Thanks so much for making the video I asked for. I have a set of those wheels but didn’t see the same results. Now I know it was user error on my part. I was too timid to put that much pressure on the blade. I’ve heard the horror stories about buffers and seen some of the after effects, so wasn’t really into it. Now I feel safer and I’m sure my blades will look better. Thanks again
Thanks for the helpful advice on polishing blades.. I struggle sometimes getting the finish just right. This will help me a lot. As usual great video and very helpful! Keep grinding 👍👍
36-120-220-320. Then grey compound on a sisal wheel, then white compound on a nuway cotton wheel. This works for aluminum, brass, stainless. Also you are limiting the use of your wheels by having them mounted to a bench. You need them on a pedestal so you can work from behind to use the top of the wheel and all the debris will fly forward and away. Also you can polish long pieces in the top of the wheel and use gravity as a helper. Lastly on your technique, there is a cut stroke (going against the wheels rotation) and the leave off polish stroke, (going the same direction as the wheel). There is an art to polishing metal. I’m used to be a metal finisher at Livers Bronze CO. In KCMO. I’ve polished lots of steel, brass, copper and aluminum. I wish I could come to your shop and show you a few tips.
I've tried a couple different methods including the airway wheels. I had trouble removing scratches from the 3 wheel kit from Red-Label (even using the included abrasives). I've had success using a sisal wheel after sanding. It's very good at removing sanding marks and doesn't seem to take as much pressure as the airway wheels. I'll give the extra-coarse airway a try.
Thanks for sharing this Matt. Tried using this system a little while ago on a damascus blade, but had issues with the etch being very patchy which I'm sure had to do with compound still being on the blade. What do you use to clean the blade after buffing, but before the etch?
Id rather take a beating than to have to hand sand. Is there a belt progression that can minimize it? Like maybe up to 400 and then a series of trizact and conditioning belts?
Can you (relatively easily) polish Magnacut at 63 HRC with this setup? I've got the Maveric/Combat wheels and compound - It's super easy buffing on Damascus and carbon steel, but darn it takes me about a forever and a half to polish Magnacut. Let me know if those make it much easier. Cheers
@@gentrycustomknives8008 thanks for the reply! Wasn’t sure if the Red Label wheels were more aggressive on harder steels. Also, where do you find the super coarse wheel and compound? Can’t seem to find it on RL’s website. Cheers
Except buffing from a low grit to a mirror orange peels the surface. Might be able to hide it on camera but somebody that knows what a proper mirrored blade looks like is gonna call it out.
@@gentrycustomknives8008 Anything under 1500 but ideally 3k or higher before polishing for a show knife worthy finish. For that dead flat mirror with no ripples, waves or dips in the finish.
Id be careful encouraging people to use a buffer without a lot of good safety first information. Its the most dangerous machine in most peoples shop and if not respected it will hurt or even kill you like it has done to many makers already.
@@gentrycustomknives8008 Wearing long sleeves is always a bad idea when using a buffer or anything that spins. And you also are buffing above the center line sometimes. So if it does grab and throw the blade it will shoot it right at your legs.
