got me a new toy !!!!!!!!!

let me know if you like it when you get it .. i like what i saw .. and i got an empty 220 outlet that need's to be used .. either that or a nice mig welder ..

[skiddz]

I guess I ranted prematurely. When I got home from pickin' my kids up from school this afternoon, there was a big ol' box on the front steps. Lo and behold, it's my buffing machine. Leaving the kids to haul their **** in from the truck on their own, I grabbed the box and headed to the garage.

I opened up the box and my 1st impression was "Holy [bleep] is it big!" The motor is about 8" in diameter and the shafts are about 12" long - 10" of 1" diameter with a 2" section of 5/8" thread. Right side is standard thread, left is reversed. Came with a bunch of different collars and two wrenches to secure everything in place. Fairly heavy unit - probably about 60-65 lbs - and covered in anti-rust "funk" (Which didn't help the right side shaft much. It's got a good rust stain on it I'll have to attack with some steel wool) The base is pretty wide and has rubber feet on it and there are 2 3/8" holes for mounting to a base or your bench.

I pulled it out, set it on the ground, wiped all the anti-rust stuff off and plugged 'er in. Hit the switch and was met with nothing but a loud humming - right up until the breaker popped about 1.2 seconds later. What the &^$%#!??

I reset the breaker and tried spinning up the shaft by hand before hitting the switch again. (thinking it just needed a little help to get moving since it was new) Again with the hum, but this time I managed to shut it off before the breaker popped. Now I was more than a little perturbed..

I thought the thing was maybe wired for 220 instead of 110 like it said on the power cord tag so I rolled it on it's side, pulled the base cover and checked it out. Nope. Wired for 110 alright. Then I noticed the big capacitor with the protective cover partway off it's top terminals. Sure enough, one of the wires had popped loose. (Not a good thing on a capacitor start motor)

I shorted the terminals together with a screwdriver to make sure there was no charge in the cap (there wasn't) then secured both wires to their respective terminals. Put the cover back on, plugged her in and hit the switch. Woohoo! She's spinnin' and quiet as a fart in church!

I didn't get a chance to give 'er a test run as I had to get the kids going on their homework, dinner and showers.. Won't have an opportunity to try it out until tomorrow afternoon, but grabbing a shaft with a gloved hand didn't slow it at all - just heated the palm of the glove up in rapid fashion. Seems to have plenty of grunt. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Oh customandsound, the motor's label says it pulls 8A, not 16 like the guy at Jet said. Two wirenuts is all you'll need to touch to wire it for 220V operation. I'll let ya know how it works once I've given it a proper thrashing.

let me know how it works .. so far i can see it in the corner of my shop ... i went out and got a bunch of wiring stuff today ... i was going to run my welders and the buffer on it own service .. that way i did not have to worry about the breakers . all the time ..all i know if the code enforcement guy comes around he is going to just scratch his head or shut me down .....

[skiddz]

Didn't get a chance to play with it today. I actually finished up work shortly before 1 but then got "volunteered" to do a bunch of other stuff and didn't get home until well after 6. I'd hoped to at least get the steel to fab up a stand for the thing today.. Oh well, there's always tomorrow..

[skiddz]

OK, I'm definitely suffering from some sort of mental deficiency. Not 2 seconds after dinner was cleaned up, I bolted to the garage to play with the new toy. After buffing with a drill clamped to my bench for the past few weeks, this buffer is a real treat. In about 30 mins, I did my best pieces yet and these started out looking like they'd been dragged behind a car and were very badly oxidized.. I had to resort to the flex shaft and some greasless to smooth 'em out, but this buffer made the rest of the job a breeze.. Check it out:

[mole]

Skiddz I have that same twist throttle. What attachment did u use with the flex shaft and greaseless?

[skiddz]

I put a 4" spiral on the flex for the initial sand. I did it all with 400 greaseless 'cuz I was a little concerned about cutting too fast. The "back side" of the piece on the right got some 400 wet/dry hand sanding down in the corners to knocks down the casting lines and "stubble"

The polish was also with 4" wheels. I thought the 6" would be too big to get into the tight spaces as well. I did sisal/black then spiral brown, then loose/white. The corners got a small cylindrical felt bob with black compound to shine 'em up.

I even polished the surface the twist grip rides in. It is butter-smooth now...

[gopedhead]

wow, thats amazing, i'm seriously looking for a great bench buffer but i can't find a good one for my needs. i was wondering if u can email me w/ that link or watnot.

but that seems pretty heavy duty. i dont think i have a 220 v outlet, just a 120 v. wats a good buffer that will NOT bog w/ a 10 inch wheel loose cotton or spiral. thanks.

[tomg552001]

Excellent job....its amazing what a nice buffer can do combined with the right size wheels (you should be able to use 8 inch sisals and stacked/single loose 6 inchers). This is why i tell everyone to get a real buffer, with real amperage, and not mess around with 2.5 amps and 1 HP junk. Skiddz, you might be able to go right from black/sisal to white/loose. I personally dont even touch parts with brown/spiral and i know many others who dont either. Nice job, and keep up the good luck. Send me an email at tomg552001@yahoo.com....i'd like to ask you something.

[Fireblade]

Send me an email as well Skiddz, I have a question I'd like to ask you as well. My addy is Fireblade74@msn.com