I appreciate all the information, however what you have described is a bit over my head. I have read all of your threads and visited the caswell and buffnstuff sites,and understand now that compounds should never be mixed, wheels should be stored when not in use, cleaned periodicaly, and concentric sewn wheels are better than spiral sewn. It seems that all the sources I've checked sell spiral sewn wheels (on the more ridgid cotton wheels) only. I have found concentrically sewn soft flannel wheels as well as medium and hard muslin. Being the shoestring beginner, I have only my bench mounted grinder and can not get into belts at this time. I am planning to use;one sewn cotton wheel with black emery, one with white rouge, one with brown tripoli, and one with green steel color. Also one soft sewn flannel with green steel color, and one with plastic compound. How does that sound, and where can I place Muslin and Sisel wheel buffing into this formula? THANKS, (still a bit confused) Walker

Whether the wheel is spiral sewn or circular sewn makes no difference, the critical factor is the spacing of the rows of stitching. Too close together and the wheel glazes over and won't cut. I prefer about 1/2" spacing between rows of stitching.

I use only cotton wheels and belt everything to remove scratches before buffing on a 400 grit cork belt with green compound. Too much buffing washes out grind lines and accents grain irregularities in the steel.

I never use emory cake to buff and use brown tripoli only on aluminum or brass. For steel I use green cut and colour followed by white on occasion, most times the green does the job all by itself.

The key to buffing is to remove all scratches BEFORE buffing, if they show up during buffing go back and remove the scratches.

Buffing wheels are very dangerous so the less time spent buffing the better.

i agree with george on this one:
Buffing wheels are very dangerous so the less time spent buffing the better
the buffer is probably the MOST dangerous tool in my shop.

I've missed out on the start of this thread and I've not visited the forum in a few weeks ... I would add that it's most important to wipe all the water off your blade after you dip it in your cooling bucket before going back to the buffer.... Most new comers use too much compound and don't clean the buff when they should...seems the older I get the less compound I use.... I rely more on the Cork belt with less pressure to get me where I'm wanting to go.... To watch Rod Chappel buff a large blade was a thing of beauty... Does anyone know if He's still making knives..??

Here's pretty much all I know about polishing:

http://ckdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3519

I use Jim Poplin's 8" YELLOW, GLUED loose/unsewn, except for about 1" around the hole, buffs stacked up to 3/4" - 1" in thickness. That's all I use and with SS 306 RCH Green Chrome compound, mostly, or the SS 303 White Chrome, if I am polishing bighorn or something that I don't want green or black in the grain.

I never take them off of the spindle and clean them with a wheel rake when they seem to need it. I use plenty of compound, nothing happens if there is no abrasive there. Try it any way you can think of and you'll settle in on a process that works for you. Don't, however, ever be afraid of trying something new, lots of smart, skilled polishers out there!!

Hope this helps. You'll get many, many times more and easier success wth a belt grinder, then a buffer. I'm not sure I understand your process of polishig with buffing wheel only....

Rod is still making knives, and is selling at least some through Les Robertson.

The purists in the crowd would have a fit if they saw the rack of unprotected buffing wheels hanging on the wall behind my buffer getting contaminated by all sorts of stuff.

I put a wheel on and scrape it with a rake if it is particularly dirty and go to town. It usually takes less than 30 seconds to lose all of the buffing compound applied to a wheel intentionally anyhow so what is the big deal about super sanitary conditions?

Thanks Gabe... Great thread Steve.....