The Armour Archive

How do you guy/gals sand and grind armour after you've planished? What kind of tools? I'm using a drill-press with a sand pad and disc. Alot of the time i sand to much and get flat spots, any ideas on how to avoid that?

Professional polishers use a buffing wheel mounted on a buffer. This is a high-rpm motor, similar to a bench grinder, with longer mandrels that stick out from it. On these mandrels are mounted cloth buffing wheels. You'll need a collection of wheels - one for each kind of grit you intend to load on it (you can't mix and match).

Steve

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Forth Armoury
Highly authentic, affordable riveted maille.

for grinding
I reccommend a 3600 rpm eight inch bench grinder.

It can also be used for buffing to.

pictures at: http://tiarmour.com/dust_collector_fire.htm

mrks
tiarmour.com

[This message has been edited by mrks (edited 08-24-2002).]

Wow! mrks that was close!!!!!!!!!
I am parinoid about that....

I use a 3400 rpm 1.5 hp. buffing machine. 5/8" shaft with lots of different attachments.

Also I slack sand with a 2" X 42" three wheel belt sander.

For the really tough stuff I use a right angle grinder with lots of attachments.

I did not realize that their was that much grinding in armour making. I thought it was all hammer work.

Hal.

I use mostly slack grind with a Coote 2"x72" belt sander attatched to a 2 h.p. 1750 rpm motor. I also use an pneumatic disc grinder with discs of varying sizes and, for the detail/tight stuff a dynabrade dynafile.

A knock down thins your work so I dont grind/knock down much at all but leave the planished marks on my work. when I used to do everything by hand it was my trademark.

I have so little time these daays these days that I work titanium... almost exclusively. Ti is so hard that my planishing machine barely marks it but shapes it into nice even dished surfaces.

my big baldor will mirror stainless with a single pass using white compound and heavy pressure. I use an mixture of green and white for Ti. guess I am lazy. its why I have had a few spontaneous combustion fires. heavy waxing/greasing my wheel has reduced the fires lately though. when it really starts smoking its time to let the wheel cool down a bit. I used to spray it with water but it had a tendancy to cause rust on any untreated metal surface.

good luck with your grinding and polishing.

mrks
tiarmour.com