This section is from the American Hand Book of the Daguerreotype, by Samuel D. Humphrey. Published S. D. Humphrey, 37 Lispenard Street 1858.
Two of these are necessary. That part of the stick to be covered should be about eighteen or twenty inches long, and three wide, and made crowning on the face from one end to the other, about one half inch. Before covering, these are to be padded with two or three thicknesses of Canton flannel. The buff should not be too hard, but padded with flannel, so that by drawing it over the plate, it may touch across the surface. The only proper material for buffs is prepared buckskin; and if prepared in a proper manner, this needs nothing but to be tacked upon the stick. There are several varieties of wheels employed; the one most generally adopted is Lewis' patent, which consists of several varieties of wheels. Any operator can make a suitable wheel on the same plan of a turning lathe.
 
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