I am considering purchasing a bench top buffer.... see below|

I intend to use it not only for my custom pens, but also was thinking it might work real nice to polish the collectables that I am restoring.
It comes with Hut sticks that I will probably never use..
I am figuring on getting an additional set of wheels.. they offer muslin and flannel wheels... I will also get some white diamond polish...
The question is... should I also get tripoli polish (which is coarser than white diamond) ... obviously a lot of pens have some scratches on the bodies that I would like to clean up, but I don't want to remove the marking on the bodies.
I figure with the variable speed I can find a happy medium in speed for this work..
Benchtop VS Buffer

I think Ron Zorn uses one like this one. I don't think he reads this site. You may want to ask about it on Pentrace.

Muslin! NO FELT. Builds up too much heat.

Also, if the spindle will accept smaller diameter wheels try to get some. That way you have more flexibility in rpms. It's the linear velocity that you want to keep an eye on (pi x D x rpm) so if you can decrease diameter it will be better.

FYI, I used a dremel 5,000- 20,000 rpm with a 1 in muslin wheels. The dremel has 5 speed settings "1-5". I've never calibrated them to see if they linearly correlate to the rpms (I would be they don't). Speed setting 1 and 2 appear to be good for most kinds of pens. Setting 3 starts to get dicey. I trust it for sheaffers, and Esterbrooks, but it will be problematic with more delicate pens. Nothing higher than 3. YOu can use hte rpm, and diameters, correlate that to your situation and see if your have the right range.

With 3 times the diameter of my dremel, your 2-7K rpm tranlsates into 6-21K at my diameter. You'll probably only be able to use the low end of the motor. If you could get 2 in wheels, then would be more like 4-14K in my world. Probably get more usable range out of them with 2" wheels.

Regarding Polish, work your way from fine to more tooth. This is what I've used:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...indpost&p=14141

Should be some more opinions on that thread and a couple others. My general though is that you shoudl be careful with much coarser than tripoli. Here I'm more concerned about metal plated hardware than the plastic. My favorite is DICO plastic compound at Harbor Freight. Perfect for thermoplastic pens, but not what you'd want for metal hardware.

Aside from the obvious about cleaning a vintage item that is supposed to have wear. I would think something with a slower speed would be the best. I was considering asking this question a while ago as it refers to some light scratches on some of my pens. This can be applied to a LARGE number of other options. The ones running through my mind are CD/DVD's pens, my new Nano ipod that gets scratched if you look at it wrong. Anyway you get the picture. Of course I heard the rumors about using toothpaste as it has a very light abrasive quality. I have never tried it myself but would consider it. I have a Craftsman rotary tool with variable speeds that I was going to see about using with a Dremel buffer attachment as well. Without actually having tried any of the above I guess I would reccomend the least abrasive first and work up from there.

Griz, please keep us informed of what you find out. I know I will probably be taking notes from this as well.

Charlie

Charlie -

I have not found any of the dremel "felt" buffers to be adequate. They will ruin your pens. Muslin wheels are the only thing I'd recommend. Kingsly North is a good source.

http://www.kingsleynorth.com/lapidary.html

PM me your address and I'll throw a 1" muslin buff in the mail to ya.

I woulnd't use toothpaste, as it is more abrasive than a fine rougue.

Hi,


The muslin Dremel buffs work VERY well too. They are a bit hard to find though. DO NOT use the felt ones, they BURN (Draw a picture of thick black smoke and a fire coming out of your pen)

Back here though, we use a pair of soft muslin buffs on a Delta bench grinder.

Dillon

<_< These buffing rigs work fast but be prepared for a lot of lint and polishing compound flying all over the place, even with an exhaust fan. I speak from experience. A lot of good polishing can be done by hand (it was for centuries) but if you need to work fast, a polishing lathe is the ticket. I made a few from washing machine motors bolted to a work bench. You can get the tapered fittings from jewelers' supply dealers and attach them to the spindle (the fittings, not the dealers) The speed is usually 1740 rpm, perfectly adequate for polishing. A small wheel will give you low linear speed and vice-versa. More details upon request.
d

I use an old dremel shoe buffer - the kind with two spindles - I had a local machinist convert the spindles to work with 4" buffs. I get my buffs and polishing compound sticks from The Eastwood Co. www.eastwood.com
The buffer turns slow enough and it is pretty low powered, so you don't launch a pen across the room.

For really deep scratches, I use wet/dry sandpaper, working from 400 to 1200 grit. I tape off the trim and imprints and work gently. I finish up with the buffer and a plastic finishing compound and then buff with a soft cotton wheel. If I want a real shine, I use a carnuba wax compound I bought at the local airport -they use it on lexan airplane windshields.

The old dremel shoe buffers are not that hard to find at garage sales for a few bucks.

kg

There have been many thoughtful posts, with good advice offered.

I'd like to weigh in with a little of my own experience, since it is slightly different from most of the posters to date (although the last couple have come pretty close).

My setup is a fractional HP ac motor bench mounted and fitted with 6" polishing wheels rotating at 1725 RPM. Although the SFPM is a little higher for the 6" wheel than the 4" one, the contact area on the wheel is correspondingly larger, resulting in a similar workpiece polishing action. I use stitched wheels for the most part, although I have an unstitched one I do use for extremely fine and delicate buffing.

I use easily changeable mandrels mounted on the motor shaft - and I often mount two wheels that are spaced about 1/2 inch apart on a single mandrel, allowing work with a white diamond compound as well as a plastic polish without having to change mandrels / wheels. These two wheels do 90% of my work - and do it exceedingly well.

Although I own several (3) rotary tools, one fitted with a flex shaft, they don't see much work in the pen body polishing end of things - more on the metal trim and nib work where small is an advantage. Mostly use various grades of jewellers rouge there, and stay completely away from plated gold - unless the goal is to remove the plating.

It's hard to describe the differences between the two systems, since perhaps it's counterintuitive. The precision and control superiority lies with the bigger equipment, not the smaller one. With the rotary tools, you are applying the polishing wheel to the pen, and the polishing wheel is in a machine that while appearing to be small and controllable, is in fact fairly heavy and not all that easy to hold precisely. The flex shaft is a little better, since the toolpiece end is light and smaller than the motor tool, but the flex in the drive allows the polishing wheel to occasionally jump and has a loose springy feel to it. While one could mount the pen in a holder - or the motor tool in a vice, that's rarely done - with most of the work being done with the tool in one hand, the work in the other. A fairly unpredictable combination where pressure on the work is a very important parameter.

On the other hand, the fixed motor and larger wheel seems massive and imposing, but behaves well. The motor is solidly mounted to the bench, the wheel smoothly rotating in a fixed and stable position. The pen is applied to the wheel, not the other way around. Both hands can be used to support the pen, and an incredibly light touch can be obtained. The polishing action is smooth and very predictable. My prediction is that if you try this method of polishing, you'll only return to the rotary tool for very specific tasks, not general polishing.

Currently, I use the wheels rotating away (at the top) from me, and work on the top of the wheel. This method has the complete pen accessible for holding, but the work is going on underneath the pen, out of sight.

One could reverse the rotation, and work on the bottom of the wheel, where visibility of the work being done would be superior, but holding of the pen would suffer.

The previous postings regarding compounds were quite good, with my recommendations being Jewelers Rouge, White Diamond, and the Dico Plastic Polish. The latter is so fine, it polishes to the micron range - giving an incredible lustre.

Just my 0.02

Gerry