[Jewelry making - Article 01117] - [Orchid] Buff rake

[Jewelryartschool]

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    A few people have written me wondering about my mention of the buff
    rake in  a previous thread on polishing.... 

    Basically what happens is that after constantly charging your wheel,
    the  compounds build up to the point at which they interfere with
    your polishing.  They leave streaks and lines of compound on your
    work. You can also get lines  drawn or worn into your metal,
    especially flat sheet. 

    The rake breaks up this "overload" and exposes fresh material to
    grab the  new charge of compound. 

    Rakes can be purchased from suppliers or made up pretty simply.
    While I  lived in Mexico we used a row of bottle caps screwed onto a
    piece of  wood. In the USA these days you may have buy imported beer
    to get the  bottle caps <grin>. 

    You can sandwich a 4" section of coarse handsaw used for wood, or
    coarse  hacksaw blade used for cutting thick metal - between two
    pieces  of inch and a half - by seven inch - by half inch thick wood
     molding.  Then glue and screw the two pieces together, clamping the
    blade  between them. This is your "handle." Just leave about a
    quarter inch of the  teeth exposed to perform the raking action. 

    WARNING: If you have not used a rake before you will find that it
    can  easily be snatched and thrown back at you. You must have a firm
    hold on it  with both hands. Move it sideways across the wheel and
    STAY DOWN BELOW THE  CENTER OF THE BUFF. Of course you ARE wearing
    protection while doing this! You  can get seriously hurt if you lose
    control! 

    You will learn to see and feel when the compounds that have built up
    are  sufficiently removed. Don't overdo it either, you'll find the
    "happy medium"  with practice. 

    Periodically cut a row of threads as the buff gets worn. This will
    release  and expose fresh material to hold you compounds. 

    Another thing you can try - is to reverse the direction of the buff.
     Sometimes when a buff is subjected to too much pressure, all of the
    fibers tend  to "set." Reversing the direction and then raking will
    remedy this. 

Brian P.  Marshall
Stockton Jewelry Arts School
Stockton, CA 95209 USA
209-477-0550  Workshop/Studio
instructor AT jewelryartschool.com
jewelryartschool AT aol.com


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