How do I actually get the bar of compound onto the wheel?

[Metalcore]

This bar is like wax, and I don't know how to apply it to the wheel. Even when I'm spinning the wheel, it's not picking up any of the compound. Help?

[woodjames]

When you say, even when I'm spinning the wheel, do you mean rotating it by hand? Turn the machine on, press the bar into the wheel with firm pressure. A brand new wheel will take a little longer than a recharge, only talking seconds here. Get ready to get covered with strings from the new wheel.

This bar is like wax, and I don't know how to apply it to the wheel. Even when I'm spinning the wheel, it's not picking up any of the compound. Help?

[Metalcore]

No, I have it in the drill and I am moving the compound back and forth into the wheel but it doesn't seem to accumulate any of the compound. Everywhere and everything says only to use a little and use it often, but I don't even know when the compound is on the wheel .

[mpierich]

You won't see it much, especially the white. The wheel needs to be spinning fast enough to melt it when it touches the bar. Use enough pressure and speed and it'll be on the wheel even if you can't see it. If you can see a mark on the bar where you pushed it against the wheel, it went onto the wheel.

You're probably not using enough pressure. You don't move the compound "back and forth" on the wheel - you jam it on there hard enough to melt it a little.

[Metalcore]

You won't see it much, especially the white. The wheel needs to be spinning fast enough to melt it when it touches the bar. Use enough pressure and speed and it'll be on the wheel even if you can't see it. If you can see a mark on the bar where you pushed it against the wheel, it went onto the wheel.

You're probably not using enough pressure. You don't move the compound "back and forth" on the wheel - you jam it on there hard enough to melt it a little.

Ok, that makes a little more sense. I didn't see any compound go onto the metal when I was doing it, it just looked like it was scratching the metal pretty bad with a white compound, which I believe should be the last one on my aluminum.

[mpierich]

Scratching? What kind of wheel are you using, dude? Does it look like cotton fabric, or like it's made of stiff rope?

[Metalcore]

Scratching? What kind of wheel are you using, dude? Does it look like cotton fabric, or like it's made of stiff rope?

It is a 4" cotton spiral sewn wheel.

[mpierich]

It is a 4" cotton spiral sewn wheel.

No way it should be leaving scratches. Either there's contamination on the wheel or something else is really wrong. Did you use anything else on that wheel? Any photos?

[Metalcore]

I'll get photos when I can. The wheel was brand new and I didn't know if there was any compound on the wheel so I started to polish with it and it started to scratch the metal, so I stopped. So I don't know how the wheel could be contaminated, and I'm just puzzled at this point, because everyone said my powerball wouldn't do me any good, but it worked better with my liquid white rouge than the cotton wheel and wax-like compound did.

[mpierich]

You're not telling us much, really. If the wheel was brand new and already well-polished, what were you trying to do?