A Question of Polishing Wheel Technique

[rangerbluedog]

For those of you who use a rag polishing wheel on a regular basis:
Do you polish with the sharp side of the blade pointing up (into the rotating wheel) or down ("downstream" of the direction of rotation).
Seems to me that both would have issues. Blade pointing up would tend to snag the wheel. Blade pointing down would have the danger of the blade closing on your finger.
Or do you have the blade in a vertical orientation? Then it would seem difficult to polish the tang...

How do you do it? Do you have a tool to keep the blade from closing?
I'm about to make a purchase and I don't want to get something I can't use
Thanks!

[orvet]

DOWN- NEVER WITH THE EDGE UP!!!!!!!!!

Unless of course you like to hunt for the knife. A rag wheel can grab a blade or knife and fling it clean across a shop at very high speed......and that is if you are lucky.
If your not lucky,.......you will need the assistance of a good surgeon to find the knife.

Dale

[orvet]

Sorry, I was not trying to yell at you, just to scare you!

The buffer is the most dangerous piece of equipment in a knife shop.
It can send a blade, spring or an entire knife like a bullet across a room into a wall, a person or into the buffer operator.

I respect my all equipment.
I give the buffer a triple dose of respect.

I wear heavy leather gloves when I buff. It saves a lot of cuts, burns and keeps the compound off my hands.
The leather of these gloves is black at the fingers from the compound.
Better the gloves than my fingers.

Dale

[rangerbluedog]

Figured that was the case, but I still can't figure out how you do that without the blade closing on yer fingers.

Funny true story: I've worked in manufacturing my whole life, but my first job was in gear cutting. The final step in the process was polishing the gears on a buffing wheel - kind of like scotch-brite, but more dense. We had one guy who did this job. One day he was polishing away and "hung an edge" on the polishing wheel. The wheel came apart, came off the arbor, and hit him in the groin, solar plexus, and nose in that order, before flying up to the ceiling. The wheel particles then hit the flourescent light bulbs, which shattered and came down on the poor guy's head!
First he went down to his knees, then covered his head from the falling glass. When he looked up, blood was running from his nose. He spent the next half hour collecting his thoughts, picking glass from his hair, trying to stop the bleeding, and rethinking his career choice.
Of course all of his supportive friends rolled in the floor laughing...

true story

[orvet]

Figured that was the case, but I still can't figure out how you do that without the blade closing on yer fingers.

Usually If I have to polish a blade it is a new knife I am making or customizing, so I don't sharpen it until after I have it polished.
If it is an old knife, they are often pretty dull, so no problem.
On the few occasions where this was a problem I would use a seam of the leather glove finger to prevent closing.
It is not usually a problem, but my method would not work on a super sharp knife like a factory edge on a Kershaw. Then I might need to dull the edge first if I couldn't figure out another way.

Dale

PS- Great story!

[muskrat man]

generally you try not to let the wheel catch the spine of the blade, even if it does normally the spring is strong enough to prevent the knife from closing all the way up. In addition to that I usually buff my blades lengthwise and that prevents any problem, then buff the tang area seperate.

[knifemaker3]

I've had 2 different blades get away from me in 20 years of knifemaking, both on the buffer. Both were fixed blades. One flung across the shop and stuck in the wall. The other stuck in the floor between my feet!

Respect all your tools in your shop, but give extra respect to the buffer. Always buff at slower speeds. Wear good leather gloves and do your buffing first thing in the morning. Never do it when tired or when you have other things on your mind.

Not trying to scare you, just want you to keep all your fingers from getting hurt or worst!

[rangerbluedog]

Thanks guys! I've worked in manufacturing (machinist/tool & die maker/engineer) for 25 years now and thank God I still have all my digits. But some things I just can't wrap my mind around without either seeing it done or getting advice from the folks who have done it.
You have been a tremendous help.

[Diligence]

I'd add that I have in the past used a small model makers bar clamp on the knife handle, just behind the pivot pin....in the event the blade closes, it hits the bar clamp. However, like MM, I do not let the wheel catch the back of the blade, and I also generally buff along the blade, not across it.

I also use a similar set-up on my drill press. I clamp a bar clamp behind the drill bit (between the bit and the back of the table), the if the piece being drilled gets "picked up" by the bit, it spins only until it hits the bar.

I had a piece of handle (for a mora stick tang rebuild) get away from me and fire the handle into the gyproc wall, 15 feet away from the press. I still haven't found all the pieces of the 3/8" bit that exploded.....

....oh, and wear your darn face shield!!!!! although I sometimes "forget"

J