We recently held a live tech demo on the basics to buffing metal. I gave some insight on the basics, tips, tricks, and safety when buffing. We had a great response for the Q&A and ran out of time to answer all of the questions. I wanted to answer all questions we missed live, so below are the answers for any we missed. Thanks for watching and drop us a line if you have an idea for another live tech demo! -Matt/EW
Datest41- How do you take pits out of chrome plated pot metal?
worker9270- How d you take pits out of chrome?
We had a lot of questions about this. The short answer to this is that you can’t remove pits or rust or major imperfections in chrome. Chrome is a coating and much like paint once the rust or pitting is coming up from under the coating it can’t be fixed without removing the coating and treating the surface. Minor spotting can be polished out of chrome, but major defects like pits, rust, flaking, etc can not be fixed with out stripping and chroming the part again.
alanbarclay73- Any tips for cleaning and protecting a rusty cast exhaust manifold?
The best way to clean a rusty cast manifold is to media blast it, then apply one of our exhaust manifold paints
swayman007- Can you use any of these to polish out scratches in glass?
The blue “plastic” compound may help with some hazing, but scratches (especially if you can feel them with your fingernail) are tough to get out of glass. Our Pro Glass Polishing Kit for Deep Scratches will be the best bet in that situation.
xplodee- Do you ever cheat on super soft metals by starting with emory compound rather than sanding?
I’d be a liar if I said I haven’t! The only thing you have to be careful with is that it is easy to take too much material away when using the buff motor and a heavier compound or more aggressive buff wheel than suggested for that metal. Just be VERY careful when doing that and check your progress often.
wildfire02- Wouldn’t it be better to polish really small parts in a vibratory polisher?
A vibratory polisher or tumbler works GREAT for small parts, but admittedly it does take quite a long time to get parts mirror polished with a tumbler. If you have a big pile of small parts to polish, I’d definitely say use the tumbler, but if you just have a handful or just a couple small items, it might be quicker/easier to use a buff wheel. It really depends on the situation.
swayman007- Can you use these wheels on a polisher sander for like polishing diamond plate?
It could be possible, but you have to make sure that the buff wheels can safely mount to your polisher and that the polisher rotates at the correct RPM range.
Datest41- What sort of wheel is used for step 1, 2, 3 and step 4?
I covered that in the video, but it’s also laid out in a chart in a tech article on or site here: HERE
mimiof6- Does is matter what rpm the motor is?
It depends on what you’re buffing and the size of the wheel and motor you’re using. We recommend 3600 for most metals (lower is acceptable for plated parts and softer metals) and 1800 for plastics with a 10″ buff wheel.
kennyredman- How often do you use a sisal wheel- would it have been appropriate on that rough sandcast?
The sisal wheel is used for heavy cutting and smoothing metal. It works well for smoothing rough metal when coupled with our greaseless compounds.
xplodee- the brass parts i polish are antique fans sitting inside?
It depends on the conditions they are exposed to, but we guarantee at least 3 months, but probably longer if they’re inside a climate controlled situation.
wildfire02- do you have to change wheels with different compounds because of contamination or not mix?
It’s a best practice because it is difficult to get ALL of the traces of old compound off of the wheel and it could be counter-active to the polishing procedure.
dreamboat77- don’t you mean white compound? Rouge is red?
The white compound is referred to as “White Rouge” throughout the industry. Not sure who started that or why, but there is white AND red rogue compound. Red is generally the final coloring compound and a bit more delicate than the white rouge.
Datest41- what color is step 2?!?
It depends on the material that you’re buffing or polishing. We have a good breakdown of the steps in the tech article on our site. You can see that here: Here
swayman007- how do you determine what size wheels to use 6″, 8″, or 10″?
It depends on the buff motor that you’re using. Check your motor for details on which is best. We have a chart in our buffing tech article on the site. You can see it Here.
xplodee- What does everyone do to collect the dust from their buffer?
One idea I didn’t hit on during the live feed was that you could let a shop vac run during the buffing process to pick up the dust thrown by the wheel. It isn’t as good as a air filtration system, but it is a similar concept.
JorgeCardoso- I want to see how to work with the expander wheel, do you have any video?
We do not currently have a video on using the expander wheel. We’ll work on getting one put up ASAP!
bamadio- You sell a 2 speed buffer motor. In what situations do you use each speed?
The higher speed is used for metal and the lower speed is normally used for plastics and delicate metals or plated parts.
Generally that’s done by “feel”. When you notice that there is little difference being made in the appearance after a few passes it may be time for some additional compound. It also depends on what you’re buffing and how hard you are “cutting” the metal. I tend to use a lot more of the first “rougher” steps of compound than the later finishing compounds.
Hope that helps,
Matt/EW
Thanks for the video! It was very helpful. I do have a question for you, though. How can you tell when you need to apply more buffing coundpound to the bufffing wheels? Any sort of guideline or indication that one could follow? Thanks!
Excellent video packed with good tips _ well done
Awesome video.. and thanks for sharing informative post..
You can teach an old dog new tricks, even at 67. Matt did an very informative presentation, showing and demostratiing the various wheels and compounds was great!! Also like the Q&A in the video along with the postings afterwords. I purchased a MIG welder from Eastwood some time ago and would love to see a video in the format that was presented by Matt. GREAT JOB!!!
SUPER, SUPER video. Keep them coming!
Matt, great job! Instructional videos are much harder than they look. Who cares about tattoo’s/nails, better to have a real car guy than a fake.
I really like buffing. did the front end of a 1987 FXSTC, heavy cast. came out nicer than i would have guessed. I thought the guy in the buffing video did a great job. he explained the process well and used everyday language so someone like me could understand everything he was teaching.
Good job all around.
Hey sdff, you dont like it, dont watch the video. who are you, Joe Hollywood?
I seen your buffing video and you said you were buffing little screws.When i buff screws i putt two nuts on it and use the vise grip on it works real well.
the guy on the buffing video is tatooed from head to foot and has chewed off fingernails. spur of the moment choice?
Great job on the buffing tutorial, question for you, my 2008 charger has plastic clad caps on the rims (chrome plated) can i use one of the spray products on this to help preserve the shine, and for ease of brake dust removal.
Why’d he wear the safety shield on his head if he wasn’t going to pull it down? Did he forget?
Very informative video. Was in everyday language and easy to understand-not just another commercial.
hello my name is rodrigo am from Colombia and I’m interested in the machine Eastwood 100lb Pressure Abrasive Blaster I wonder if I can send video and catalog this machine also like to know what kind of powder used and whether graduates precione watt output that works
I just watched your Buffing Tech Demo and I learned a lot of stuff. It’s more involved than I though. I have buffed parts in the past but maybe now I can do a better job of it. A very good demonstration!
Thanks Jeff