my project today (buffing station)

[dougk]

Stayed a bit late at the shop today to start putting this together.



and with the covers off



Basically I mounted the drive motor on a board that attaches to the cab with door hinges. The weight of the motor tensions the belt, seems to be working pretty well.

I have to pick up a 3 step pulley for the motor tomorrow and the wheels and compounds should be showing up any day now.

[Shepherd]

That's a wicked idea putting the motor on the bottom. Saves a ton of space. Thanks. Might have to add some weight or bolt it down to stabalize it but great idea.
Did you get that from Grizzly? With a 3/4" shaft the biggest pads they have are 10", I was hoping to get one of the bigger pads but they are all 1 1/4". Might have to try it with these but I wonder if that's safe.

[dougk]

Originally Posted by Shepherd

That's a wicked idea putting the motor on the bottom. Saves a ton of space. Thanks. Might have to add some weight or bolt it down to stabalize it but great idea.
Did you get that from Grizzly? With a 3/4" shaft the biggest pads they have are 10", I was hoping to get one of the bigger pads but they are all 1 1/4". Might have to try it with these but I wonder if that's safe.

You can actually use these to adapt up to the 1 1/4" bushed wheels. Thats what I (just) did. I did get the arbor from Grizzly (about time I made use of the catalogs they send to us all the time).

Yep a little extra balast if needed in the base is already planned for.

[Shepherd]

Awesome! I must have spent an hour on their site trying to find those. Thanks
Any tips on what to use for that setup like pad size or do I need a set for rough polish and a set for final polish? It says max size is 10" but could you go bigger if you use a pedestal setup like yours?

[dougk]

I'm using 12" wheels because I thought 17's might be to much load on those bearings. We'll see though (also I am a bit tight for space).

As far as wheels and such go- Im a total noob to the buffing wheel process so I wouldn't listen to my advice beyond that point lol.

[Shepherd]

Hey Doug, thanks for the great idea. I just finished mine based on your design and it saves a ton of space. The belt was flopping around quite a bit so I had to make up a tensioner for it. I was going to use the 17" wheels but I was over at Grizzly the other day and was told to stick with 10's cause the bearings cant take it. I got the 12's anyway, see how it goes.
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[dougk]

Originally Posted by Shepherd

Hey Doug, thanks for the great idea. I just finished mine based on your design and it saves a ton of space. The belt was flopping around quite a bit so I had to make up a tensioner for it. I was going to use the 17" wheels but I was over at Grizzly the other day and was told to stick with 10's cause the bearings cant take it. I got the 12's anyway, see how it goes.
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That came out fantastic!! Were twins now!!

A couple pictures of mine in action



I have 12's right now too but Im ordering the 17's. Even if it wears the bearings out, first off the ones on there aren't that great at all and secondly I can get better (Timkin) replacements from my autoparts house. When I get ready to buff out my current batch of firebirds Im going to need the extra room.

But I went with the 12's for the exact reason... thought 17's would be stressing the bearings quite a bit.

[tdowns]

Absolutely brilliant. I wish I had thought about that when I made mine.



One thing I'll pass along about mine...after using it a while, I thought my belt was slipping. Buffing a project with pressure would slow down the buffs. I tightened it 6-ways-to-Sunday to try to make it work. It turned out the belt pulley inside the arbor had loosened. I assumed it came from Stewmac tight. It's a good thing to check.

That Coral Tele is a beauty. Thanks for sharing.

[Shepherd]

Wait a minute, paint yours white and they are the same arbor. Stewmac must use the same manufacturer. Definitely check all the set screws. I forgot to mention that. When I first started mine up there was a clunking sound. The pulley set screw was loose. I checked the bearing retainer set screws and on one side both were stripped and the bearing was walking. I returned that arbor for another and loctited all the set screws. Funny thing when I first started it up, all these threads came flying off the buffing wheels. For a minute there I felt like I was in a parade.

[dougk]

Oh man, that first hour or so till the wheels get broken in is miserable. I walked out of the garage looking like one of the foster farms chickens!

Honestly, Im thinking about calling a metal fab buddy of mine and see if I can have him cut me a 1 1/4 shaft that is about 6" wider on both sides. Have him cut the threads and put some GOOD bearings in it.

Course... Im probably over engineering it. Frankly, its working just fine as it sits now.

[tdowns]

Originally Posted by dougk

.....I walked out of the garage looking like one of the foster farms chickens!

....

Come on now. You should feel obligated to the TDPRI to post the chicken pictures!!!

[Home Grown Tele]

Doug you dog!! Making your dad buff his own guitar.

How come you didn't post that pic over at the Ranch?? Or did you and I missed it??

[dougk]

Originally Posted by Home Grown Tele

Doug you dog!! Making your dad buff his own guitar.

How come you didn't post that pic over at the Ranch?? Or did you and I missed it??

I did! It might have gotten lost in the server crash. He wanted to buff it I swear! Its actually *fun* now (compared to before LOL).

[treadwm]

Thanks for posting this, Doug. I've been searching the forum for a buffing solution like this.