Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm using the 14" buffs for the 1" arbore from Stewmac. The fibers in the buffs are scratching the finish. I've dressed and trimmed them as per recommendation from SM, but am still not completely happy with the final results. Let me say that the finish looks very good! I just want better... Any recommendations?

Thanks, Michael

I use flannel and cotton wheels from grizzly
I also use mazzerna 18 16 and maquires swirl remover and 3 m products.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Try less pressure on the final compounds. And make sure to reload the compound often, let the compound do the work, not the buff.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

I use the StewMac buffs and I can tell you it takes a long time to really break them in and get them trimmed properly. I still rake and trim mine every so often and they get better with each use. I use scissors parallel with the face of the buff edge to trim the buffs so they are flat when spinning, making sure to snip off any stray threads that stick out. I wet sand with 800 and 1000, then buff with Menzerna coarse, medium, and fine on three dedicated buffs. I've found that I have to buff with the coarse several times to get all the wet sanding scratches out. The coarse buffing scratches then buff out pretty easily with the medium and fine. Anytime I find scratches left, its almost always due to not enough time on the coarse wheel. Rake and recharge the buffs often as you work. Little pieces of compound that harden on the buffs will scratch and have to be removed via the rake.

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It will probably be alright.

I have the Stew mac wheels also...and they are scratching too. Plan to send em back.....will be trying the Jescar wheels next.

Try using Flannel and Like Brian said Light touch load often.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Having tired lots of differnet brands and suppliers I currently ended up with this company:

http://eickelit.de/

Really very good, not cheap, but for sure worth every cent.

Compounds menzerna....

cheers, alex

wonder if they have any north american distributors. looks like good stuff

John and Howard, how many times would you say was "often."

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"I've been had again"
Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

you have to watch the surface. When I don't see a dust layer follow the wheel I reload. I am also feeling the surface. you don't want to build up a lot of heat. the more you load the less heat. Yes it will feel warm. It is all in the touch. There are times you push but as you get closer to the final buff it is all about finesse and touch.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

John, do you buff in multiple directions or do you follow the predominant grain of the wood?

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Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

I do not worry about following the grain of the wood. You have to be aware of how the buff is coming off the edges....even the soundhole. Buffing into an edge can grab the guitar out of your hands or burn through. There is a definite feel that you need to develop for this. It is easy to miss abrasions from sanding or the previous compound, so be sure that what you are seeing is actually not from a previous compound. Also final finish off the wheels will depend on what compound you finish with. Those of you finishing with GW16 may want to consider going up to Atol6.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Thanks for all of the suggestions and advice!

I hadn't considered using a heavy buff compound to start. I do use separate buffs for each compound. I will also work on breaking in my SM buffs more. I will try a lighter touch on the last pass, and load the buffs more often.

Herr Dalbergia, I will try to track some of these down next time we are in Germany. Most of my wife's family live around Hamburg.

M

Cheers,

Clean the buffing compound residue from the surface when changing to a finer compound. I also often back up to course compound if I see marks I missed when using medium or go back to medium after fine if I see issues. These work real well http://www.caswellcanada.ca/shop/acryli ... wheel.html also a caswell site in USA.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Often I don't see the scratches until I go to finer grits... I have had to go back more than once...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Me too.

I don't really mind unless I have to change a buff wheel.

Thanks for the link Fred - I assume you use two of these doubled up on each side?

Rob

Getting ready to buy a shop fox buffing assembly. I have a 1/3hp motor, a v belt ,not sure what size pulley needs to go on the motor . The fox is a 3/4in rod with a 3 step pulley. I/m assuming I can buy 2, 12in buffers . I/m not sure where to buy them or from whom.? John says flannel and cotton . I need one for rough polishing after 4000 abralon and 1 for final buffing out .Any recommendations. It/s a subject I/ not familiar with .Thanks for your help.