What Is a Buffing Wheel?

The polishing wheel is used for polishing the surface and coating of the workpiece. There are many types of polishing wheels: polishing cloth wheels, hemp wheels, nylon wheels, wiring wheels, wind wheels, wool wheels, etc.

The polishing wheel is a press-type flat wheel, which is formed by laminating several polishing wheel pieces, and the outer surface of each polishing wheel piece is evenly coated with a layer of polishing oil. No additional oiling is required during the polishing process. It has a simple structure and is easy to use.

The material of the polishing wheel is slightly different from that of the polishing wheel. It is made of cotton, fine felt, silk, buckskin, sisal, horse hair, etc., which have better elasticity. In addition, cloth wheels made of special paper to save cotton wool fabrics are also widely used. ^[1]

The hardness of the polishing wheel is determined by the distance of the suture. The smaller the distance of the suture, the higher the hardness of the polishing wheel. In order to make the polishing wheel softer, the production of the polishing wheel should pay attention to the sufficient distance between the suture and the wheel edge (there is also no suture). For polishing large workpieces, polishing wheels with special air cooling devices are also useful.

According to the production method of the polishing wheel:

(1) Non-stitched cloth wheel. It is usually made of fine soft cotton cloth. It should be used for polishing complex shapes or for fine polishing of small workpieces.

(2) Suture type. It is mostly made of coarse cloth, non-woven cloth and fine plain cloth, etc. The stitches can adopt concentric circle spiral type and direct radiation form, and it is suitable for polishing various coatings and simpler shapes.

(3) Air-cooled cloth wheel. It adopts a 45-degree angle cutting method and has a circular wrinkle shape. A metal disc is installed in the middle, which has the characteristics of ventilation and heat dissipation. It is suitable for polishing large workpieces.

(4) Felt wheels. It is made of pure wool. It has a long texturing time, tight tissue, small pores, and is not limited by warp and weft like fabrics. It has good abrasion resistance.

There are the following categories according to the main materials :

(1) Emery cloth wheel. It is made of a variety of abrasive cloths with different grain sizes and different abrasives (such as corundum and silicon carbide). Its high cutting rate is suitable for grinding, polishing, burring and finishing of various types of materials.

(2) Cotton polishing wheel. Made of different types of cotton. Use different dipping methods and different abrasives for semi-polishing, polishing and mirror polishing.

(3) Hemp and cotton mixed polishing wheels. Linen or cotton-lined cloth is generally used for immersion treatment. With various abrasives, preliminary polishing and polishing can be performed.

(4) Synthetic material-non-woven polishing wheel. Synthetic materials are mostly made of non-woven fabrics using nylon filaments, binders, and abrasives as raw materials to make polishing wheels of various shapes. Because they contain abrasives, they generally do not use abrasives and are mostly used for polishing.

When polishing, the peripheral speed of the polishing wheel should be higher than that of the polishing wheel. The peripheral speed of the polishing wheel should be different for different metal materials, such as:

The optimal peripheral speed of pig iron, copper and nickel is 30 35m / s;

The optimal peripheral speed of copper, copper alloy and silver is 22 30m / s;

The optimal peripheral speed for aluminum and aluminum alloys, zinc, tin, and lead is 18 to 25 m / s. ^[2]

When the power of the motor determines the size of the polishing wheel, the shaft of the motor must match the diameter of the polishing wheel. Place the polishing wheel in the center of the shaft and tighten it with a wrench. The best polishing results can be obtained with a uniform line speed on the surface of the polishing wheel, so if you use a too large polishing wheel with a smaller motor, the linear speed will drop a lot when polishing, and the polishing effect will be affected.