Poor Mans Beal Buffiing System

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W.Y.

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Aug 10, 2008
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I ordered one of these today seeing as they are on sale. . Couldn't afford the deluxe version all on one shaft and I don't mind a few extra seconds for switching wheels on the quick change adapter .
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=2036
I thought I would put it on my old high speed grinder that doesn't get used since I got the 8" slow speed one. They told me that is too fast a speed so I ordered the Morse taper adapter to use the system on my lathe .
Couple questions for anyone here that uses this system
(1)
Is the quick change adapter actually as quick as they say it is and is there any problems with it that I may need to correct or work around. ?
(2) Seeing as I will be using it on my lathe , what is the best speed to use it at ? I understand I will need to use a draw bolt to hold the adapter in the lathe but that is not a problem because I have one and used it previously for another function.
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W.Y.
 
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I don't have that one but I do have a system that uses one wheel at a time. It has an adapter that screws onto the spindle, then the wheel screws into the adapter. Only takes me a few seconds to switch wheels and I can't imagine theirs would take any longer.
As for speed, I run mine at 1250.
 
Thanks Dale.
I asked about this on a few sites in order to get the pros and cons about it.
So far it is mostly positive feedback .
I am finding like you mentioned that I should not use it on my old high speed grinder motor. At least on my lathe I will have a choice of six speeds and your 1250 suggestion sounds great.
I could probably find a used 1750 washing machine motor as has been sugessted but would be stuck with that one speed . With the lathe I will be able to experiment with a couple speeds before settling on one I like best.

So far I have just been using a micky mouse little 4" pad sytem on mandrels that fit in my drill press. They will still come in handy though for buffing rifle shell cartridges so I don't get that black coating on my good Beal buffing pads.

W.Y.
 
I have that same system. I have it installed on my second lathe, a Delta Midi that I repaired when I was able to finally get a part from Delta. It works great there, the wheels are no problem to change.

When I only had one lathe, I found it very time consuming to remove the nut from the drawbar on the adapter and then free it from the lathe. The morse taper was difficult to remove from the headstock. If I had learned to make all of a day's pens and then buff them one after another, it might have been fine. I tend to finish one pen completely before starting another, so, about the 5th time I removed the adapter in an afternoon's work, I started disliking the the whole process.
 
George.
I understand what you are saying and my main concern was using the M2 adaptor I ordered. I don't like that drawbolt system either .
I asked on another site if anyone had used a pin chuck to hold the piece that normally fastens on to a motor shaft .
I have pin jaws on one of my chucks most of the time because that is what I used for drilling my pen blanks . One person said he has not tried it but it should work.
Does it sound reasonable that it could be used that way. ? Without having it here yet or knowing any different , it sounds like it should be a quick and easy way of mounting it.

If it would work just as good or better in a chuck , it probably wouldn't be worth the extra postage and return hassle to send the adaptor back if I dont need it. I might find another use for it some day.

Perhaps I should have asked questions before ordering rather than after :redface:

W.Y.
 
William:

Here is the adapter that I use:

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/s...ong_Buffing_Adapter___long_buff_adapter?Args=

As I said it screws onto the spindle and the buffing wheels screw onto it. I really like it and it's not hard at all to put it on, or change the wheels. The only problem I ever had was when I first got whenever I used it, the wheel would tighten on to where it was very difficult to get off. Then it did take awhile to change wheels. It's a simple fix though, I just got a fender washer to go on the bolt and that prevents it from over tightening. The adapter has a hole in it so if it ever gets stuck on the spindle you can put a screw driver through it to get good leverage to loosen. I never had that happen though.
 
Thanks Dale .
I can see where that would be an advantage.
W.Y.

Several years ago when I had a lathe with a Reeves Drive system and the backwards motor I needed more length on my spindle for some operations . I made a nut and bolt assembly as an extension that worked well but have not used it since I sold the lathe.
Perhaps I could drill and tap the center of the bolt part and use that as my buffer extension.

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Beall Buff Wheels

I purchased a single White Diamond buff wheel, and the adapter from Beall and put it on an MT2 arbor. The arbor was one I had purchased from Arizona Silhouette, but Beall also offers one. It ends up being dedicated to the buff adaptor, so don't plan on using it for anything else.

I simply insert the MT2 arbor into my Jet 1014VS, complete with the buff wheel attached, and set it somewhere between 1200-1500 rpms. I'm not using any support on the end bolt, and it works fine.

It's easy to rotate off the buff wheel and install another wheel. If you use a 1-1/4"x1/2"x16tpi bolt with a nut, two 1/2" washers, and a large outside support washer (see first picture above), you can add another buff wheel easy. I've experimented with other buff wheels from Arizona Silhouette and Klingspor. AS makes a narrow, 3/8"x 8" wheel that is good for buffing beads on pens.

You can purchase JUST a single wheel from the Beall website, along with the adaptor. The MT2 arbor is additional. The Beall buff wheels are well made and worth the money. The three different wheels they offer are made of different material for use with EEE, White Diamond, and Carnuba Wax. I'm just using White Diamond for my finishes.

It is also easy to pop out the MT2 Arbor from the lathe, with the buff attached. It's just like removing a mandrel.

I haven't found anywhere other than the Beall website to just purchase a single buff, for those that don't need all three.
 
I saw a 3 wheel buffing system yesterday that I'm going to try and make when SWMBO allows me to go Home Depot. a length of thread all; the 3 wheels attached with nuts holding them in place. the Thread all is stuck in a chuck on a MT. and there you go.... thanks Ryan for the idea.! !
 
William O Young said:
George.
I understand what you are saying and my main concern was using the M2 adaptor I ordered. I don't like that drawbolt system either .
I asked on another site if anyone had used a pin chuck to hold the piece that normally fastens on to a motor shaft .
I have pin jaws on one of my chucks most of the time because that is what I used for drilling my pen blanks . One person said he has not tried it but it should work.
Does it sound reasonable that it could be used that way. ? Without having it here yet or knowing any different , it sounds like it should be a quick and easy way of mounting it.

If it would work just as good or better in a chuck , it probably wouldn't be worth the extra postage and return hassle to send the adaptor back if I dont need it. I might find another use for it some day.

Perhaps I should have asked questions before ordering rather than after :redface:

W.Y.
Click to expand...

William,

I tried the adapter with my Talon chuck (#1 jaws) today. It worked fine.

George
 
That's great George . Thanks for letting me know. That makes it SO easy.
My Beall sysyem should be here today . I will check at the Post Office today.

W.Y.
 
I have three buffing wheels that I use in my cordless drill. Each wheel is dedicated to a different kind of buffing or polishing compound. It is a simple, quick, easy to use system of polishing.
 
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