Buffing compound

[Dean Center]

I'm at a point where I'd like to start buffing, but don't have the cash for a Beall system. I can locally find buffing wheels, but I'm not sure if the Dico compounds available here are essentially the same as what Beall sells or if they're designed for polishing metal and will screw up my turnings. Any advice?

 

[MichaelMouse]

Grit is Grit. The stuff at Menards, Lowes or Home Depot will do just fine if you decide you want to buff. Just remember to hold on tight, and don't press the buff into the work or it can heat and eat its way through finishes.

Make sure your finish is cured as you regularly do plus a warm week, and don't mix the grits on the same buff.

 

[Vaughn]

Much like sandpaper, grit is grit, but some brands will have a more consistent particle size and give more predictable results than others. I've gotten acceptable results with compounds from the giant retail home centers, but in my opinion there are better choices, and possibly even less expensive.

My current favorite is the PL compound from Don Pencil. It appears to be somewhere between tripoli and white diamond on the abrasive scale, but in a stickier base compound. I use it instead of the tripoli/white diamond combination, and am very happy with the results. (At only $2.45 per bar, it's very affordable, too.) I also prefer Renaissance wax (applied by hand and buffed off with a clean wheel) over carnauba wax, but that's a whole other thread.

Regarding the buffing wheels, I've got various 6" cotton wheels that I've bought at Lowes to use on my mini lathe, and they seem to work fine. I also have a set of wider 8" wheels from Don Pencil that I use on my big lathe. The Pencil buffs are similar to the Beall buffs, in that they use different materials for the different compounds. Although it probably does make a difference to have the specialized fabrics, I've gotten good results with my small all-cotton wheels, too.