General Buffing
If you are buffing aluminum, brass, copper, or pot metal; start off with the tripoli compound. If you are buffing stainless steel, use the emery (gray) compound. Gray can be used on aluminum if you have some scratches to remove. Ninety percent of your buffing time will be spent with the cutting compound tripoli or gray. Here again, buff all the large areas first then move to the smaller ones last. Some people prefer to heat up there part first. This can be done by putting it in the oven @ 150 degrees F, setting it in the sun, or in front of a heater. By keeping the part warm the compounds will stay on the buffs. If the part is cool the part will draw the compound out of the buff, leaving deposits of black glob on the parts. People may preheat their parts because it is hard to build up heat on a part when you are using a small buff.(Note you will need to wear cotton gloves to be able to hold onto the part). Once finished with the cutting step, the white rouge will bring out the shine. Remember that heat is still very important in the final white stage. You still only spend ten percent of your time with this step, but in order to eliminate the finishing haze you will have to keep the heat up.
Finishing Your Parts
Finishing your part with the white compound brings in the mirror shine to the metal. To do this you will need to use either a canton flannel or a loose section buff with white compound. You can use the sewn buff with the white compound for the finishing step if you like the sewn buff (being careful and keep the buff clean and soft). It doesn't have the flexibility the loose and flannel buffs do, but sometimes it may be the better choice. Apply the white compound to the buff the same way you did while using the cutting compound. On a used buff , rake it before you start, and every 20 to 30 seconds to keep the buff soft and clean. Only ten percent of your time is spent buffing with the white compound. Keeping the heat up will eliminate streaking or cloudiness. You may need to pre-heat your part by placing it in the sun, or near a heater, and remember heat is your friend and a very important part of the buffing process. Do not use too much pressure against the wheel, let the wheel and the compound do the work.
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