I put together a knife with the laminated gun stock wood and sprayed it with a clear coat that I bought from a knife dealer and then attempted to buff it a little. The first time I went through the coating so I started over again and didn't do it as much. I'm using a 4" wheel on my drill press (not enough room in the shop for another piece of equipment like a grinder/buffer) with some red compound from a local Ace hardware. It said the compound was for wood/plastic for finishing. Is there any help/tips that you all can provide. The results were ok but not a silky smooth as I thought it would be, in fact it has a slight waxy feel to it.. also next time I am using purple heart for the handle and don't want to screw it up, this one was for practice.

dave

welcome to ckdf, dave.
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if your clear coat is meant as a wood finish, i wouldn't buff it at all. on the other hand, if it is meant as a sealer, i'd buff all of the surface stuff off and use the buffed surface as the finish. i usually top that off with a coat of hard wax buffed by hand.

thank you very much for the info. I'm going to have to look up what exactly the clear coat is. If it is a sealer, what kind of hard wax should be used after buffing?

dave

Renaissance wax is a popular conservator's wax from england. it is available from many sources, including the knife supply houses. others use paste wax products meant for flooring, like johnson & johnson's. there are also carnauba products (esp. non-liquid car waxes).

the compound your using is a cutting compound..(rouge) and it will not provide you with polishing characteristics...

you need to sand this with 1200 wet dry ( wet) and then
clean it off really well..let dry 24 hrs. and then apply a clear finish like spray urethane..

if no spray finish..trying to polish this wood should only be done on a
unsewn wide buff at high speed and light pressure..using
"zam"

good luk...

What is 'zam'?

zam is a compound available at many of the knifemaker's supply places. look at the suppliers' list in the supply center forum.

High speed is a" key word" in buffing. Remember high speed = danger.