Buffing Tool

[daveq]

Is this worth considering? Any suggestions on features/capacities for finishing guitars?

[Jehle]

I suppose if you are planning on building and buffing a lot of guitars that it would be worth it. At my current pace of 2 guitars a year, it would be too much for me.

[MzI]

i thought that if your going with a buffing wheel like that it has to be variable speed, something i saw on Trucks!, they said that too high of a speed and you can go right thru the finish, just what i heard them say so by no means take my advise without doin a lil research

MzI

[krazyderek]

i have a grinder with s wheel, one ruff one fine, was thinking about just buying a large buffing wheel for one of both sides and just fitting it on there, anybody think tha would work? doees a grinder spin way to fast like MZI is mentioning?

[www]

Also most grinder arbors are too short too accomodate a guitar!

[daveq]

That's one thing I wasn't sure about the grizzly buffer - will it be too short? Are there any good substitutes for a tool like this?

[krazyderek]

even with a really big diameter wheel?

[MzI]

if the bench top grinder does work speed wise, why not have it angled so one wheel sits over the edge of the bench or even make a separate stand so its free standing and you can put a large wheel on there and be able to move the guitar around

MzI

[BLS]

Stewmac sells a stand for buffers like that http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supp...fer_Outfit.html Harbor frieght has them too http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...itemnumber=3184

[MzI]

^^ that first one is exactly like i was thinkin of, but what a waste of money, i wouldnt give them $50 for that thing, just make one

MzI

[krazyderek]

for 450$ that thing better have robotic arms that take the guitar and automatically buff the guitar after you press the on button...

[LGM Guitars]

Depending on what the wheel RPM is it might work ok, I'm going to guess with a 3450rpm motor though that it is going to be to fast for guitar buffing. On a pedestal buffer, you don't really want much more than 800 rpm on the wheels which is probably about what you get on the stew mac one with the 1100 rpm motor.

As for the stew mac one, you get what you pay for, I've seen their buffer and it's worth $450, it will be my next bigger purchase when I can afford it. Try putting that entire setup together with individual pieces for less than $450.

[www]

Buffing machines Lower cost than Stew Mac

[Simo]

Now I'm no expert on buffing guitars but I do run a small mail order business selling metal polishing kits mainly to bike trade. I would say that a grinder would be too fast for buffing guitars, but I've only polished metal so I could be wrong.

PS: If anyone in the UK wants mops etc let me know

[westhemann]

yeah you gotta be careful...i tried buffing a laquer fretboard with a demel once....burned through in seconds flat...had to redo it all

[LGM Guitars]

Buffing machines Lower cost than Stew Mac

Not much lower, look at the pricing.

1100RPM buffing machine only $245

Stand....................................$25

If you don't buy the kit, you are missing....

2 x 8" x 1/2" Spiral Sewn Wheels

2 x 8" x 1/2" Sisal Wheels

2 x 8" x 1/2" Loose Cotton Wheels

2 x 8" x 1/2" Canton Flannel Wheels

2 x 4" x 1/2" Spiral Sewn Wheels

2 x 4" x 1/2" Sisal Wheels

2 x 4" x 1/2" Loose Cotton Wheels

2 x 4" x 1/2" Canton Flannel Wheels

1 x six pack Assorted Jumbo Buffing Compounds

1 Wheel Rake

Then you still have to buy the pads, wheels, rake, flanges, etc etc etc.

It might be a bit less than stew mac, but not much

If you buy the 6 wheels the stew mac kit comes with, that is $72 more, then all the polishing compounds that come with the stew mac kit are $42 to buy them all seperately, the rake is $14

So you're at $398 without buying the proper mounting flanges yet.

So yes, you can do it slightly cheaper, my point was that the Stew mac one isn't a rip off at $450, and doesn't need to have robotic arms as was suggested earlier

[daveq]

OK, I need to dig this one back up again-

What are you guys using if you're not using one of these $300 - $400 buffers then? Is there anything that will work safely but doesn't cost that much? Is it possible to buff/polish by hand?

I'm not looking to knock PRS off the market with my guitars but I do want to do right by them. I put a ton of work/time into them and don't want to cheap out now.

On the other hand - if buying one of these is overkill for someone who only builds 6 guitars a year - what can I use instead?

Even if some of you don't know the "right" answer, I'd like to hear what you have been using just to get some idea of what my options might be.

Has anyone used micromesh with good results on a nitro finish?

Thanks,

Dave

[Setch]

If your posts here are any indication you'll be fine buffing by hand - all it takes is hard work and patience.

I sand to 2000, then buff by hand with 'Rustin's Burnishing paste', a dedicated liquid for use with 'Rustin's Plastic Coating'. At times you feel a bit like popeye, but you can achieve a very good gloss.

[Guitarfrenzy]

LGM makes a valid point, the time and effort you'd have to put into saving you money probably isn't worth wondering if it's as good as if you'd spent a little more and get one that been built just for that application. When I started out I thought Stew Mac was a big rip off, but after being burnt by so many other companies and having items just not live up to expectations. I found out that Stew Mac wasn't that bad, considering how I don't have to worry about the quality of what they sell, and knowing it will be shipped to me as fast as possible. I had bought some wood from Exoticwoods.com and although the wood was decent, it hadn't been planed, squared up or anything, so I ended up doing alot of extra steps and didn't save a dime in the process. This time I just ordered 4 hard maple neck blanks from Stew Mac to see what quality their wood would be, and let me tell you, they don't sell you any junk, it's all quality wood, no knots etc. So it's just the idea of knowing that what your spending your money on is gonna be worth it, and less hassle to you. Sorry if I sound like a Stew Mac personnel, but it's the truth.

[westhemann]

I just ordered 4 hard maple neck blanks from Stew Mac to see what quality their wood would be, and let me tell you, they don't sell you any junk, it's all quality wood, no knots etc. So it's just the idea of knowing that what your spending your money on is gonna be worth it, and less hassle to you. Sorry if I sound like a Stew Mac personnel, but it's the truth.

yeah...i have to say i have had nothing but good experiences with them

[daveq]

If your posts here are any indication you'll be fine buffing by hand - all it takes is hard work and patience.

OK, thanks Setch - I guess I'll give it a try then. I'll try to hunt down that paste.

Frenzy, Wes - I think we agree on that. I've spent a lot of money on stewmac tools and have not regretted buying any of them yet. I just can't justify buying a $400 buffer - maybe someday.

Thanks for the replies.

[Guitarfrenzy]

daveq, I couldn't justify it either, but after I looked into building one myself that has the right rpm, size, etc. etc. I ended up not doing anything at all at them moment because if I'm gonna buy one, I will probably end up getting the Stew Mac one, simply because I won't have the headache of having to build one or wonder if it's gonna work right in the first place. And since you wouldn't really be saving that much, if you did get one, might as we'll get one that they'd stand behind. I know I sounded like I worked for Stew Mac, but like Wes and you have said, no matter how hard you want to hate them, you end up using them more and more, since at least you'll know what your getting is gonna be of good quality, and that's something that other companies have really let me down with so far. LMI is a good company also, but since they aren't much cheaper anyway, and Stew has many more specialized tools and such, I tend to just buy from Stew just so I can get it all with one order and save with shipping.

[www]

Hope no one thought I was dissing Stew Mac! I am a customer and their service is excellent. Excellent point DRAK!

[daveq]

I don't have any issues with stewmac. I wish their prices were cheaper but I could say that for a lot of companies. If that's what it takes for them to stay in business - I'm all for it. It would be a sad, sad day if they ever went out of business.

Thanks again for the help on this one everybody.

[LGM Guitars]

Dave,

Unless you are using the 2 part Urethanes or Poly Esters, the finesse polishing pads from stew mac work great http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supp...ishing_Pad.html

Just use a drill that can do at least 1000rpm, (1500 is better, but 1000 will work fine) and use their buffing compounds, coarse, medium, and fine, be sure and buy 3 pads though and use one per grit of compound. They're a little pricy, but they last a long time and work good. The will work fine if you use the 2 part paints too, it just takes more time since the paint is so hard to begin with.

I polished a great deal of guitars with a hand drill and those finesse pads, they all looked great when finished. You can also use any automotive power polisher, I have a nice big power polisher for when I do cars or bike's and stuff like that but for guitars you really would want to build a stand for the polisher so that you can move the guitar body around, otherwise, if you set the body on the bench and use the buffer on it, your chances of flinging the body across the room are pretty high.