buffed by this machine.. may be hard to see the shine but man this was fuuuun.

Lars

Exactly. I can't imagine doing it any other way. I never had to.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Hey, Lars,
Please post some pics of your shop-made buffer. I'd enjoy seeing how you made it.
Thanks,
Patrick

Me too!

Already did the big wow, it grabbed the body and throw it to the floor I was a little lucky though, it hit the cable you see on the photo so it only got 2 smaller marks that I could easily fix. but I sure know that wow feeling following stiffness to the body then a big AAAAARRGGGHHHHH. hahaha. Still what a difference compared to my old way to buff ( see photo)

Patric, Hope these photos helps

Love them but DANG do they make a mess of my shop!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Big +1 to that.

Lars, flip that thing over so you get everything hanging down, you'll have less chance of bumping a body on those big corners. Just switch the lead and ground wire in the motor and the motor will sping the opposite direction.

Yours is very similar to mine, I made mine so it mounts to a wall (I can take it down by removing 7 screws), mounted this way gets everything up above the plane of buffing (if you know what I mean).

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Thanks, Lars and Rod. Interesting the way you guys developed your designs so similarly. Sorry to hear your guitar got tossed, Lars, but I'm glad it was not badly damaged. Nice work, guys.
Patrick

Thanks Rod for the tip !! . Its temporarily clamped now will find a better place for it soon. ! will try to make it as you suggested ..

Lars

Nice home made machine!

Can you tell me approximately the speed of this kind of buffing wheel? How many rpm?

Q.

I run mine at 2:1 so around 860 rpm, I think I'd like it a bit faster around 1000 rpm though.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Is there a tutorial on buffing somewhere? I would like to see it demonstrated what not to do.
And of course what to do.
MM

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Mike McNerney

Ok that's not really fast in fact.
Thank you for the information.

Rod and Lars, can I ask -
What power are the motors?
What size of wheels, diameter/Width?
What type or grade are the buffs?
I just got an arbour (27" shaft, a little shorter than I wanted)) and am looking to set up a similar buffing system
Any advice very welcome.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I think this one is pretty decent: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Abrasives,_polishes,_buffers/Guitar_Buffing_Arbor.html?tab=Video#details

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That is the truth! Every time I go near the buffer I get the hebe jebes, even though I only had such a mistake happen once. Bill Hardin almost lost his hand on a buffer!

Lars I am sure that rotary buffer will still be really useful for touchup work on the bench!

My motor is 1/4hp
Wheels, you mean pullies? 2" on the motor, 4" on the buffer shaft. The shaft is 1" dia.
Canton flannel buffs, 12" from LMI.

Do a search for buffer with my name and you will find a few threads from last fall where I was asking all the questions as I just did mine then.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Snap.....Youch! LOL.

I think the faster speed will help cut a bit better. I find I really have to dig in or spend a lot of time at the buffer to get a deep mirror shine so maybe a bit more speed will help, but won't get me too close to burn through.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Rod, I would say you are about 800 RPM with those pully sizes......so you probably would benefit from a little more speed. I think I used a 1 3/4" pulley on the motor and 3.05" pulley on the shaft for 924 RPM. My setup is similar to Rod's (looked at his pics and post when building mine). I also used a 1/4HP motor based on advise from John Hall and I keep the belt loose so if I put too much pressure it will stall the buffing wheels. I bought the pulleys and bearings off e-bay. Cheapest place I found to get buffing wheels was having them made by Menzerna.

BTW, a 1" shaft seems to be an oddball size for buffing wheels. 1 1/4" and 3/4" are standard sizes it seems and I could have bought those sizes off the shelf from Menzerna. They custom made the 1" wheels but still a good price. The problem is finding a flange for a 1" shaft as it costs a bit to have a set custom made. I finally found a flange for a 1" shaft at a decent price at Grizzly.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Here´s my setup. and please do help me calculate the speed of mine to.... I am lost at that...

Motor is 2800 rpm 1,7 HP ( 1.25KW) 380V 50HZ
3" thingy on the motor
4,5" thingy on the
3/4" shaft (34" long)
12" polishing pads ( 2 on each side )

It sure makes a mess though

Lars.

Yeah, I would like to know how to calculate that.
Nice job Lars!

Lars,

This is the formula:

Motor speed X Drive Pulley Diameter / Driven Pulley Diameter

In your case:

2800 x 3 / 4.5 = 1866.666.... RPM

At 12" diameter the speed at the edge of the buffing wheel is:

1866.667(RPM) x 1(diameter in feet) x 3.14 (pi)= 5861.333 Feet per Minute

So you are working over a mile per minute!

Mark

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A world without music would Bb.

You wouldn't find me using one of those! Don't wish to be a killjoy but at least cover the belt guys.

Good point Michael. .

So my machine is real fast. I would say to fast but as is, its working perfect, so far no burn through. have to be careful I guess. or is it recommended to get me a slower motor ?

Lars

Yes, I'd slow it down for sure. Just get a smaller "thingy" pully for the motor, go down to 1-3/4" or 2" for a speed between 1100-1200rpm.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson