Polishing Nitro With Dual Action Sander

[Hydrogeoman]

Happy New Year Everyone.

I am trying to decide whether to get this arbor buffing system from Stewmac:

Buffing arbor

or

will this dual-action sander that I already own do an decent job in polishing my nitro finishes (I have yet to complete a final wet sand and polish)?

Porter Cable DA Sander

I bought the Porter Cable outfit with several different foam pads and Menzerna liquid polish, glaze, and finishing wax for polishing my car. It works great for that, but it does not spin like a drill, rather it oscillates much like a random orbit palm sander. I was not sure if it will produce enough friction to get a glass like finish in the nitro.

I know many get good results with the finesse pads, but since I already have a fair amount invested in the car polisher I was wondering if anybody has used one of these on guitars with any success. Please help me fight my tool buying addiction if possible

Thanks,

Greg

[Drak]

I don't honestly think any orbital sander will do the job properly, you need to build up some HEAT to really get 'er done the right way.

If you buy the StewMac buffer, buy a few extra wheels, you'll need one for each different product you use.

Or you could just buy a few of their polishing pads, they're pretty cheap ($15.00 or so?), and all you need is a good drill, that's what I use and they work great in the absence of a good pedestal buffer system, although if you have the money to spend, the pedestal buffer would be the preferred way to go.

[johnsilver]

Or you could just buy a few of their polishing pads, they're pretty cheap ($15.00 or so?), and all you need is a good drill, that's what I use and they work great in the absence of a good pedestal buffer system, although if you have the money to spend, the pedestal buffer would be the preferred way to go.

I also used the StewMac foam pads in my hand held drill to apply buffing compound. However, on my last guitar, after buffing out with the foam pads, I used a random orbital sander to apply the swirl remover for the final gloss. I think it worked well for that.

[Hydrogeoman]

Or you could just buy a few of their polishing pads, they're pretty cheap ($15.00 or so?), and all you need is a good drill, that's what I use and they work great in the absence of a good pedestal buffer system, although if you have the money to spend, the pedestal buffer would be the preferred way to go.

I also used the StewMac foam pads in my hand held drill to apply buffing compound. However, on my last guitar, after buffing out with the foam pads, I used a random orbital sander to apply the swirl remover for the final gloss. I think it worked well for that.

Thanks guys, I think I will give the drill method a go for the polishing and then try the glaze and wax with the random orbit sander for starters.

I have been looking at buying the parts needed to make my own buffing arbor setup similar to the Stewmac (Shopfox) setup. I think I can do build the whole thing (less motor) for about half the cost. I will post some pics when I get it put together (unless I get lazy and break down an just buy the setup )

Cheers

[MiKro]

Happy New Year Everyone.

I am trying to decide whether to get this arbor buffing system from Stewmac:

Buffing arbor

or

will this dual-action sander that I already own do an decent job in polishing my nitro finishes (I have yet to complete a final wet sand and polish)?

Porter Cable DA Sander

I bought the Porter Cable outfit with several different foam pads and Menzerna liquid polish, glaze, and finishing wax for polishing my car. It works great for that, but it does not spin like a drill, rather it oscillates much like a random orbit palm sander. I was not sure if it will produce enough friction to get a glass like finish in the nitro.

I know many get good results with the finesse pads, but since I already have a fair amount invested in the car polisher I was wondering if anybody has used one of these on guitars with any success. Please help me fight my tool buying addiction if possible

Thanks,

Greg

Have you looked at Grizzly? Buffing Arbor

Saves a few $$

mk

[manquesa]

Heck, I was in Sears the other day and I came across this baby -- http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?...UseBVCookie=Yes

Pretty cheap and you don't even have to attatch a motor, it already has one. I'm thinking about picking one up.

EDIT: after looking at that sears buffer again, i'm thinking 3450 rpm is way too fast, seeing as Stew Mac recomends only 862 rpm for theirs.

Edited January 3, 2007 by manquesa

[Hydrogeoman]

Have you looked at Grizzly? Buffing Arbor

Saves a few $$

mk

Mikro, I have checked out the Grizzly, but did not find buffing wheels of the same diameter and bore size as what Stewmac carries. Grizzly's "guitar" buffing wheels do not come in the 3/4" bore that is on the arbor. Since I would probably have to get the buffing wheels from someone other than Grizzly, the slightly lower cost of the arbor gets offset by additional shipping for a second vendor for the wheels. All in all, the Stewmac complete setup looks to be about the same $$ after all is said and done and I would only have to deal with one vendor.

I still may give the home-made route a shot since I already have a spare electric motor laying around.

Cheers,

Greg

[Hydrogeoman]

Heck, I was in Sears the other day and I came across this baby -- http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?...UseBVCookie=Yes

Pretty cheap and you don't even have to attatch a motor, it already has one. I'm thinking about picking one up.

EDIT: after looking at that sears buffer again, i'm thinking 3450 rpm is way too fast, seeing as Stew Mac recomends only 862 rpm for theirs.

Manquesa, that is pretty cheap, but you are right, too high of an rpm. You might be able to rewire it to run half-speed 1725 rpm, but may end up smoking it. I'm sure some more electrically savy PGers could say for sure whether it could be done or is a bad idea.

[Hydrogeoman]

Eureka! I found this in the Grizzly catalog and thought I would pass it along if anybody is interested in building there own buffing arbor on the cheap. Originally, I was looking to assemble this unit from pieces, but this accomplishes the job more economically.

Buffing mandrel