Polisher Recommendation

I'm looking to purchase a bench polisher and need some recommendations. I was looking @ Harbor Freight but after using my brother's this weekend to polish an aluminum valve cover I decided against it. I don't think it could even pull you hat off your head. Just barely touching the valve cover to the buffing pad would stop it. I'm thinking that Baldor would be my best bet but there might be others on the market I'm not aware of. Don't want to spend a lot of money but I also believe in getting what you pay for.

Honestly? I would try and find an old used one. They don't make them like they used to.

Yep. Used Baldor. Great motors.

Yes ^^^^ baldor

+2 All I use is Baldors and they have never failed me.

You know what I love about GRM? I love that 12 hours later, there are only 5 responses in a thread about a polisher. And that they're all relevant (except this one.)

Yes. Baldor is it if you want to do it once. A grassroots possibility is to look at TP Tools or Caswell or Eastwood for a buffer arbor. This locks on to the shaft of a big AC motor to adapt it to accept buffing wheels.

That said, I had any number of improvised buffers, and when I finally caved and got the Baldor I realized I'd wasted loads of time working too hard w/ marginal equipment.

NOTE: Get good wheels in all the various types - loose cotton, spiral sewn, sisal, flap etc, and all the compounds in 1# sticks, a respirator and a face shield. I fired a brass mail slot trim off my forehead and it landed 75' away. I got a nice cut and a massive egg on my head, and would have been 1/2 blind had it been an inch lower. Don't screw around with a 3/4 hp buffer.

Out of curiosity, what hp was the harbor freight rated at? I don't know much about buffers but I've heard for bench grinders to get as much hp as you can afford, at least 3/4.

All I know is I've been buying cheap used tools and bought a 1/2 horse craftsman from the 60s. I've lubed the bearing but still need to rewire the motor. It runs fine but some of the wiring is funky. I guess it is a good idea to plan for ventilation because polishing make a hell of a mess. Still figuring it out myself.

benzbaron wrote: All I know is I've been buying cheap used tools and bought a 1/2 horse craftsman from the 60s. I've lubed the bearing but still need to rewire the motor. It runs fine but some of the wiring is funky. I guess it is a good idea to plan for ventilation because polishing make a hell of a mess. Still figuring it out myself.

I love Craftsman and assume anything that's made by them is a quality product that will last for years.

arvoss wrote: Out of curiosity, what hp was the harbor freight rated at? I don't know much about buffers but I've heard for bench grinders to get as much hp as you can afford, at least 3/4.

I don't know how HF, Kreemo or any of the other junk merchants measure horsepower, but I can bring my HF 3/4 hp bench grinder to a halt trying to shape a pocket knife.

The only good thing I can say about it is that you'll never grind hard enough to take the temper out of the steel.

OK heres my 2 cents with pictures.I have two.The one on the left is a 1 1/2 hp for polishing stainless and spins at 2600-3200 rpm.The one on the right is 3/4 hp for aluminum and spins at 1800 rpm.notice both have long shanks for moving parts around.Most grinders have short shanks and if you use a grinder you will nick your part at some point.I usually start with raw material so the hard wheel works best for me.The less HP you have the skinnier wheel you need to use or you,ll just bog it down.I like a 1" wheel the best because you can "grind a shin in it" lol.The wider the wheel the more surface area your polishing at once and the parts tend to over heat with larger wheels.The more ridgid the wheel the faster the part will polish.I have tried all kind of wheels and tend to use a 10"x1" medium hard wheel.I only use the soft wheel to check progress.The green compound is a great all around polish,it and mothers aluminum polish is all I use and never have any issues with parts curing and dulling a bit.

Thanks for all the comments and advice. I never thought too much about the length of the shanks but it makes sense.