Wood for burnishing wheel

[Tigweldor]

Hi,

Still have a few motors kicking around the shop - want to make a motorized burnisher out of one of them.

What is the best wood to use for the burnishing wheel ?

Guess it is something like oak or harder - wood is not really my specialty - so any tips will be appreciated.

Have a bud with a wood lathe - but I want to approach him with at least the wood in hand - he likes to moan and groan a lot if has to dip into his own stash - want to avoid that.

 

Greetings

Hans

[Tigweldor]

Are these brass burnishers any good - I do have a big Pferd Mammut flexible shaft grinder where I can set speed over gear box up to 12 000 rpm.

Anybody ever use these with success ? 

https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004360400374.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.41.5823PFncPFncGj&algo_pvid=a81055c6-63c5-488e-b2fd-95775b1e9a79&algo_exp_id=a81055c6-63c5-488e-b2fd-95775b1e9a79-20&pdp_ext_f={"order"%3A"18"%2C"eval"%3A"1"}&pdp_npi=4%40dis!EUR!3.37!0.99!!!3.55!1.05!%40211b80c217431654469137732ea442!12000028901065385!sea!DE!0!ABX&curPageLogUid=WDyAAavtk6WV&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch|query_from%3A

 

Greetings

Hans

[toxo]

I don't think wood is the way to go. I think it's just easier to do. Something like canvas or denim will get you there quicker. I tried felt glued on one of my sanding belts. Wasn't bad but needs work.

Considering a good burnish needs heat I certainly wouldn't go with anything smooth.

Edited Friday at 01:54 PM by toxo

[Dwight]

Wood actually does work great . . . several commercial leather suppliers make and sell them . . . 

Mine is I believe out of maple . . . which is the type of wood you want . . . it has a very close grain and is reasonably hard.

Oak can be OK . . . just have to be careful of it . . . sometimes grain can be pretty open . . . which would make for a splinter producer possibly.

When you first start it up . . . 1450 rpms or so is good . . . start it up . . . fold up some old canvas or some cotton rope . . . use it to get the wood warmed up . . . holding it tight into the grooves . . . then add sliced solid bees wax . . . back to the rope . . . more beeswax . . . more rope . . . until you get a really smooth surface.

Fix up some scrap leather . . . edge it . . . rub beeswax on the edge . . . and force it into the grooves while it is spinning . . . and kinda let up slowly on the pressure . . . finish polishing it with an old handkerchief or tee shirt.

Then each time you use it . . . hit it with the beeswax . . . or rub beeswax along the edge of whatever you are burnishing.

You'll love the production.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Tigweldor]

Hi Dwight,

Great - thanks for the tip.

Maple grows here in Europe - thought i had to get some fancy exotic wood - been researching and found sandlewood used --  don´t think that it grows around my neighborhood though.

Beeswax and canvas is no probs either - have lots of bees wax as I make my own leather balm / polish - haven´t bought any commercial stuff for nigh on 25 years now - easy stuff to melt together on any stove and a metal pot.

Been reading other posts and they suggest that they run their burnisher at half speed, which would be pretty close to 3000 rpm - but they didn´t state the burnishing wheel diameter - need that to calculate surface speed in meter per second.    I like the slightly more scientific approach to such matters - makes me feel more confident - which is probably complete "placebo thinking" - but that´s the way i tick.

 

@ toxo : I will try the belt sander method as well - know of a small manufacturer of sanding belts just out of town - I´ll give them a call and ask if they can´t sell me some belt material before grinding particles are added to the belting - the diagonal cuts at the right length and applying the tape I can manage myself. I´ll just cut an old sanding belt along its´seem as a template.  Maybe even make the whole belt from canvas and ZZ stitch it together. The old Pfaff 138 can produce a pretty wide ZZ.

 

Greetings

Hans

Edited Friday at 05:41 PM by Tigweldor

[toxo]

3 hours ago, Tigweldor said:

@ toxo : I will try the belt sander method as well - know of a small manufacturer of sanding belts just out of town - I´ll give them a call and ask if they can´t sell me some belt material before grinding particles are added to the belting - the diagonal cuts at the right length and applying the tape I can manage myself. I´ll just cut an old sanding belt along its´seem as a template.  Maybe even make the whole belt from canvas and ZZ stitch it together. The old Pfaff 138 can produce a pretty wide ZZ.

 

Greetings

Hans

Don't know how to select parts of a thread but the machine I have is in this thread from last year. I just glued some felt to a belt but the felt just stretched out of shape but the potential is really good.

 

[Cumberland Highpower]

When I was a teenager, I made a slicker from a $2 motor/arbor.   Took a chain saw and cut a slice off of a piece of firewood, drilled a hole and turned it down on the arbor itself.  (Clamped a block of wood to table and used a chisel just like you would on a woodlathe).    The wood turned out to be cherry.  Held up pretty good.  Still have it sitting around somewhere.

 

[dikman]

There seems to be two similar threads running concurrently. Anyhow, don't overthink it, any reasonably dense wood should do as once you use it a bit the grain/pores should seal up. I've used Australian Jarrah (bloody hard!) and Australian Oak planks (bit softer) which I laminated and turned down to fit my bench grinder. Both work fine. The grinder runs at 2800 rpm, which is really a bit fast but works, 1400 rpm would be better.