Why is there so much fear and loathing associated with buffers? I give my personal briar pipes and pretty much every knife handle I make at least a once-over with some pink no-scratch followed with some pure carnauba and a touch of olive oil. I’ve never had an issue, and it’s a quick way to bring out the character of the grain on briar and burl pieces. Works great on micarta and buffalo horn also. I wouldn’t put soft woods on a buffer, but briar can take it.
There is definitely a learning curve. As a knife maker, you honed your skills on the buffer, and there was application to pipes for those same skill sets. I cut my buffing teeth by polishing metal (which requires high speed/high horsepower motors), so guessing buffing motorcyle parts or knife parts is pretty similar. Personally, in ten years, I've never launched a pipe (but I don't use my metal polishing machine!) - now knocking on wood!
A low speed buffer, by my experience, won't create a much better result than hand polishing. So, I'd save your money if you don't want to make the right investment. (and if you creative, that investment can be relatively modest).
Micromesh is great,and I use it on every pipe stem that I restore. But, even using the the highest grades, that alone won't get this level of shine as a buffer with white diamond and plastic polish yields.
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