Buffing Rake For Metal Polishing

Every airway buff eventually glazes: melted compound and metal fines pack into the pleats, the face goes dark and shiny, and the wheel starts smearing instead of cutting. A buffing rake fixes that in seconds. You hold the steel-toothed head against the running wheel, it tears the caked layer out of the cotton and opens fresh fibers, and the wheel cuts like new. It also trues a new wheel and softens a hard edge before the first part.

This is the rake we use on our own wheels. The handle lasts for years, and when the metal filler finally wears you replace just the filler rather than the whole tool. Anyone running airway buffing wheels on a lathe, bench buffer or angle grinder should have one at the machine, and knife makers who buff handles and bolsters use it to keep a small wheel from loading up with compound.

• Restores the cut of a glazed airway buff without wasting cloth
• Trues and softens the edge of a new buffing wheel before the first part
• Replaceable metal filler: keep the handle, swap the worn head
• Works on wheels running on a lathe, pedestal buffer or angle grinder
• Removes old compound so you can switch a wheel to fresh bar of the same type
• Ships free on orders over $200; 30-day returns on unused product

When does a buffing wheel need raking?

Rake when the wheel tells you to, not on a schedule. The signs are easy to read once you know them.

• The face is dark and shiny. Fresh cotton looks matte and fibrous. A glazed wheel looks polished itself, because the compound has melted into a hard skin.
• The part smears instead of brightening. Compound is being pushed around on the surface rather than cutting. More pressure makes it worse and heats the part.
• Black streaks appear on aluminum or stainless that a clean wheel would not leave. That is packed metal fines and old compound coming back off the wheel.
• A new wheel has a hard, square edge. A few seconds of raking softens it so the first parts are not marked by the rim.
• You want to re-charge a wheel that sat unused. Old, dry compound should come off before fresh bar goes on.

Raking does not let you change compounds on a wheel. A wheel that has run brown tripoli stays a tripoli wheel; the rake removes the surface layer, not what has worked into the cloth.

How do you rake a wheel on a lathe or bench buffer?

1. Run the wheel up to its normal working speed. Raking a slow wheel just drags the teeth through the cloth.
2. Hold the rake in both hands, firmly, with the handle braced against your body or the tool rest so the wheel cannot snatch it.
3. Bring the teeth to the face of the wheel below the center line, the same place you present a part, and apply light, steady pressure.
4. Move the rake across the full width of the face so the wheel wears evenly instead of developing a groove.
5. Hold it there for a few seconds until the dark skin is gone and the cotton looks matte again. The debris comes off as dust and small crumbs, so wear a face shield and a respirator.
6. Re-charge with a short touch of the compound bar and go back to work.

How do you rake a wheel on an angle grinder?

Edge buffing with an airway buff on a 7" grinder or polisher loads the rim of the wheel quickly, so grinder users rake often. The method is different because the machine is the thing that moves.

1. Set the rake on the floor, teeth up, and stand on the handle with your feet so it cannot shift. Do not try to hold a rake in one hand and a running grinder in the other.
2. Start the grinder, let the wheel reach speed, and bring the edge of the buff down onto the teeth with light pressure.
3. Rock the grinder slightly so the whole rim passes over the teeth. This removes the caked compound and softens the edge of the wheel, which is exactly what edge buffing needs.
4. Lift off, inspect the rim, and repeat if any dark glazing remains.

Use caution every time. Keep the guard on the grinder where it can be, keep your feet planted on the handle, and keep bystanders clear of the line the wheel throws debris. A safety flange on each side of the wheel's center plate keeps the plate from flexing while you rake.

How to get the most out of it

1. Rake lightly and often. Frequent short passes keep the wheel cutting and remove far less cloth than one heavy dressing after the wheel is badly loaded.
2. Rake before you re-charge, not after. Fresh compound on a glazed face just sits on top of the old skin.
3. Use the whole face. Parking the rake in one spot cuts a groove in the wheel that then prints on your parts.
4. Keep one rake per compound family if you can. A rake caked in black cutting compound will drag some of it onto a white flannel color wheel.
5. Replace the filler when the teeth round over. A dull filler burnishes the wheel rather than opening it. The handle stays; only the metal head is replaced.
6. Store it dry. The filler is steel; a rusty head sheds flakes into the wheel.

Use it for / don't use it for

Use it for

• Cleaning glazed compound off airway buffs, mini buffs and other cotton buffing wheels
• Truing and softening the edge of a new buffing wheel
• Dressing the rim of a wheel used for edge buffing on an angle grinder
• Reviving a wheel that has sat with dried compound on it
• Knife makers keeping a small buff clean between handle materials

Don't use it for

• Switching a wheel from one compound to a different one; use a separate wheel
• Dressing grinding wheels, flap wheels or non-woven satin buffs
• Holding in one hand while the other hand holds a running grinder
• A stopped or slowly turning wheel; run it at normal speed

Specifications

Frequently asked questions

Related products and guides

• All airway buffing wheels
• Buffing Safety Flange 4" x 5/8"
• Metal polishing compound bars
• Dissolver polishing compound remover
• Knife making abrasives and polishing supplies