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Hi all,

I was buffing out my guitars using the "tripoli" and "diamond" bars from Lee Valley as seen here: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=46880&cat=1,190,43040 When I upgraded my buffing set up I switched over to the Menzerna medium and fine bars since that's what most people seem to be recommending. The Menzerna bars work great but what I am finding (that I didn't find with the Lee Valley bars) is buffing compound "dust" getting all over my shop. My tools are getting coated with the stuff.

I've seen lots of buffing set ups posted here on the forum but I haven't noticed too many that are in any sort of enclosures. Do other people not have problems with this? Am I doing something wrong? If others do have their buffing wheels somehow partially enclosed to capture errant compound debris, I'd be interested in pictures and an opinion on how well the enclosure works.

Thanks,
Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

If the weather allows (and it does alot here in North Carolina) I take my buffer outside. It makes a mess. When I buff inside I have my exhaust fan on, but it doesn't do much good. I suppose some kind of hood hooked to a dust collector would be good but I don't have a dust collector hooked to the shop when I do my buffing.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Same problem. I just cope. In your hair, pasting your skin, breezes around the safety glasses into your eyes...

I only experience the issues described when I have new buffs. With that in mind, try raking your buffs more often(at least each session), for longer periods(don't just touch the buff with the rake for a second; get aggressive with it) and give your buff(s) a "haircut" often, to cut away the long/loose, stray fibers.

And use more compound. The compounds themselves are relatively heavy, and will fall to the ground; it's the buffs' fibers that are floating around in the air, so that's a sure sign that:

a) the buffs are still new, fresh, and/or haven't been dressed enough

and/or

b) the buffs are being run too "dry"(IE; not enough compound).

Remember that a dry buff is coarser than a charged one(the compounds are finer than the raw buff itself).

Thanks Mario, my buffing wheels are indeed new. I'll give your suggestions a try.

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Yep, it's messy, even on used buffs (It's Mezerna, not fibers from buffs..........athough maybe it has something to do with the type of buffs. I'm using Canton from Caswell). I use a flexible arm type light that I put about shin level shining up (so you can really see the reflection bouncing back and progress/scratches etc). By the end of a session, it's full of dry but pastyish Mez powder.

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Dave
Milton, ON

I'm going to try your original compounds.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Hey Pat,

We used to buff up to 20 propeller blades a day with a buffer system very similar to the systems used for guitars. The mess was manageable but it required quite an investment in filtration booths. We had five walk-in booths. Before we had the booths it was basically disgusting. After the booths things were spic and span throughout the entire shop.

The point is....if you're going to buff you should isolate the system in a room, closet, or booth....otherwise your shop will be covered with this stuff.

New wheels are messy but they settle down pretty quick. Yes...make sure you have a wheel rake. This will greatly increase the life of the wheel but raking won't put the wheel back to a new state where the fibers fly all over the place.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Thanks for the replies. I do have a wheel rake and I'll give it a try. I have to say though, if I do determine that it's the compound that's getting all over the place, I'll switch back to the bars from Lee Valley. They worked just fine and without the mess.

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.