Questions You Should Know about felt polishing wheels supplier

Here at The Felt Store, we've noticed there are a lot of questions that customers frequently ask us and we thought it would be a great idea to share it with everyone just in case you may have similar questions. Here we have a two part F.A.Q. list that we will always add to in the future so stay posted for more info!

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What are common uses of Felt?

One of the beautiful things about this ancient material is the multiple uses and functions that it has. Felt is constantly being re-invented within a wide range of disciplines.

Felt Scarf by Lorena Santin Andrade Designer Uses:

• Acoustics (e.g. Sound Studios)
• Interior Design (e.g. upholstery, rugs, lighting, coasters)
• Fashion (e.g. Scarves, hats, bags)
• Display Design (e.g. window/showcase)
• Instillation Design (e.g. murals, wall coverings)
• Set Design (e.g. backdrops, drapery, props)

Acrylic Craft Felt

Craft Uses:

• Decorations (e.g. holiday ornaments)
• Costumes
• Toys

Felt Wick

Industrial Uses:

• Sound Buffering
• Insulation
• Vibration absorption
• Polishing (e.g. Jewellery)
• Oil Retention
• Lubrication
• Door Bumpers
• Dust Shields
• Gaskets
• Washers
• Wipers
• Wicks

Boot Liners

Other Uses:

• Furniture Protector Pads
• Saddle Pads
• Musical Instruments (e.g. drum beaters, piano hammerheads)
• Optical (e.g. Polishing wheels, cloths)
• Printing (e.g. engraving blankets, roll covers)
• Boot Liners, Insoles
• Chalk Board Erasers
• Pool and Poker table covers

How is Felt made?

There are two major felt making methods:

1. The Wet Felt method is the old classic way whereby natural fibers like wool are interlocked and matted together through a process of felting and fulling (milling) by exposing the wool to heat, motion pressure and moisture in the form of hot steam and water. In that process the natural scale structure of the wool fibers open up and allow for fiber entanglement. Such interlocking and shrinkage is continued until a desired density is achieved.
   
   
2. The Needle Felt method in contrast is a dry process (no water and steam) that does not require natural fibers like wool in order to interlock. The interlocking of fibers is achieved through a mechanical up and downward motion of metal needles with barbs that transport and push the fibers together into a matted form.

Watch our How Felt is Made video for a better understanding of how felt is made.

What is Felt made of?

Felt can be made of many different fibers or one specific fiber. The main component of high quality Felt is wool, this may be 100% wool or a blend of wool and a variety of other materials depending on its quality and required use. Felt made of a blend of fibers may contain reprocessed wool (e.g. old sweaters), recyclable fibers (e.g. cotton), viscose/rayon (a wood fiber, or sometimes polyester. Felt may also be made from other synthetic fibers such as acrylic. This type of felt is typically used for arts and crafts projects.

What is the difference between the Industrial Felts?

Industrial Felts are usually not dyed and retain their natural colors, ranging from a light beige to dark browns and grays. Because industrial felts are made of natural wool there are times when color variations or blemishes in the felt may occur. For example, the white is often not a pure white, but an off white, which may have some blemishes. The gray industrial felt at times may vary from gray, to grayish brown, to having a blue tint, etc. It all depends on the batch being created. This variation cannot be guaranteed in the production process as it is dependent on the natural bails of wool to create the felt. This may vary greatly from roll to roll.

White wool's are higher quality wool's and are more resilient than gray wool's. It is hard to specify the uses of each felt quality because the function is dependent on the required density and thickness. The following is a list of recommended uses:

F-1:
Color: White/Beige
Wool Content: 95%
Use: Is suitable for oil retention in installations where the felt is not compressed, for feeding low viscosity or light oil, and where unusual strength and hardness are required. Washers, bushings, wicks, door bumpers, polishing blocks, and parts where wear and resistance to abrasion are required, are typical uses.

F-3:
Color: Gray
Wool Content: 85%
Use: Recommended for vibration mountings and the same general purposes as SAE F-1 and where a felt of slightly lower quality is satisfactory.

F-5 & F-7
Color: F-5 White/Beige, F-7 Gray
Wool Content: F-5 95%, F-7 80%
Use: Recommended for dust shields, wipers, grease retainer washers, wicks, vibration mountings, and in uses where a resilient felt is required.

F-10
Color: White/Beige
Wool Content: 95%
Use: recommended for grease and oil retention where the felt is confined and compressed in assembly. Also recommended for dust shields under less severe operating conditions where F-5 and F-7 are not required.

F-15
Color: Gray
Wool Content: 55%
Use: Recommended for sound deadening, chassis strips, spacers, dust shields, pedal pads, dash liners, and mechanical purposes where abrasion and wear are not important factors.

F-26
Color: Gray
Wool Content: 40%
Use: Is a cheaper low density felt recommended for non-mechanical applications when retained between other materials. Other uses include padding, packaging and in some cases sound absorption.

F-50
Color: White/Beige
Wool Content: 95%
Use: The same quality as SAE F-1, bellow 1/8th thick

F-51
Color: Gray
Wool Content: 92%
Use: The same quality as SAE F-3, bellow 1/8th thick

F-55
Color: Black and Gray
Wool Content: 80%
Use: The same quality as F-7, bellow 1/8th thick

Is there color variation between Felts?

We encourage customers not to rely on screen representations of our felt colors. Different computer monitors vary in color calibration. Please contact us and we will provide you with desired samples or if you are looking our designer felt, please purchase our samples online. Further more, craft and designer felt colors rely on different qualities, therefore varying amongst each other. Dye lots amongst the craft felts may vary slightly, while Industrial (natural) felt colors change according to wool blends and mixtures.

Hello David All those polishing wheels are like cars ! Basicly all cars
are made to move from one point to another.Fast cars don’t need
thatmuch time,but you have to pay more for them or they might have
more luxury.

Polishing wheels are made for polishing !!!

Now that easy to understand but … in polishing you have
different steps (read grids)you have to go to in order to come up
with a mirror like surface. All the shape or materials of those wheels
provide you with more comfort of reaching in to holes,edges,pits or
whatever. The whole point is that manufacturers are thinking about
selling their products and thats one of the reason why they make all
those shapes and grids or heat reducing wheels.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of felt polishing wheels supplier. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

They’re promoting their one products!!!

Its up to us -jewellers- to make a choise in this big jungle of
products and the best wheels are the ones which work the best for you
and the ones you need!

Don’t drive crazy because you don’t have a whole collection of
polishing wheels,but be smart and just buy the one “YOU” want and
need.

I’m sure that some of them are better then others,but again it’s up
to you to compare the price with the end result of that product and
if you feel that’s worth while to pay more for that product …
then go for it!!!

Just step back out of the circle of all this “promoting strategy” and
then you’ll see the real deal of the manufacturers. Master the product
but don’t let the products master you. Hope this will help ye a bit.
Regards Pedro

david - boy are you in for further surprises when you see the
catalogs! in addition to the probable dozen buffs your local store
has on the wall, there are 8 million, 702 thousand & 82 others in
different sizes & colors. i must have a hundred variations for
polishing & while there are jewelers who will say you only need a
few, they are mostly graduates of the ‘marquis de sade school of
design’ - if you can cut down the time it takes to grind & polish
your work that leaves more time for design & fabricating. first: you
need individual wheels for each polishing compound - it’s better to
have a couple of sizes for each compound; second: you will need
different material for different designs - it’s safer if you don’t
use a loose muslin wheel for a design with prongs or sticking up
thingies, PLUS you will spend less time searching the workshop when
the piece snags & is wheel-launched into space; third: BECAUSE! just
get a catalog from a supplier such as rio grande & read the
descriptions for each buff - that should give you a world of
good luck - ive

David,

Speaking as one who has been called, on numerous occasions, a
"polishing fanatic", I must point out that the technique of polishing
jewelry is one of subtlety and requires as many different tools
(buffs and compounds) as one would expect to use when performing
other jewelry making techniques. I have possible 35 to 40 pliers
that I use to assist me in bending metal, well over a dozen cutters
of all types and as many hammers. So, it should be no surprise that
depending on what kind of jewelry you are working on and what finish
and color you wish the achieve will require different types of buffs.
In the same way you match hand tools to complete differing bench
tasks, you should make sure you have the right buff for the job.

Stitched buffs are generally used for cutting, tripoli and when a
fair amount of pressure is needed. The stitches hold the buff
together and provides a harder surface for the item to ride against.
There are several kinds of stitched buffs available. The unstitched
buffs provide a softer surface and are therefore used when putting on
final finishes. As well sometimes you need a narrow wheel so as to
limit the amount of buffing action. Other times a wider buff is
needed. An example of a need for a wide buff is when polishing or
cutting a large piece of sheet. Then there are the specialty buffs;
one’s that have chemicals embedded in the cloth, leather buffs, super
soft buffs, the list goes on and on. Each type is geared toward
allowing the polisher a wide variety of tools to complete a wide
variety of tasks. Then there are the buffs whose differences have no
real affect on the outcome. For example, I have never noticed a
difference in using lead centered buffs as opposed to any of the
other center types. But I know that some jewelers will use nothing
else but lead centered buffs. This is personal preference. So, take
all the different buffs that are used to achieve various results and
then multiply them by the different centers that are available and
you have a huge number of possibilities.

I recommend going to the sales staff and explaining what kind of work
you are doing and having them make recommendations as to what you may
need. Then buy a few extra types and try them out. You may find
that you like one kind of buff over another. The fact is that even
people like me who are very finicky when it comes to finishing, don’t
necessarily enjoy spending hours upon hours buffing. So, find what
you enjoy using and what gets the job done for you the quickest so
you don’t burn out on polishing. Another fact that is well known is
that a beautifully finished jewelry item will sell better than a
sloppily finished piece every time. It is well worth spending time
learning the proper technique of polishing and well worth spending
time on the actual job of polishing.

I hope this has been helpful.

Larry Seiger
JA Certified Master Bench Jeweler

Dave,

It reminds me of a story one of my cousins told me. When he went
into the service he kept getting in trouble for calling his rifle a
"gun". Two things my cousin was well known for was his rebeliousness
and his love of hunting. As he didn’t like to be bullied by anyone,
and as a matter of principle he continued to call his rifle a gun.
Finally it came time to prove his markmanship. Pardon the pun but he
blew everybody else away in markmanship and his sargent quit making a
big stink out of the rifle/gun issue. With nothing else to prove,
and no one to rebel against, he began to call his gun a rifle, though
his sargent wouldn’t have cared if he called it a lollipop as
superior a shot as he was.

Anyway, I think I’ll keep bending my metal and let others comment on
how well formed the metal is.

Larry Seiger

Polishing compounds are graduated similar to sandpaper and lapidary
polishing pastes. You start with coarser stuff and gradually move to
finer stuff.

The yellow is probably bobbing compound. It is very aggressive! IT
REMOVES scratches and also the detail on your work if you over do it.
But it doesn’t polish-just leaves a dull luster. Lol I remember
putting a piece of silver plate on the bobbing wheel for about 2
nano-seconds, and I got the most beautiful brass patch you’ve ever
seen. That was the end of that goblet.

White tripoli is a medium polish. I like it better than green tripoli
on silver. White seems to do a better job of ridding silver
firescale. Green seems to bring it out. On gold, I can’t tell the
difference between green and white.

Red rouge and/or white fabulustre for final polish.

Keep your polish sticks and polish pads separated by compound. e.g.
keep the bob and the bob wheels in a separate box than the tripoli
and tripoli pads. If you mix them up, you’ll contaminate the finer
polish pads with coarses polish compounds.

But the trick in polishing is always getting rid of scratches before
you ever get to the polish stage. I work thru 220, 400, 600, and
grits sandpapers before I ever start to polish. I try to protect my
metal when I sand by placing a cloth on my bench pin. Placing the
metal directly on the bench pin just gets scratches from the little
metal bits that are now embedded in the bench pin. If you don’t get
the scratches out, all that polishing will do is give you shiney
scratches.

When setting stones, I wrap my piece in tape where the graver vice
will hold it. Always protect your metal as you work. You won’t
totally eliminate picking up scratches as you work, but you can
greatly reduce them.

What a nasty pain in the butt it is to set your stones, only to
discover a big ugly scratch, where you thought you had made it all
shiney.

Here’s a tip on soft muslin wheels. Go to Sears hardware area. They
sell a package of 5 or 6 different size soft muslin wheels for $10.
Such a deal!

Good luck,

Virginia Lyons
www.gallerymorganhill.org

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