Question on Buffing Technique

A few years ago, I was in a hurry to get the firescale off a sterling
piece that I was finishing on a tripoli buff which had not been "raked"
for a while. Per usual, the piece got a little too hot to hold
comfortably. At the time, I was in a hurry and was too impatient to let
it cool by itself, so I rinsed it off in cool water, shook off most of
the droplets, and went back to the tripoli buff. I noticed that the tiny
amount of water remaining on the piece seemed to make the buff slightly
more aggressive, at least for a short time, probably until the water
either got thrown off the wheel, or had evaporated with the heat. But it
seemed to improve the cutting enough to make it worth doing on a regular
basis.

I did not observe any permanent change to the buff nor any subsequent
"gum" or "gunk" left on its surface. (Was using the usual tallow-based
tripoli, not the water soluble type.) I have been unable to find any
reference to this process, and most folks I talk with say they usually
work on several pieces at one time, so when one gets hot, they put it
aside to cool and work on another, which is what I usually do. One
person, however, was horrified and claimed that the buff would get
filled with gunk and be ruined. This was not my observation. I looked in
Oppi Untracht, and he only cautions against washing the entire buff
because it can weaken its structure.

Was wondering whether anybody else has tried this, and if they did,
whether it seems to give a slightly better performance, and whether or
not it seems to "gunk" up the buff. (Talking about just a few droplets
of water, not a whole lot.) Thanks in advance for your response.

On Sat, 06 Jan 2007 21:04:02 +0000, Curtis Gates wrote:
tripoli buff. I noticed that the tiny
amount of water remaining on the piece seemed to make the buff slightly
more aggressive,...

Was wondering whether anybody else has tried this, and if they did,
whether it seems to give a slightly better performance, and whether or
not it seems to "gunk" up the buff. (Talking about just a few droplets
of water, not a whole lot.) Thanks in advance for your response.

I have not tried it, but it is an interesting observation.
The whole phenomenon is counter-intuitive to me. I must try to reproduce
it soon.

Trying to find out why it might happen, I was led to the
following topics, which you might search:

tribological phenomena:
wear
adhesion
lubrication
electrical contact effects
friction

I have a couple of theories (probably wrong) that you are welcome to kick
around as hard as you'd like with large hobnailed boots:

1)
Is you water unsoftened? Hard water can contain all sorts of minerals,
some of which might be more aggressive than tripoli.

2)
Have you ever noticed that some of the tripoli sticks to the workpiece as
you polish? If the water prevented this from happening, more of the
abrasive particles might be cutting the surface of the workpiece instead
of passing and abrading over particles of tripoli that were adhered to the
surface of the workpiece.

tribological phenomena:
wear
adhesion
lubrication
electrical contact effects
friction

....also,
erosion
fretting

When Curtis Gates put fingers to keys it was 1/6/07 4:04 PM...

...I noticed that the tiny
amount of water remaining on the piece seemed to make the buff slightly
more aggressive...

I get a similar result wirebrushing rusted armor. Using a powered wheel,
if I wet the work with either WD-40 or water I get a faster and better
result.

I attribute the better result to the rust staying on the wheel and
serving as an abrasive.

- CW

When Carl put fingers to keys it was 1/7/07 2:51 PM...

When Curtis Gates put fingers to keys it was 1/6/07 4:04 PM...

...I noticed that the tiny
amount of water remaining on the piece seemed to make the buff slightly
more aggressive...

I get a similar result wirebrushing rusted armor. Using a powered wheel,
if I wet the work with either WD-40 or water I get a faster and better
result.

I attribute the better result to the rust staying on the wheel and
serving as an abrasive.

Sorry, 'better' meaning bare metal. Oft-times the dry wire wheel will
'polish' the dark rust and I get a somewhat shiny brown surface, not
usually what I want.