Technical Buffing wheel catches on far. (WV talk for fire)

Rouge sticks are rendered products like soaps n such. For simple speak without getting "HAMB engineer" let's call it animal fat. As it embeds into the wheel heat can make that fat liquefy, which then soaks into the fibers. Enough heat and pressure? Grease fire. The remnants from the stick are burning inside the wheel and probably down at least a ½". Have I seen it? Once, someone was buffing so hard the friction lit the wheel. I did the same, but wrapped it in a wet rag and took it off. There was over a million in cars in the shop (only 3) so can't take chances. I was taught to let the rouge stick/product do the work and focus on contact, position, and direction. Also that the commercial brown was the best all around stick to use. I hate the red. Black cuts like a mutha, blue and green are nice for stainless, white is good for aluminum, brass, copper, etc. My results, nobody else's. I rake my wheels out with an old wire wheel now n again. Never do trim parts without having them secured to something substantive. Wearing gloves? Make sure they're not floppy loose. Who else hates the after taste from doing brass/bronze?

 

This first, on aluminum or stainless.




Then this to make the shine pop.

 

So, THAT is how my wheel suddenly started throwing sparks! THANK YOU fo r explaining! Your comment makes perfect sense!

I stated that I tried to see if I could duplicate and make the sparks happen again, but couldn't.

So this was just one of those times when all the planets were in alignment, the voodoo goddesses and Scooby-do were all taking a afternoon nap, and it will most likely never happen again. But,,,,,,,,,,, never say never! I will inspect the wheels for any little "hot spots" when I'm done buffing from now on.

 

for cleaning buffing wheels. [.ATTACH=full]6518331[/ATTACH]

 

That happened to me several times in my shop. Even though it was some distance away it would occasionally catch a few sparks from the grinder flying across the room. I got in the habit of checking it every night when I quit work. It would only smoulder but it was still dangerous.