Buffer safety tip

[alexkuzn]

This is from www.bladesforum.com:

I use a scrap of MDF board (the stuff they make cheap moulding out of) - but any scrap of wood would do. Make it a little larger (~ 1/2" all round) than your whole knife and drill a couple holes to match your tang's pin holes. Using a couple bolts and wing nuts, bolt your blade to the wood scrap. I swear, 'grabbing' by the wheel is reduced 95%+

[B.Finnigan]

That would take all of the fun and adventure out of mirror polishing.

[george tichbour]

The larger the piece of wood the less likely the buff will be to grab the entire thing out of your hands. I use a piece of 2X 4 or 2X6 usually, particularly on thin 1/16" blades.

[Andrew Garrett]

I use a cheap 1/5 HP variable speed Delta bench grinder for buffing. Works fine if a bit slower than the big guys. Yet, it has never snatched a blade from my grasp either!

[PaulD]

Andrew,
Don't you mean "I has not snatched a blade from my grasp, yet"

Never under estimate the buffer! Period! Just about when you thimk you can do anything with it, it will send a 100 mph missle around your shop. The best you can hope for is a dinged blade the worst is not pretty and hurts like heck, just before you die.

[Jim Charles]

What a bunch of sissy?s. Do you plan on living forever?

[Andrew Garrett]

I guess you could tie a lanyard through the thong hole and hook it to your belt if you were afraid of a missle!

Hell, that might be fun!

[hammerdownnow]

You never know, till it scares the beejeezus out of you. Hopefully, not if it happens, but, when it happens it is just a lesson and not a death sentence. Knifemaking is fun, but PLEASE heed this one bit of advice and respect the buffer above all else. They have KILLED knifemakers. Experienced knifemakers. Knock on wood. The Sprites are listening.

[PaulD]

I use a 1/2 hp, 1775 rpm motor with 8" dia. buffs directly on the shaft, you do the math.

I polish every thing from jewlery to large car parts for my hobbies and repair work. the only time I have any hint of a problem is when I get lazy and don't do the proper HAND work first. For knives and similar sized work hand finish to at least 600 grit. Use progressivly finer compounds to get the desired finish. I start with a compound about the same as the last hand done grit. Let the speed of the buff do the work. Forcing the work into the buff only blows the compound off faster. don't use too much compound at one time, a 2-3 second application is good. Black streaks mean you need to reapply compound, try to apply before you get them. Very hot water and a well used soft toothbrush will remove most black streaks from the greaseless compounds.

The buffer should be at the same height as your grinder, stand with legs slightly apart and forarms about level. Stay below the horizontal centerline of the buff with the rotation going down on the work side. Do not have the rotation going up.

Use a resperator! Enough said.

[Tarl_cabot]

IMHO, one of the best "buffer safety tips" I have gotten was to "hand tighten" the nut holding the buff on the shaft of the motor/arbor. Don't use a tool, just "finger tight" That way if the buff grabs, the idea is that it will slip on the shaft allowing you to maintain your grip on the blade...

Just .02 from someone who has had his fair share of accidents in the shop (before I started knifemaking), I am recovering from a saw cut to the left hand, severed a major artery & lost enough blood before getting it stopped that when I went in for surgery, the nurse said, "did you know you are anemic?". Lucky I didn't go into shock!

Respect all power tools! Remember what the "three fingered shop teacher" in High School said! "You boys be real careful around that saw!!

Mike Roesch
Chattanooga, TN