Wheel Rake (Complete Unit - Handle & Teeth)

Well made, heavy steel rake. Even came with extra rake teeth.

Nice tool for freshening up the buffing wheels.

We needed this to polish our 1965 Airstream Trailer. It is working great.

Stayed intact while raking moving wheels, great rake

Clean buffs are where it's at with metal polishing. The rake keeps the buffing edge nice and clean and flat. This tool is well constructed and the metal teeth hold up well. I tune my buffs up before storing them in their individual bags. It's like a fresh start each time.

Raking your buffing wheels is important for several reasons. 1.) It prepares your buffing wheel to accept compound. Applying compound to a dirty wheel is just a waste of compound, and the new compound will be less efficient because it is then contaminated by whatever was on the wheel to start with. 2.) It cleans your wheels - this is important to cut down on contamination. Also, metal will inevitably be stuck inside almost any wheel you use. This is why a buffing wheel will take on a metallic sheen, usually the same color as whatever you're buffing. This is what is called 'embedded metal'. This has to go, or it will scratch what you're working on, and inhibit the compound's ability to work. 3.) It keeps the surface of your wheels the proper size and dimension. Compound and embedded metal will make the end of a buffing wheel hard, sticky, and stuck together. You want your wheels to be soft, pliable, and not a matted mess. This is important because of all of the above, and it gives you a better working width. Raking is probably one of the most looked over aspect of buffing and polishing. Second would be cross-contamination. Keeping your work piece clean is just as important as keeping your wheels clean. Don't forget to keep your compound bars clean as well! It's not unheard of for whatever is on your wheels, to end up in your compound bar. Definitely keep one of these around, and use it often. If the teeth become wore out, you can always buy the 'rake' portion of the unit and replace it, or use them to make your own rakes. Be mindful of how you use them though. While it might be pretty sending pieces of flannel and strings from your cotton's flying around your work area, this will cut down the life span of the wheel. They don't last forever, they weren't designed to - don't expect them to. But keep them clean none the less.

I never used one of these before and now I can't work without it. Cleans up the wheels nice and preps them for new compound.

Does what it's designed to do and it is made in Chicago. Comes in 2 pieces.

My other rake walked away.