While I thought my main buffing tool was a Foredom bench model, I find, more and more that I'm favoring my variable speed Dremel for its convienence, extreme portability and increased suitability for doing small to modest sized items like beads and pendants. IMHO, the key drawback with my Dremel, however, had been it's tiny cloth buffing wheel, a thin little disc that's about 3/8th inch thick and 1 inch in diameter. The area that actually touches the item to be buffed was very small - too small for my needs. Dremel's cloth wheel was also a bit too course for polymer clay. Which is understandable since it was not designed with polymer clay in mind.

On the page Make a Better Dremel Spindle, I describe how I made a spindle to accommodate holding more than one Dremel cloth buffing wheel. On this page, I want to share with you how I made a superior (IMHO) buffing system. I didn't think this one up, Becca Crauswell did (the 'angel'), who told a wonderful email friend who suggested I try making one. So I did! In fact, I made two. Then I tested my new buffing system on some unfinished polyclay eggs I had laying about. (heh heh)

I must say I've buffed/buffed for quite a few years using various methods and machines, including a Foredom bench buffer with a cotton wheel, not to be confused with the slightly courser muslin wheel. The trick is the polyester felt. It produces a wonderful shine in at least a 1/3 - 1/4 of the time. I highly recommend trying this, if you can. I went from liking my Dremel to loving it and wanting to buff anything in site. (OK, I was a little excited in the beginning.) And for those who have not buffed before, keep in mind you need to do a good sanding job first or no amount of buffing will help.

Don't get me wrong, I also find my Foredom bench buffer to be great. I use both appliances. But that blasted Dremel is so darn convenient. Plus, because I can make the wheels any size I want, I can make smaller wheels that allow me to get into those little spaces that the Foredom can't reach.

Here's what you'll need if you want to make a wonderful buffing wheel.

• a square of polyester felt (make sure it's not wool felt - wool felt is too coarse, and make sure it's the really really THICK felt) [ try this source: distinctive fabric.com ]
• OR use a nice soft piece aged denim (an alternative to the polyester felt but falls apart quicker)
• scissors
• a 1" - 1.5" diameter circle template
• a way to stitch (preferably a sewing machine)
• 1" long spindle (click Make a Better Dremel Spindle, for how to make your own)
• felt marker

4) Trim as best as possible with scissors. I liked one so much I made and added a second wheel. If you make your own mandrel, the screw with accommodate two of these thick fuzzy wheels.

Note 1: These directions are for a wheel that can be mounted on a hand held rotary tool like a Dremel. I suspect you can cut out larger circles for making a buffing wheel that would fit on a bench buffer. But don't make the wheels that you'll use on the Dremel any larger than 1.5" or you'll overwork the motor and shorten its life.

Note 2: Another method is to cut out squares instead of circles; about 1.5" square in size. Stagger their positions so 3-4 squares stacked on top of each other looks like a 12-16 point star. Why a star? It spins cooler, which is better for polymer clay.

You'll need to stitch the set in the center area to make sure they remain staggered. Make 2-3 of those sets. Caution - make sure the squares aren't too big. If you hear the motor pitch is lower when running, the wheel is too big and overloading the motor. Trim the squares a bit to reduce the workload.