White diamond vs. MM?

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J

jchurch

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Joined
May 11, 2009
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Location
White Bear Lake, MN
Hi all, It sounds like a lot of folks like to buff with White diamond and then wax for a final finish. Sometimes even after going to 12000 MM. Whenever I do this I see very small scratches left by the White diamond. After looking at some grit size charts, it does seem that the White diamond is going backwards from 12000 MM. Am I doing something wrong here, or am I just a perfectionist freak?
thanks,
Jim:frown:
 
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Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist! I'm not really sure myself but it really boils down to if you're seeing scratches after the WD, then just don't use it. Slap on a little wax, hit it with the clean buffing wheel, call it done.
 
It is not very likely that you will be able to see the scratch pattern from white diamond. More likely, you are seeing scratches that were left by either your sandpaper or by the coarser grits of MM. Most people fail to remove the circular scratches that are caused by sanding with the lathe on.

edit: You will not need to use white diamond after 12000MM provided that you are successful at removing the scratches from the coarser grits. However, doing so will require a lot of elbow grease.
 
Last edited:
mrcook4570 said:
It is not very likely that you will be able to see the scratch pattern from white diamond. More likely, you are seeing scratches that were left by either your sandpaper or by the coarser grits of MM. Most people fail to remove the circular scratches that are caused by sanding with the lathe on....
Click to expand...

Another possibility is from a dirty buffing wheel! Buffing wheels are funny, they act like magnets for anything and everything floating around in your shop.

I knew a fellow wordworker had his buffer sitting right next to his grinder, imagine how many tiny metal particles ended up on his buffing wheel that he applied buffing compound too!
 
Amazing!

Boy, you guys are both fast and helpful. Thanks! I do keep both of my buffing wheels in ziplock bags, but I'm wondering about the wheel itself that I'm using for the White diamond. It's a flannel/muslin (or something similar) which is definitely "coarser" than the really soft cotton wheel that I use for the carnauba wax. Could this be the problem?
thanks again folks,
Jim
 
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