English
Verb
buffing
- present participle of buff
Metal polishing, also termed buffing, is the
process of smoothing
metals and
alloys and polishing to a bright,
smooth mirror-like finish. Metal polishing is often used to enhance
cars,
motorbikes, etc. Many medical
instruments are also polished to prevent contamination in marks in
the metals.
It is a metal-finishing operation where articles
are polished using abrasives or mops.
Existing shiny metal objects can be cleaned,
often with the help of a cleaning product called a metal polish;
this is also called polishing.
Applications
Buffing is commonly used in metal polishing of
pressure
cookers,
cookware,
kitchenware. Pipes which are used in pharmaceutical, dairy and
water industries are buffed to maintain hygenic conditions and
prevent corrosion. Buffing is also used in the manufacture of
high-quality lighting reflectors.
Process
Generally buffing is a multistage process. First,
abrasives -- which may be coated, non woven or woven -- are applied
at high speed to remove surface defects like pits, nicks, lines and
scratches from the articles to be buffed. Then mops of various
materials are used to smooth the surface to be buffed. Lastly,
cotton mops are used to give a mirror-like finish to the articles.
As a general rule, coarse grit abrasives are used first and fine
grit abrasives later. This gives a smooth finish by forming very
thin lines that are not visible to the naked eye. Lubricants like
wax, diesel fuel and kerosene are used as lubricating and cooling
media during these operations. Sophisticated computer-controlled
machines are available which do buffing of intricately shaped
articles. Before the advent of such machines, buffing was done by
hand.