16" Diameter Airway Buffing Wheels

Maverick Abrasives is 1 of only 4 manufacturers left in the United States that manufactures premium Industrial grade airway buffing wheels. These 16" airways come traditionally with 1-1/4" arbor hole which is common for most lathe and backstand polishing machines.

We recommend using our Orange cutting wheel with a brown tripoli bar if polishing aluminum or a black stainless bar if cutting stainless. 

We recommend using our Yellow Coloring wheel with a green rouge when polishing either stainless or aluminum. 

YOU USE THE EDGE OF THE BUFFING WHEEL TO POLISH?

Yes! This is called edge buffing and the method is often used when polishing metal with an angle grinder, a buffing wheel, and compound. See below:

PAIRING BUFFING WHEELS WITH POLISHING COMPOUND CORRECTLY:

In the video below i fully explain the differences in the different mill treatments for airway buffing wheels so you understand what is stiff and what is softer. 

ALUMINUM METAL POLISHING

Polishing aluminum with our airway buffing wheels are typically done in a two-step process. We recommend pairing our Brown Tripoli Metal Polishing Compound with our orange airway buffing wheels as the first step.

For the second step in polishing aluminum, we would want to pair our yellow airway buffing wheel with our Green Rouge Metal Polishing Compound.

STAINLESS STEEL METAL POLISHING

Polishing stainless steel with our Airway Buffing Wheels is typically a two step process. The first step is to pair our red airway buffing wheel without Black Magic Compound. The second step involves using a Pink buffing wheel with our Yellow Deluxe Compound. For an extra show-shine finish, some use a white buffing wheel with our Blue Rouge Metal Polishing Compound at no more than 2,200 RPM.

HOW DO YOU POLISH COPPER OR BRASS? 

Brass and copper must first be prepped for polish with sanding to clean and clear any imperfections in the metal before you go into your mirror polishing process. For a lite tarnish, use a scuff pad to break the surface. For a heavier tarnish or oxidized surface, soft sanding with a 600 or 800 grit will smooth this surface out and get rid of any imperfections. 

For polishing we recommend a Yellow Airway buffing wheel and a yellow deluxe compound bar as your first polishing step. For your second step we recommend a pink airway buffing wheel paired with our purple high luster compound bar. As far as speed when polishing we recommend 2200 to 2600 RPM. 

HOW TO POLISH ALUMINUM WITH A 16" AIRWAY BUFF?

These wheels are typically mounted on a large industrial buffing lathe. The most popular buffing wheel for these are the orange and yellow. We recommend pairing the orange airway with the tripoli bar for your first "cut" step on aluminum, then going to the yellow wheel paired with the green rouge for your mirror shine. For stainless steel, more aggressive products are required. For stainless we recommend pairing our RED airway and our black stainless cutting bar. For the second step we recommend our pink airway with our yellow OR green buffing brick. For an even brighter shine on both you can pair a domet flannel airway and a purple finishing bar for a crazy luster!