Thread: buff with foam pads or lambswool bonnets

I used foam pads on a cordless drill on the prs i just built. They worked a treat. I broke the sharp edge on all the cavities with sandpaper first so it didnt wreck the pads. Could be worth trying..Never used lambswool so I cant really comment

Ray, I used to use the stewmac foam buffing pads with reasonable success ( A separate pad for each compound of course ) .

I've never had much luck with a lambswool bonnet, the only time I tried I found I couldn't get the same sort of contact I could with the foam pad.

I've since upgraded to a proper pedestal buffer and not looked back.

I did the lambswool thing back in the eighties, but since then I've gone onto Foam pads, different grades, and shapes.

The lambswool bonnets for hand-held polishers were a throwback from the Automotive trade and once 2 pack paints started to find it's way into the market, lambswool became way too problematic
in maintaining a good buff up without a great deal of swirl and rotational scratching. More expensive also. I prefer foam pads with nitro also.

Foam pads have been the mainstay for the last 20-25 years as they are more manageable, can produce a better scratch-free finish, easier to control your buffing pressure,and as long as you use don't mix your compounds from each pad, you'll be on track to a perfect result. (i.e. coarse compound pad, then switch to burnish pad, then non-swirl polish pad as opposed to one pad then going through buff grades.)

In relation to taking chunks out of your foam pads, this only occurs due to not understanding the rotation of your pad. Just like using a grinder, you never want your foam pad to dig in towards an edge, rather it should move over and away.
As you go over each different edge and move into different areas, you need to modify your approach angle so you minimise edge dig and also applying too much heat in the one area. I also use a water spray bottle over each area to help lubricate the buffing compound and help reduce the heat friction, which in turn can be the undoing of a good finish if things heat up way too quickly. The last point is especially applicable with buffing any type of clear or paint over a wood substrate. The excessive heat will cause timber swelling underneath and show up the swollen grain in a mirror finish.

thanks all for the input

my approach has been to date very primitive
i did get some excellent auto glym compounds from millsomes which really helped things along no end and the foam buffs seem to work better than my old motheaten lambswool bonnets

to date my attempts at high gloss have been acceptable but to my eye but not quite where i want them to be - using a power drill is not the ideal way to go but cant go a dedicated machine right now-

i have to confess my last 8 guitars have all been hand polished and oiled