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safety issues with white diamond and tripoli buffing

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I have started making wooden goblets (picasaweb.google.com/joeswoodart - honest comments appreciated) and finishing them with General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish.

I have looked at the MSDS for white diamond and tripoli compounds on the web and it appears that tripoli is silicon dioxide (same as the sand you find on the seashore) and white diamond is "tin oxide". For some reason, white diamond is white but the two forms of tin oxide are black or gray.

The primary hazard of these compounds appears to be from inhalation when you apply them to the turning.

I would never buff the inside of a vessel that might be used for food but I would like to buff the outsides.

Does anybody see any safety issues related to buffing the outside?
 
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Don't buff in bare feet. When the wheel jerks something out of your hand and hurls it, you don't want it to land on bare feet.

I wonder if it is any bigger hazard than grinder wheel dust during tool sharpening. Or sanding at the lathe without a respirator or adequate dust collection. Could be I suppose. I usually wear a dust mask when buffing.
 

Steve Worcester

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The hazard is in the buffing, the fact that the product will get caught in the buff ans smack you in the face and the hazard of the airborne silicon (wear a face shield and a respirator) there is little hazard to the user once it is rinsed of the buffing compounds
 

john lucas

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I think one of the hazards is the fibers that come off the wheels. It makes me sneeze which worries me. I run the dust collector right next to it and solves the problem.
 

Bill Boehme

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The stuff that you can't see is even worse for your respiratory system. I got a Beale buffing set as a gift about a year ago so I tried it out on a few turnings. I was not particularly impressed with the results and the shop was filled with a cloud of fine stuff from cotton fibers and whatever I was putting on the buffing wheels. I also got a severe case of sinusitis from all of the stuff that I was breathing. The next time, I wore my Airstream PAPR which helped my sinuses, but there was a very fine coating of powdery residue that had settled over everything. This buffing kit has now become just one more of the many dust collectors that I have in my shop.
 
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...the shop was filled with a cloud of fine stuff from cotton fibers and whatever I was putting on the buffing wheels. I also got a severe case of sinusitis from all of the stuff that I was breathing. The next time, I wore my Airstream PAPR which helped my sinuses, but there was a very fine coating of powdery residue that had settled over everything. This buffing kit has now become just one more of the many dust collectors that I have in my shop.

Bill,

Something I learned from the late Russ Fairfield is to use the sharp corner of the edge of a piece of lumber to clean the buffing wheels. (Just hold the edge of the stick up to the spinning wheel and press hard.) Do this when the wheels are brand new and you'll get rid of a lot of the excess lint thrown off by the wheels.

Then, frequently clean the wheels with the edge of your stick in between buffing items. (After every third or fourth item, I clean the wheel.) Cleaning the wheel removes the excess wax/compound that otherwise is deposited as powder all over everything. It also helps the wheel to buff more efficiently.

One last suggestion from Russ: Don't over load the wheel with compound. Russ suggests holding the compound stick against the spinning wheel for no more than 2 seconds. Too much compound will give poor buffing results.

HTH
 

john lucas

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I may be using 2 little compound. My wheels never need to be "scraped" to get rid of the excess compound. They do seem to work. What I have problems with is the shape of the wheels have distorted over time. I get a dip in the middle and the outer edges get fluffy.
I haven't found a good way to true them up. Tried using a saw on the edge, this is similar to the tool used to clean the wheels. It didn't really reshape them. Then I tried a skew with the toe down to cut them. That sort of worked but not as well as I want.
 
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I may be using 2 little compound. My wheels never need to be "scraped" to get rid of the excess compound. They do seem to work. What I have problems with is the shape of the wheels have distorted over time. I get a dip in the middle and the outer edges get fluffy.

Natural enough that the center will retain more compound than the edges. It's not flexing and throwing it as much. Try dressing the center instead of worrying about the edges and see what happens. slide 2-3 chunks of old bandsaw blade into a groove in some wood to make a file or comb to do the job.
 

john lucas

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MM it's not too much compound in the middle. the wheel is itself is losing it's shape. It's kind of like I'm wearing out the middle so it looks like there is a groove. It's kind of like a grinding wheel with a groove in the middle. I need to flatten the outside somehow and make my wheels flatter across the face.
 
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Bill,

Something I learned from the late Russ Fairfield is to use the sharp corner of the edge of a piece of lumber to clean the buffing wheels. (Just hold the edge of the stick up to the spinning wheel and press hard.) Do this when the wheels are brand new and you'll get rid of a lot of the excess lint thrown off by the wheels.

Then, frequently clean the wheels with the edge of your stick in between buffing items. (After every third or fourth item, I clean the wheel.) Cleaning the wheel removes the excess wax/compound that otherwise is deposited as powder all over everything. It also helps the wheel to buff more efficiently.

One last suggestion from Russ: Don't over load the wheel with compound. Russ suggests holding the compound stick against the spinning wheel for no more than 2 seconds. Too much compound will give poor buffing results.

HTH

I use an old coarse wood rasp (flat side) to clean all of my wheels before each use. The rasp doe's a great job of cleaning each wheel. Gets into the fibers much better and cleans them out.
 
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MM it's not too much compound in the middle. the wheel is itself is losing it's shape. It's kind of like I'm wearing out the middle so it looks like there is a groove. It's kind of like a grinding wheel with a groove in the middle. I need to flatten the outside somehow and make my wheels flatter across the face.

So you're not compressing and loading the middle, you're shearing it away? Take out your scissors and give the edges a trim. Doesn't have to be precise, because when you next dress the wheel with a file or whatever, it'll even up pretty well.

You must be using the wheel in a way I'm not familiar with. I even strop my carving tools running away.
 

john lucas

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I did use scissors. I just thought there might be a way to do it under power to get the wheel truer. As far as I know I'm buffing just like anyone else. I do use 4" wheels that I bought from someone. Don't remember who. It could be the quality of the wheels. I find the Beall 6" wheels to be too hard for the way I buff. They also won't reach into many of my pieces.
 
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4 in. wheels

john, i like you find the large wheel too hard for most of my stuff. after a few hundred uses mine also have worn down in the middle..ibelieve they came from craft supplies. probably time to replace rather than use 3 in. wheels.
 

odie

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I just thought there might be a way to do it under power to get the wheel truer.

Hello John.......

In my instructions that came with the Beale buff system, it mentioned to use coarse sandpaper. 60gt is what I've been using, and it works fairly well......not as good as I'd like, but does have some amount of success.

ooc
 
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This and that

Don't buff in bare feet.
Good info here. I notice that many threads/posts are regarding safety. One can never be too safe!

I did see a sign once: Don't fry bacon in the nude. :D
 

john lucas

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We just took away your man license because you read the instructions. Next you know you'll actually use a map.
 
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Thanks for all the great replies

Thanks to everybody who posted an answer to my question. I am certain I got some good advice...

and then some.

I promise not to buff any bacon in my bare feet without a man license...:confused:

That is, without getting directions first.
 

odie

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We just took away your man license because you read the instructions. Next you know you'll actually use a map.

Or -aghast, ASK for directions!!!!!!! Gretch

Thanks to everybody who posted an answer to my question. I am certain I got some good advice...

and then some.

I promise not to buff any bacon in my bare feet without a man license...:confused:

That is, without getting directions first.

Ha! What a bunch of cards!

Hey.......I always ask for directions, but the needle needs to move toward the "E" a little for inspiration! :D

Later everybody........:)

ooc
 
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Hey.......I always ask for directions, but the needle needs to move toward the "E" a little for inspiration! :D

There are other things which increase the urgency of decision-making. Some even interfere with good decisions more than (allegedly) the male ego. https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/282526/3/MO_1007.pdf

I say allegedly, because men and women give directions differently. Men tend toward direction/distance and street names, women give landmarks. Problem I had when working dispatch is that the women had difficulty with left and right turns at landmarks, tending to reference the next landmark as confirmation of the proper choice, even when it turned out to be a mile or so away. Fortunately the maps we had were good enough to translate between genders, depending on which was responding.
 
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Much of if not all of the polishing I do with a compound is with EEE which has the abrasive suspended in the mix and it comes in a paste or liquid.

But the fibres off the polishing wheel/s are another matter again. I too have notice how they cause me to sneeeze, so these days I use my dust mask
[p2] at these times as well sanding on the lathe.
 
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MichaelMouse; Some even interfere with good decisions more than (allegedly) the male ego. [url said:
https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/282526/3/MO_1007.pdf[/url]
Michael-I couldn't "plow" through the reference-I had to go to the bathroom!!!!:DGretch
 
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Using the Beal buffing system

There are two more aspects in using the Beal buffing system: 1. The humidity here in Colorado is always low which allows the buffing system to generate static electricty when used. I can generate a 1" spark. To eliminate this discomfort, I attach a wire to the metal on the buffer and then to my metal watch band thus draining off the static electricity. 2. I use an old Shopsmith for mounting and using my Beal buffing wheels. When I want/need a soft wheel, it turn down the speed. Conversly, increasing the speed increases the firmness of the wheel.
JohnG
 
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