My progress so far and a question about buffing.

[coty]

So this is what my Brewster looks like so far.

I may go back and re-sand it at some point since I think I rushed some of the steps a bit, but for now its good enough.
I have been trying to apply carnauba wax to the surface with a Dico medium buffing wheel. But I don't think I'm even getting any wax on the wheel at all. Should I try a firm buffing wheel, or increasing RPMs? Or can I heat up my block of wax a bit? Supposedly the heat of the buffing wheel is supposed to warm the wax but I can hold my fingers to this buffing wheel for extended periods of time, so I don't see how its going to get loaded up with this rock hard wax.
Edit: Smaller pic

 

[tobyducote]

Have u buffed it with white diamond before the carnauba?

 

[tobyducote]

What rpm are u running?

 

[pruss]

Hi there, generally what you want to investigate is SFPM not necessarily RPM, when you're considering your buffing set up. I run an old high speed bench grinder, and needed to slow down my SFPM, so I went with 4" wheels. There are quite a few threads exploring buffing speeds here on the forums. Here is one from the last 12 months that might be helpful: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/bench-grinder-as-a-buffer
Cheers,
-- Pat

 

[coty]

I sanded it with micromesh first and then put a little oil on the wood to make the grain pop. I'm not sure what RPM I'm at. However fast this old Black & Decker drill happens to go.

 

[tobyducote]

Good info pruss

 

[pruss]

Coty, it's looking good. The stem in particular looks likes it has benefited from the work you're doing. I don't use oil on the briar when I'm cleaning up pipes. I know that they tend to look flat, and the grain a little washed out, after sanding (with micromesh, steel wool or rouge) but I find that the colour pops back really quickly once I get the buffing through white diamond and into carnauba wax. Out of curiousity, what type of oil do you use?
-- Pat

 

[coty]

Extra virgin olive oil.
The oil-under-wax technique seems to be pretty tried and true with other woodworking hobbies, so I figured it would be fine with a pipe. I like how it turned out, but I just cant seem to get any wax on it and I'm not sure what to change.

 

[tobyducote]

Coty...buffing with white diamond first has worked for me to really bring out the shine...then a light hit of carnauba....

 

[ssjones]

With the drill, you will need smaller wheels, 4" like Pruss mentions. I use a loose wheel for carnuba and sewn wheels for the white diamond (it will bring up the shine considerably). You only need a little carnuba on the wheel, don't gum it up. Carnuba really doesn't do anything for appearance, but only protects the shine. I'd be careful with the oil application - that is fine for gun stocks, furniture but not frequently chosen for briar pipes. The white diamond will give you the "pop" you are looking for then the carnuba protects the shine. The stem looks really nice!

 

[coty]

Is it safe to buff the stem with white diamond? I didn't really want to work with any abrasive buffing compounds because it seems like what is good for the stem is bad for the wood and vice versa. I could buy two more wheels and buff the the stem and bowl separately I suppose.
And for the record I am using a 4" wheel. But I think it is either too soft, or moving too slowly. I don't think it makes enough heat to actually melt the carnauba, so I don't think any wax at all is going on the wheel.

 

[pruss]

White diamond is fine for stem work, it isn't as abrasive as tripoli, and I've had no problem using the same wheel and compound on both briar and stem. Have you thought about softening the carnauba with a heat gun prior to trying to charge your buffing wheel?
I can't speak to using a drill as a buffer, as I've never tried to buff this way.
-- Pat

 

[tobyducote]

Yes...brown tripoli is really good for highly oxidized stems, then a follow up with WD....if the stems aren't too badly oxidized then WD is sufficient to really make the stem shine.

 

[coty]

I thought about heating it up and was going to resort to that if necessary, but everything I have read indicates the wheel should heat up the wax enough to load itself. So I cant help but feel I'm doing something wrong.

 

[ssjones]

Your limitation is the drill, I had the same issue before switching to a buffing motor. Speed/RPM and Horsepower are required to work up some heat, the drill just doesn't have the HP of a motor.

 

[tobyducote]

Sorry I don't have enough info on your equipment or procedure to answer that....I've never had to heat my wax...I guess u can try it....just dont put too much wax...and after the wax is applied...you want to buff it with a clean buff or cloth to bring out the shine...

 

[jeepnewbie]

Hmmm, never tried white diamond. Great read on this thread.

 

[ssjones]

My drill never worked well with the carnuba wax.

 

[zack24]

You won't really ever see carnauba wax loading on the buff- that's normal. If you do more than a couple of pipes, get a 1/2 hp 1725 motor from Craigs List, stick an arbor on it and have fun....Drills just don't work...

 

[coty]

One more question. I'll be heading to the hardware store today for a different wheel and some compound. Why white diamond? Why not jewelers rouge or blue multipurpose? I've done so much sanding at this point that basically all I need to do is remove haze. It seems white diamond is a tad too aggressive.