Official Luthiers Forum!

I've buffed for years using a local music store's buffing system. It's getting too expensive (and time consuming) to drive into town and do this. So I'm putting together a buffer here at my shop. Wahoo!

So... those of you who are real buff, er, I mean who have your own buffers, what size motor are you using? AND-- Are you happy with the amount of power you chose?
Or, put this way: What horsepower would you choose NOW that you know everything you know?

Many thanks in advance for your help here,

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

So far I've only done it by hand rubbing , or with a random orbit buffer, but I do it in the buff.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I use a Grizzly 2hp buffer with 12" wheels.  It does a very nice job and has power to spare.

I use the cheapest motor they had at Harbor Freight the day I bought mine. I don't know what it's rated at, but I'm sure it's pretty low hp.

I take it pretty easy when I buff. I'd rather take an extra 15-20 minutes to buff a guitar than burn through. So I don't need any more power than the cheapest HF motor offers. Maybe a more aggressive luthier would want more.

I use my lather or drill press. Both are 1 hp. The drill press is radial arm, so I can pull it out and turn it sideways.   I'm not saying this is the best way, but I can change speeds and it didn't cost me anything because I already had them. I just chuck up an arbor and use 10" buffing wheels.

_________________
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Steve...Check out Caswell fot the entire works. Ocassionally they run a special where one can purchase the motor, stand and 14" buffs very reasonably. I bought my rig from them about 3 years ago for around $100.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Steve, you don't need a lot of horsepower to run a buffing set-up. I've got a home made set-up that I run with a used 1/3 hp 1725 rpm Baldor motor that has plenty of power to turn ganged 12" buffs.

On mine I can adjust the tension of the drive belt and keep it set pretty loose and I've yet to stall the buffs.

I use a 1 hp 1725 rpm also... mine was an old table saw motor i think.

Matt

    I use the Random oribital . I am building an arbor buffer and am planning 1/4 -1/3 HP. I am one that preferes longer to buff than faster to burn.
    Also I set the buffs so that I can stop them. I threw a finished guitar off one the first time I caught an edge. Not a fun experience
john hall

my setup is shop built, a go kart axle, ~$20.00 and a pair of pillow blocks ~$18.00, from a flea market. i bought some buffs from s-m, and more from caswell when they had a 2 for 1 sale on. couldn't resist. i had originally used an old 1/4 or 1/3 hp motor that i had been given. when it died last year i found a nos 1/4 hp dayton explosion proof motor for <$10.00 on ebay. even with the shipping it was <$20.00. of course i don't need the explosion proof feature but for the price i wasn't going to say no.

i purposely use a small motor to help avoid burn throughs. if you push too hard it will slip or stall and give warnings. it still gives ample power if you are using correct technique, and if you're not, a bigger motor is a safety hazard for the operator and the guitar. i guess i just like to be safe rather than sorry.

I just put my first one together, following a plan in one of the Stew-Mac Shop Tips that is emailed these days. They recommend a 1/3 hp motor. I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

I'm planning on putting together a buffer soon but for now I'm using a random orbital and get surprisingly good results.   

_________________
Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Steve,

I have shop fox with 3/4 hp and 12" domet wheels and it works fine.

Check out Sylvan wells' site. He has a whole article on the parma system, it looks like a good rig.

We missed you at the LINT meeting, big turn out, 28 people in Chris' living room.

_________________
Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Steve, Check with your local HVAC guys. My friend holds motors for me when they remove furnaces from homes. Many of the motors are 1725rpm and 1 HP. Buy your self a few pulleys and your buffing for the cost of the pulleys and buffs.

I'd sat go at least 3/4 hp, Mine is 1/2 or so and I have to give the wheels a spin as I turn it on or it won't start. Next time I'll make my own and use a bigger motor. My buffer is the Shop fox from Grizzly, very similar to Stewmac's original buffer.

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Hi Steve,

I use the Stew Mac buffer with a 1/2 hp Baldor Farm Duty motor that I picked up on ebay....there is no way you can stop that thing from spinning with a guitar body, it has plenty of power. I think(from what I remember) it's final gearing has it spinning in the 800-900 rpm range.

Greg

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

I use a car style double handled buffer that has a 12" pad with 3 apron options for the pad. Obital style. Works great, cost little, and the guitar will not jump out of your hand and hit the floor.

Mike

the fact that you can't stop it with the guitar body is the source of a potential problem, not a solution, particularly for those who use a waterbourne finish. i would still prefer not to have the problem.

if you burn through nitro it is usually no big deal to patch up. but burn through waterbourne and you usually have to strip the finish of and re finish to avoid the witness lines.

if you are uniformly attentive, always perfectly attuned to the pressure you are exerting, never so careless as to present to much of an edge, in short if your are always perfect in your buffing operations you won't have a problem with a bigger, more powerful motor.

i'm not so perfect, in fact a bit of an oaf, and need the extra bit of protection that the smaller motor offers when i am impatient, under pressure from a client, etc., and get in too much of a hurry, heavy handedly push too hard and inadvertently ask for disaster. then my nice little 1/4 hp motor oh so gently reminds me of my folly and encourages me to work in a proper manner.

[QUOTE=John How] I'd sat go at least 3/4 hp, Mine is 1/2 or so and I have to give the wheels a spin as I turn it on or it won't start. Next time I'll make my own and use a bigger motor. [/QUOTE]
John-
Not that it is a problem, since you have a 'workaround', but...
My guess is that there is a problem with the starting winding/switch/capacitor (take your pick,depending on motor type) on your 1/2 HP motor. A buffer is not that hard to get spinning; usually a fractional motor will have no problem. If your motor has the usual starting winding and centrifugal switch arrangement, sometimes blowing out the crud from the end of the motor (with compressed air) will solve the problem. Otherwise it's usually a fairly easy disassemble and clean operation, if you like that sort of thng..
Cheers

John

I use a 1/3 hp 1725 rpm motor salvaged from a swamp cooler, which has more than enough torque to spin the 12" buffs I use. Any motor that is intended to turn a squirrel cage should work fine.

A couple of pillow blocks, a go-cart axle (it's threaded correctly), a sheave to reduce the speed, a V-belt, and you're on your way.

John How, I suspect there might be something wrong with that motor you're using...

1/3 hp furnace motor on 12" buffs on cheap arbor mounted on 2x12 plank I can clamp to my bench with lots of overhang room. 2:1 reduction from 1725 to avoid heat. Wet and dry sand 600 thru 4000 and buff with red then ivory mazaerna,
any suggestiopns on coarseness of componds?

_________________
Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

My point was simply that the motor would not bog down as some have stated may happen with less powerful motors....I'm certainly attentive enough to realize when too much pressure is being exerted, so I don't see "enough power" as a potential problem.....I guess there are many ways to look at this setup....small motor that bogs down before burning through, loose belt that slips when too much pressure is exerted,etc....I like mine the way it is, if I want to put a little extra pressure I know I've got the setup to do so....and to date I've never had any issues with burn-throughs.....There seem to be many paths that one could take, choose the one that fits your style.


Cheers,
Greg

_________________
Gwaltney Guitars

[QUOTE=ToddStock] You're better off creating slippage with the belt rather than stalling the motor. I run the belt just loose enough to give some slippage when I'm getting a little too frisky.[/QUOTE]

That's what I do too. I have the regular SM buffing arbor with 12" buffs, and I use the motor from my old lathe, I believe it is 500W (3/4 hp?), and I run it at about 900 RPM. Anyways, it is powerful enough with normal use; given half a chance it will also burn through lacquer or throw a guitar to the floor.

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

You guys have really come through, and I thank you!
So let's see, we have:
??? hp-- 1
1/4 hp-- 1 vote, w/ maybe another
1/3 hp-- 4 votes, w/ perhaps another
1/2 hp-- 2 votes, a 3rd user who wishes for more
3/4 hp-- 3 votes, w/ a wistful "someday-er"
1   hp-- 2 votes, w/ nary a complaint
2 hp-- there's a real MAN in the group!

Oh yes, and the few hand-held buffers amongst us-- 4 of you, and I know you get good results. (Did you know that Tony Ferguson has a hand-help buffing rig? And doesn't he do pretty work??)

JJ didn't really commit himself, did he?
And Hesh, I hear ya on those pesky b/w/b's!

Thanks guys, I'm not quite as confused as I was yesterday.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com