Polishing Compound for Buffing Wheels

WHAT ARE METAL POLISHING COMPOUNDS?

Our metal polishing compounds are used with airway buffing wheels to increase the effectiveness of the wheel while being used during the cutting, buffing, and polishing process. Some are of a coarser consistency and are usually used to remove scratches while the others are finer, which lends to them being used to shine and finish your work. They should be applied to airway buffing wheels by coating the edges of the airway buffs like below.

WHAT COLOR POLISHING COMPOUND BARS SHOULD I PURCHASE?

No scratch pink bar is generally used for polishing handle materials such as woods and plastics although some knifemakers do actually use it on the steel as well! But we recommend it for the handle! This bar weighs about 2.5 LBs and is 10" in length. 

Black Stainless Bar is used as a "first cut" on your steel and is used to take out those initial 320 & 400 grit scratch marks left by your sandpaper whether it be from hand sanding or belt sanding. You want to start with this cut bar then go into a second step polish. Be sure to not cross contaminate your bars on the same wheel without raking out the previous color...in this case the black stainless bar. This bar weighs about 3 LBs and is 10" in length. 

Green Rouge Bar is used for a high luster finish and "coloring" stage we like to call it when polishing your steel. Due to the green chromium oxide, this bar will leave a darker, richer luster in your steel. If you are looking for the brightest mirror shine, you will want to go on to the next bar (purple). This bar weighs about 3.1 LBs and is 10" in length. 

Purple Rouge Bar is used for a final mirror show shine finish. You can use this bar after the black bar or the green bar if you want to do it 3 polishing stages. This is our finest finishing bar and will really blow you away! This bar weighs about 3 LBs and is 10" in length. 

White Bar & Blue bar - This bars quite frankly leave such a similar finish not even we can tell which finish is from which bar if we were doing the "pepsi challenge". We will say though that we find people generally use the white or the blue for a high luster finish based on what other people have told them, and they just stuck with it over time. If you ask us....the purple bar is way better! This bar weighs about 2.5 LBs and is 10" in length. 

WHAT DO THE COLORS MEAN FOR METAL POLISHING COMPOUND?

 The color of the polishing compound is almost always a byproduct of the natural abrasive ingredients. Tripoli powder, pictured below for example, is an abrasive product that along with the other formula ingredients allows the buffing wheel to polish a metal surface. These abrasives are often pigments as well causing the bar color to take on the appearance of the abrasive.

In situations where abrasives may be similar in appearance, but have very different abrasive qualities, many manufactures (ourselves included) can add separate pigment or dye to help differentiate the products from one another.