12" Airway Buffing Wheels For Polishing, 5 PACK

Twelve inches is the crossover size in airway buffing: big enough to run on a pedestal buffer or a small polishing lathe all day, and still available with the 5/8 Inch arbor that bench buffers use as well as the 1-1/4 Inch arbor found on lathes and backstand polishers. The pleated cotton is held in a steel clinch ring, and the open airway between pleats moves air across the face so the wheel stays cooler and sheds spent compound instead of loading up.

This listing is a 5-pack of one cloth type, with a 3 Inch or 5 Inch center plate size, made in our Anaheim, California facility. Shops polishing stainless tanks, aluminum truck and trailer components, and brass or copper fittings buy the 12" pack so a full shift runs on one wheel diameter with a matched cut wheel and color wheel on the machine.

• Five 12" wheels of one cloth type per pack, priced for shops that polish every day
• 3 Inch or 5 Inch center plate, 5/8 Inch or 1-1/4 Inch arbor: bench buffers and lathes both covered
• Six cloth types: Red, Orange and Yellow treated cuts, 86/80, Domet Flannel (White) and Pink for color
• Ventilated pleats run cooler and throw off spent compound
• Same wheels we use in our own recipes for aluminum, stainless, brass and copper
• Made in Anaheim, California; free shipping on orders over $200

Which cloth type should you choose for a 12" wheel?

Each 5-pack is a single cloth type, so decide what the pack is for: cutting or coloring. Treated cloth (a mill finish that stiffens the cotton) cuts; untreated and soft cloth colors. A production station normally runs one cut wheel and one color wheel side by side.

• Red: our firmest treated cutting buff. Buy this pack for stainless and steel with the black stainless cutting bar, where discoloration and fine scratches have to be removed before color.
• Orange: treated, medium-firm. The aluminum cutting pack, run with brown tripoli; also a general cut-and-color wheel on stainless when Red is more than the job needs.
• Yellow: mill-treated cotton. In our recipes it is the color step on aluminum and stainless with green rouge, and the first step on brass and copper with the yellow deluxe bar.
• 86/80: untreated cotton with a higher thread count. A coloring and finishing pack for white or blue rouge; more body than flannel, less than a treated wheel.
• Domet Flannel (White): the softest cloth we offer. Final mirror pass with blue rouge, white rouge or the purple high-luster bar.
• Pink: soft finishing buff. The second-step pack for stainless (yellow deluxe or green) and for brass and copper (purple bar); also the plastics wheel with no-scratch pink.

Which compound goes with which wheel?

Never run two compounds on one wheel; the coarser compound contaminates the finer one and leaves haze. Brass and copper must be sanded first: a scuff pad for light tarnish, 600 or 800 grit for heavy oxidation. All bars are on the metal polishing compound bars page, and the stainless kit and aluminum kit bundle them with wheels.

What machines run a 12" airway buff, and which arbor do I order?

Match the arbor hole to the spindle first, then choose the center plate size that your machine's flanges seat against.

• 5/8 Inch arbor: bench and pedestal buffers, bench grinders converted to buffing, and 5/8" polishing heads. Pair it with the 3 Inch center plate size on smaller machines.
• 1-1/4 Inch arbor: buffing lathes, backstand polishers and two-spindle industrial buffers. The 5 Inch center plate gives the larger flange contact these machines are built for.
• Hand-held polishers: a 12" wheel is heavy for a 7" polisher; for edge buffing with a hand-held machine we point most buyers to the 10" airway buff.

On any high-speed spindle, clamp a safety flange on each side of the center plate so the plate cannot warp, and tighten the nut before every session. Check that the wheel clears the guard and the bench, and never exceed the buff's rated speed for its diameter.

How to get the most out of it

1. Dress a new wheel before the first part. Hold a buffing rake against the running face for a few seconds to open the pleats and true the edge.
2. Charge in short touches. A second or two of bar on the running wheel is enough; a caked wheel smears and heats the part.
3. Buff below the center line, with the work held so the wheel throws debris down and away, and keep the part moving. Dwell is what burns aluminum and blues stainless.
4. Cut completely, then color. If the cut step left scratches, the color wheel will only make them shinier. Go back to the cut wheel.
5. Wipe the part between wheels. Cut compound carried onto the Pink or flannel wheel ruins the finish; Dissolver removes the black residue.
6. Rake when the face glazes, and rotate the five wheels in the pack so they wear evenly.
7. Protect yourself. Face shield, gloves, a respirator (we link the full-face respirator we use; it is also here), no loose sleeves, and a clear space behind the wheel.

The videos below cover the differences between the mill treatments and edge buffing technique.

Use it for / don't use it for

Use it for

• Stainless steel tanks, railings, brewery and food-service equipment on a pedestal buffer
• Aluminum truck, trailer and marine parts on a buffing lathe
• Brass and copper fixtures after sanding to 600 or 800 grit
• Cast aluminum and stainless parts in a job shop where a wheel change per compound is normal
• Acrylic and other plastics with a Pink wheel and no-scratch pink compound

Don't use it for

• Removing coarse sanding scratches or weld ripple; sand to fine grit first
• Mixing compounds on one wheel
• Hand-held polishers where the weight and diameter are hard to control; use a 10" wheel
• Running without flanges on a high-speed spindle

Specifications

Frequently asked questions

Related products and guides

• All airway buffing wheels
• Metal polishing compound bars
• 10" Airway Buffing Wheels (for hand-held polishers)
• 14" Airway Buffing Wheels, 5-pack
• Buffing rake for cleaning wheels