10" Airway Buffing Wheels For Polishing

A 10" airway buff is the wheel you reach for when an 8" wheel is too small for the panel in front of you but you are still running a hand-held polisher or a bench buffer with a 5/8" spindle. The pleated cotton folds are held by a 3" steel clinch ring, and air moving through the pleats keeps the face cool and throws off spent compound, so the wheel cuts instead of smearing. We make these airway buffs in our Anaheim, California facility.

Each wheel is sold individually in six cloth types, from a firm Red cutting treat to a soft Domet Flannel (White) color wheel, with a 5/8 Inch removable center plate or with no center plate for use with insertable safety flanges. Truck, trailer and tank polishers, aluminum wheel shops, stainless fabricators and restoration shops buy this size because it lives longer than an 8" wheel and can be worn down to 8" or 9" for detail work.

• Ventilated airway construction runs cooler than a solid sewn buff and sheds spent compound
• 3 Inch clinch ring with a 5/8 Inch removable center plate, or No Center Plate for insertable flanges
• Six cloth types cover cut, color and mirror steps on aluminum, stainless, brass and copper
• Sold per wheel, so you can build a cut wheel and a color wheel without buying a pack
• Fits 7" polishers and angle grinders with a 5/8" spindle plus 5/8" bench buffers
• Made in Anaheim, California; free shipping on orders over $200

Which cloth type should you choose?

Airway buffs are cotton; what changes between colors is the mill treatment (a stiffening finish applied to the cloth) and the thread count. Stiffer and more treated means more cut, less treated and softer means more color and luster. Buy at least two wheels: one for the cut step and one for the color step, and never share a wheel between compounds.

• Red: treated, firm cutting buff. Our first-step wheel on stainless and steel with the black stainless cutting bar (Black Magic). Use it where oxidation, weld discoloration or fine sanding scratches have to come out.
• Orange: treated, medium-firm. Our cutting wheel for aluminum with brown tripoli; it also handles cut-and-color work on stainless when you do not need the full bite of Red.
• Yellow: mill-treated cloth that we run as the second step on aluminum and stainless with green rouge, and as the first step on brass and copper with the yellow deluxe bar.
• 86/80: higher thread count untreated cotton. A coloring and finishing buff for white rouge or blue rouge when you want brightness without the softness of flannel.
• Domet Flannel (White): the softest wheel we offer. Final color and mirror finish with white rouge, blue rouge or the purple high-luster bar on stainless, aluminum and chrome.
• Pink: soft finishing buff. Our second-step wheel on stainless with yellow deluxe and on brass and copper with the purple bar; also the wheel for plastics with the no-scratch pink compound.

Which compound goes with which wheel?

These are the two-step recipes we publish and run ourselves. Cut with the treated wheel first, then color with the soft wheel. One wheel per compound.

Brass and copper need sanding before the wheel touches them: a scuff pad breaks light tarnish, and 600 or 800 grit takes out heavier oxidation and pits. All of the bars above are on our metal polishing compound bars page.

What machines run a 10" airway buff?

• 7" variable-speed polishers and angle grinders with a 5/8" spindle. The two we recommend on the old page still stand: the Makita 9237C, a 3,500 RPM polisher that suits beginners and pros, and the Makita GA7021, a 6,000 RPM grinder for experienced operators. On a grinder you edge-buff: the rim of the wheel does the work, which is how truck tanks, wheels and trailer panels are polished in the field.
• Bench buffers and pedestal polishers with a 5/8" arbor. Order the 5/8 Inch center plate version and clamp it between the machine's flanges.
• Buffing lathes with 5/8" spindles for small parts, knives and hardware.

Center plate options. The 3 Inch center plate size is the steel ring that holds the pleats. Choose 5/8 Inch if you want a removable plate already fitted for a 5/8" spindle. Choose No Center Plate if you run insertable safety flanges; a no-plate wheel cannot be mounted without them. On a grinder, a pair of 4" x 5/8" safety flanges either side of the plate keeps the wheel from warping at speed.

How to get the most out of it

1. Charge lightly. Touch the bar to the running wheel for a second or two. A caked wheel smears compound onto the part instead of cutting; if it glazes, rake it with a buffing rake.
2. Work below the center line of the wheel with the part moving against the rotation, so the wheel pulls compound across the surface rather than grabbing an edge.
3. Keep the part moving. Dwell builds heat, and heat on aluminum leaves a hazy, orange-peel finish that has to be cut again.
4. Finish the cut step completely before you pick up the color wheel. Color compound will not remove scratches; it only brightens what is already flat.
5. Wipe between steps so cut compound never rides onto the color wheel. Our Dissolver clears the black residue that cut compounds leave.
6. Run within the buff's rated speed for your machine, wear a face shield, gloves and a respirator (the full-face respirator we link is the one we use), and keep loose clothing away from the wheel.

The videos below walk through the differences in mill treatments and show edge buffing on an angle grinder.

Use it for / don't use it for

Use it for

• Polished aluminum truck tanks, trailer panels, tool boxes and wheels
• Stainless steel railings, tanks, exhaust and food-service equipment
• Brass and copper hardware, lighting and restoration parts after sanding
• Knife blades and bolsters on a bench buffer (with the smaller 8" wheel for tight areas)
• Acrylic, G10 and other plastics with a Pink wheel and no-scratch pink compound

Don't use it for

• Removing sanding scratches coarser than roughly 400 grit; finish the sanding first
• Mounting a No Center Plate wheel without insertable safety flanges
• Running one wheel with two different compounds
• Machines whose arbor is not 5/8" without the correct plate or adapter; this size is not offered with a 1-1/4" hole

Specifications

Frequently asked questions

Related products and guides

• All airway buffing wheels
• Metal polishing compound bars
• 8" Airway Buffing Wheels (for detail and tight areas)
• Insertable safety flanges for no-center-plate buffs
• Aluminum polishing kit