bench wood buffer

[Alexam]

I have a bench grinder with two wheels and dont use it that often. I have thoiught of converting one side to a wood buffer for polishing small jewellery boxes after sanding and sealing.

At a recent show, I was told that a bench grinder was too fast for wood buffing/polishing. Can someone please explain why this is because there are lots of coversion kits available to convert bench grinders to wood polishers.

Should I really be looking for a dedicated bench buffer that has variable speed? If so, please identify something worth looking at.

 

[marcros]

I have used my grinder and an adaptor. Nothing to compare it to but it worked on tool handles and hard wax oil.

Thepolishingshop.co.uk is a good source of bits.

 

[Normancb]

It's usually recommended to go at about 3000 SFM for wood and up to 7000 SFM for buffing metal (slower for polishing). If you have a 4" wheel the circumference is 1 ft so rpm = SFM and you could go up to 3000 rpm. For an 8" wheel, a 1750 rpm motor gives you 3500 SFM.

The Beal buffing system uses 8" wheels and recommends 1750 rpm spindle speed

 

[Alexam]

Thanks for the help Marcros & Norman. Might give the conversion on my grinder a try and see how it goes.

Alex