Pen Turning - Beall Buffing System

W3DRM · Post by **W3DRM** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:51 pm

I have just pruchased a Beall Buffing System which consists of three buffing wheels, buffing compounds, a 5/8" arbor for mounting it. After a few times through the buffing cycle I discovered I really wasn't happy with having to change the wheels each time I wanted to go from the Tripoli wheel to the White Diamond and/or the Wax wheel. So, I bought a 24" piece of 3/8" threaded rod and mounted all three wheels on it. Now, I have three wheels mounted so I can quickly go from one buffing stage to the next without any wasted motion. I've included two photos of my setup.

I only have two issues with it:

I have to keep the speed at SLOW or "A" to prevent excess vibration in the wheels. The 3/8" rod probably isn't thick enough to hold the weight of the wheels above a very low RPM setting.
A tremendous amount of static electricity is built up during the buffing process and I am constantly getting zapped whenever I get near a metal piece of the SS.

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john · Post by **john** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:48 pm

Two comments.

First that's a nice set-up.

Second that's one clean Shopsmith and shop!

After seeing that, I could never post a picture of my shop. Needless to say, I'm jealous.

John

W3DRM · Post by **W3DRM** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:58 pm

john wrote:Two comments.

First that's a nice set-up.

Second that's one clean Shopsmith and shop!

After seeing that, I could never post a picture of my shop. Needless to say, I'm jealous.

John

Thanks but, if I posted a picture behind me, you wouldn't say that about the shop. I have to keep that part clean so I can park my car in the garage

...

roy_okc · Post by **roy_okc** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:19 pm

Neat idea, I've been thinking about the need to get something like this.

Perhaps shortening the threadstock would reduce the vibration. Looks like there's plenty on the right side that you could remove. Could you put fender washers and nuts on each side of each wheel to keep the side-to-side movement down which might help with vibration?

Could you attach some sort of grounded wire to the SS to reduce static?

Keep us informed!

Thanks,
Roy

W3DRM · Post by **W3DRM** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:57 pm

roy_okc wrote:Neat idea, I've been thinking about the need to get something like this.

Perhaps shortening the threadstock would reduce the vibration. Looks like there's plenty on the right side that you could remove. Could you put fender washers and nuts on each side of each wheel to keep the side-to-side movement down which might help with vibration?

Could you attach some sort of grounded wire to the SS to reduce static?

Keep us informed!

Thanks,
Roy

I've thought about cutting off a portion of the threaded rod but have been hestitant to do so since I want as much room as possible between the right-hand wheel and the live center. I did add 3/4" hollow steel tubing between each wheel and that has helped quite a bit with vibration.

Static can be a real problem with some equipment. Nick even mentioned it in his #10 Sawdust session when using the leather strop on the strip sander.

The SS is already grounded through the power cord. I think the problem is a combination of our low humidity here in Nevada (it runs in the low teens this time of year and even lower in the summber months) and the fact that I normally wear tennis shoes which are insulated thus it's probably me that is collecting the static charge and not the SS. I've thought about attaching something like a small chain to my leg that drags on the floor to see what happens.

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:27 pm

Woodcraft sells the Beall 3 on lathe buffing mandrel, it looks pretty massive from the picture http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5183

Maybe a trip to their store to see how heavy it is.

Hope this helps.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:19 am

Hi Jim,

That looks like just the ticket for drmcroberts!

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:34 am

drmcroberts wrote:I've thought about cutting off a portion of the threaded rod but have been hestitant to do so since I want as much room as possible between the right-hand wheel and the live center.

The SS is already grounded through the power cord. I think the problem is a combination of our low humidity here in Nevada (it runs in the low teens this time of year and even lower in the summber months) and the fact that I normally wear tennis shoes which are insulated thus it's probably me that is collecting the static charge and not the SS. I've thought about attaching something like a small chain to my leg that drags on the floor to see what happens.

You can get a very inexpensive grounding strap, I have seen them for less than $5. Also there are several ways to lengthen your live center for <$15 either using two Shopsmith line center extenders (1 is included with lathe duplicator) or a #2 morse taper to #2 morse taper extender.

If you want to wear sneaker looking into a shoe grounding strap.

W3DRM · Post by **W3DRM** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 1:21 am

james.miller wrote:Woodcraft sells the Beall 3 on lathe buffing mandrel, it looks pretty massive from the picture http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=5183

Maybe a trip to their store to see how heavy it is.

Hope this helps.

I've seen the Beall 3 on lathe buffing system. Unfortunately, the headstock end of the shaft is a Morse Taper #2 ground right on the shaft. So sadly, it is not usable on the SS.

The main difference between the two systems from Beall is that the 3 on system use a 3/4" shaft to support the buffing wheels. Whereas the Beall Buffing System utilizes a 3/8" shaft which is sufficient for a single wheel but not substantial enough for holding three wheels. My system seems to be working fine as long as I keep my RPMs down below 800.