A post for all using/thinking about using Dremel as the polishing tool

[kennyjo]

I found something that work very well when applying/polishing Carnauba Wax with Dremel tool.

1 inch Soft Felt Wheel

or

On eBay
I have been using that for a few polishing (bowl and stem) and I personally find the result very satisfying.
The only 2 problems I have with it are:

1.) I can only polish at most 4 to 5 times before using a new one (could be because of my poor skill).

2.) Very small surface and need some time to achieve a good and even result.
If anyone know a better wheel for Dremel tool, please let me know.
The reason I think it work well is typed below. Skip it unless you are interested in it.

It can be wrong because I am not a master in polishing. Please correct my mistake when you find one.
As I know, polishing is about "heat" and "friction" on the surface.

Most of the time Dremel tool go too fast and "over-heated" the surface which make Carnauba Wax loss its shine.

Since the Soft Felt Wheel is really soft, the friction become much smaller and the heat generated is reduced.

Also, since the friction is smaller, the chance that Dremel tool damaging the stem become less.

 

[baronsamedi]

I've messed with that, too and you're right, the speed is too fast. I think the felt is a little dense, too.

 

[kennyjo]

It is dense, but very soft (like a cotton ball).

If my thinking is right, that wheel should work fine.
Just last night, I have polished a pipe that I recently purchased from eBay by that wheel.

I will post all my pipe after my camera is fully charged.

Don't want to wait for that meer pipe since I am going to write a review about it.

 

[gwtwdbss]

Looks like a good deal and I have a variable speed Dremel so I may give this a try. Thanks kennyjo.

 

[kennyjo]

You are welcome and I am very happy that I can help (I get a lot from the people here, and I want to help other whenever I can).
I am not sure if yours is the same as my Dremel.

Mine has a wheel for adjusting the speed (S, M, H) and the slowest speed is 8000 RPM according to the manual.

I find the speed, when the wheel is adjusted in the middle of S and M, work best with this soft felt wheel.

 

[ssjones]

I can see the carnuba loading up that small wheel quickly, but if you don't mind changing wheels, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I had better luck with a larger wheel on a variable speed hand drill.

 

[pipeinhand]

I have been woodworking for 45 years. I have a Dremel that I use for one thing and it is very good at that. Grinding. If it needs to be polished, it is by hand or on a large wheel.
My 2P

 

[bentmike]

I have an older dremel probably 15 years old it has a true variable speed switch on it not like the new ones. I've not seen another like it in a long time so I recently got a newer one with the high-low-off switch so I can take it easy on the older one. As noted the buffing wheel will load up quickly but with a light touch it works ok.

 

[rigmedic1]

I have never had much luck with my Dremel. I like using it for grinding, fine detail, and I have used it for trimming metal pieces and such, but I haven't had good results using it on pipes. My pipe buffer is a cheap hand held shoe polisher with a foam wheel, and I only use that on the stems. I buff the bowls by hand.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

Ive tried the dremel and managed to mess up a few pipes, so I went and bought a inexpensive buffer with 2 wheels, one for the wax and one for the shine, it was less than 40 bucks....
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-buffer-94393.html
I heard that the rpm's on this is still too low, but it works for my pipes...

 

[clyde]

As you metion your particular Dremel has a low speed of 8000 rpm. My two year old Dremel has full variable speed but the lowest is still 5000 rpm so you have to have a very light touch. Your felt wheel is fine for waxing with Carnauba even if it loads up. Many people are using furniture wax rather than Carnauba and then they use Dremel's one inch diameter flannel for polishing. Each flannel wheel has its own metal arbor shaft so it costs more but they last a long, long time. A nice speed is around 1500 rpm and a variable speed hand drill is fine there, but isn't so easy to use unless you can clamp it in a bench vise. If you have a lot of pipes, setting up a buffing station is the ideal and you can do it for a small amount if you want to take the time to find the necessary components at the best price. I've got the time so I prefer to do everything by hand and only use the Dremel when I have to.