Easiest polishing I've ever done
Steel & Stainless Steel Polishing Kit
- Airway buffing wheels run cooler than stitched wheels — constant airflow diffuses the heat that ruins a polish
- Complete 3-step system: three treated wheels + three matched compound bars + safety flange
- Rated 4.8★ by 116 verified customers
Free shipping on orders over $99 (contiguous U.S.)
Red, Pink and Soft UBM 8″ x 3″ x 5/8″ airway wheels, a safety flange, and Black (cutting), Green rouge and Purple (ultra luster) compound bars.
Steel & Stainless Steel Polishing Kit
Sale price$145.00
Why airway wheels out-polish stitched wheels
Polishing steel is a heat game: stitched buffing wheels trap heat and keep climbing in temperature, which makes a clean mirror polish hard to reach. Airway wheels maintain constant airflow through the wheel, staying cooler and diffusing excess heat — which is exactly what steel and stainless need.
This kit pairs each wheel with its matched compound so the 3-step system is ready to run: cut, color, then ultra-high luster.
The 3-step system
Wheel + compound pairings
Start aggressive, finish soft. Step 3 is optional — for maximum shine.
Step 1 — Red Treat wheel + Black cutting bar
The workhorse pairing: takes out roughly 400-grit scratches.
Step 2 — Pink Treat wheel + Green rouge bar
High luster. Green chromium oxide leaves a darker, richer tone.
Step 3 — Soft UBM wheel + Purple ultra bar
Optional chrome-like finish for maximum shine.
Handles (wood/plastics)
Use the Pink or Soft wheel with a No-Scratch Pink bar (sold separately).
See the kit in action
Suitability
What is this kit for?
Use it for
- Mirror-polishing knife blades in steel and stainless
- Polishing shaped metal parts after fine sanding
- Handle materials with the softer wheels (compound sold separately)
Not the right kit for
- Removing scratches coarser than ~400 grit — finish sanding first
- Buffers without a 5/8″ arbor — unless you add a reducer set (link below)
Technical details
Setup and gear
The wheels are 8″ x 3″ with a 5/8″ arbor. If your buffer’s arbor differs, an inexpensive reducer set on Amazon solves it.
A bench-top polisher that runs 8″ airway wheels — we like the Jet polisher.
Mount the wheels with the included safety flange, and follow your machine’s guidance.
Polishing throws fine particulate — wear a respirator. We recommend this full-face respirator on Amazon.
Complete the progression
Works together with
8″ Airway Polishing Wheels
Individual replacement wheels for the kit.
Polishing Compound Bars
Restock the compound bars individually.
2″ x 72″ Leather Belt
Load with compound to strop and finish your edge.
Questions
Polishing kit FAQs
What exactly is included?
Three 8″ x 3″ x 5/8″ airway wheels (Red, Pink, Soft UBM), one safety flange, and three compound bars: Black cutting, Green rouge, and Purple ultra-high luster.
What scratch level can I start from?
Step 1 (Red wheel + Black bar) takes out roughly 400-grit scratches — sand to at least that level first.
Do I need all three steps?
Steps 1–2 give a high polish. Step 3 is for maximum, chrome-like shine — green rouge leaves a darker luster, purple a brighter chrome tone.
Will the wheels fit my buffer?
They mount on a 5/8″ arbor. Different arbor? A simple reducer set (linked in the details above) adapts them.
Can I polish handles with it?
Yes — use the Pink or Soft wheel with a No-Scratch Pink compound (sold separately) for woods and plastics.
Do I need a respirator?
Strongly recommended — polishing throws fine particulate. See the recommended full-face respirator above.
From 400-grit scratches to a mirror
Three wheels, three matched bars, one system — polish steel the way it’s supposed to be done. Rated 4.8★ by 116 customers. Free shipping (order is over $99).
Customer Reviews
Overall rating: 4.8 / 5 from 119 reviews.
The steel is 80CrV2, hand-sanded to 600 grit and then polished with the Combat Abrasives kit. I am new to polishing, and the kit took all the guesswork out of matching the compounds to the correct buffing wheels. It made the job simple; it took maybe 5 minutes of polishing to achieve a mirror finish that usually takes me several hours of hand sanding.
This polishing kit is legit! Makes our handles shine!
The wheels are great and the compound worked super I was very pleased with the results
3 minutes on the buffer BAM!!!! HELL YES!
Great product and does just as advertised
Hand sanded to 600, then buffed
It works amazing and is definitely a game changer! Definitely allowed me to level up in the knife making world!
Awesome mirror image on these 1095 deer antler knives!! Love everything that I purchase from combat abrasives.
These are some 1970 shears I get into my shop still in the box. All paperwork was with it. I sharpened them for the very first time since they was new they had some tarnish on them. He repaired them to brand new doing a step up polishing can't wait to get the new motor to do some knives with
This polishing kit is worth its weight in gold! It honestly only takes minutes to get to a mirror polish. Before I was using my dad’s wood polishing buffer set and it would take hours. It’s truly incredible and don’t hesitate to pick it up.
Works fantastic. Got the knife I was working to a mirror finish easily. Great product.
What can I say they, live up to the hype. I’m fortunate to have all three buffing wheels set up so it’s as easy as stepping to the right. Impressed and happy with my purchase.
I am fairly new to customizing knives. I have struggled with getting the finish and shine that I want on the knives when I finish them. I decided to order this kit and bought two new buffers and I am estatic to say the least!! This has totally changed my game.
The wheels are great, the compound is awesome and the shine is really impressive. I purchased the recommended buffer from Amazon and it works great. The only question I have is the rpm’s on the recommended buffer is 1750 but the recommended rpm’s on the instructions is 4000, I don’t have a 4000 rpm buffer but would’ve considered it if I had known. Other than that it’s a great product. Joe H.
Awesome kit and quickly put a shine on an old knife that was once used to knock slag off of welds. What can I say? My father was creative with tools. :) The color coding made it super simple to use.
Love these buffing wheels! There’s a little bit of a learning curve as these are a lot firmer than the sewn wheels I used previously, but once I used them a little I love them!
These are freaking awesome! I can’t believe how fast I can take a satin finish to a mirror shine!
This is after going to 300 grit sandpaper to using the 3 wheel kit. Turned out pretty good..!
Face moisturizer? Not sure why this was added in the box. Fast shipping, easy set up Soon I will find out how well it will do
The buffing wheels work so much better than the old fashioned ones. What a difference. A lot less time spent polishing.
Great polishing kit! I went from a surface conditioning belt to the polishing wheels and had a mirror finish in minutes.
Wow, the buffer kit I received from Combat Abrasives Really exceeded my expectations. They will put the shine on your blades and will do it quickly if you follow the simple instructions provided with the kit. Now I am going to order one of their belt kits. Happy Camper, Thanks Combat
Absolutely love not having to hand sand and getting a perfect mirror polish on all my knives.
I was a little disappointed that a polishing wheel rake didn’t come with the kit.
I’ve used many buffing wheels over the years, these are definitely a game changer. Paired with buffing compounds that match the wheels, all together a great product.
What a great product! I’ve used lower quality wheels before and the Combat Abrasive’s wheels are just on another level. Fast shipping and a great product. Thank you!
3 minutes from a tumbled finish 2 near mirror.
Love this kit, talk about a mirror finish on AEB-L stainless. This kit made easy work to get to the final look I was going after.
Works great
Makes for a dang shiny blade
The kit is a great setup for polishing steel blades and titanium balisong handles. I run a small personal business modding balisongs and ti and these really helped me speed up the process and get great results everytime.
I have only tried one of the wheel/abrasive combinations. The wheel takes a lot of time to break in. It does work to polish.
Awesome products
My first go using the wheels and polish and I couldn’t be happier!
Set up and to go.
Works really well! The buffing wheels go right on and the included buffing compund and color coded system is really fantastic. Red wheel, black compund is a great starter, then on to the Pink wheel and green compound, does a bang up job. Then finish with the White wheel and purple compund for a truly brillant luster. Highly recommend the system, the wheels work well and the compounds really make the metal shine.
Absolutely great buffer kit for knife making. Simple to set up and run. Really like the bigger bars.
Exactly what I expected. Great, love them!
Just as a tester after getting the Buffer system set up. I took a blank from maroon surface conditioning belt to mirror finish in all of about 12 minutes.