What type of drill,buffer,sander to use?

[SINNER New User Find all posts View Profile Close SINNER]

IM in the middle of polishing my bike and was wondering what you all are using to spin your wheels. My drill only goes to 3000 RPM, is this enough? I have read other post saying to use a sander/polisher but how are you getting the buffing wheel to adapt to a sander/polisher. Most of the sander/polishers I looked at buying use a much larger threaded arbor. How would I get a buffing wheel on it? Please help.

[Slypknot New User Find all posts View Profile Close Slypknot]

I went out and bought the Sears polisher/buffer...and ran into the same problem.

Most of these (if not all) buffing wheels are made for a small drill holder.

SO - I just used a large bit in my drill and made the buff wheel hole bigger by drilling it ... it's working a-ok.

[saiyan7 Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close saiyan7]

3000 rpm's is plenty fast.

[SINNER New User Find all posts View Profile Close SINNER]

3000 rpm's is plenty fast.

Is it ok for a 6" wheel or just smaller like 4" wheels?

[saiyan7 Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close saiyan7]

fine for almost all size wheels. Caswell's hand held polisher is only rated at 3800 I think.

[mcaswell ******* Inc Founder Find all posts View Profile Close mcaswell]

The ideal Surface Feet Per Minute speed (SFPM) is between 3600 - 7500.

The formula for calculating SFPM is 0.25 x Diameter of Wheel x RPM.

So, a 4" wheel at 3000RPM gives a SFPM of 3000 (a little too slow)

A 6" wheel on the other hand gives a SFPM of 4500.

The higher the SFPM, the faster your polishing job will be done.

However, you have to remember that the larger and heavier the wheel is, the slower the drill will turn (reducing the RPM's).

If your drill has enough power to use 6" wheels without stopping the wheel if you apply moderate pressure, then by all means use the 6" wheels. Otherwise, step down to 4".