Wet sand, Compound & Polish New Clear Coat questions

[Otee453]

I just successfully sprayed my car. I now am compiling the necessary tools & materials I need to cut & polish the finish. I have some areas of minor orange peel, so I of course will be wet sanding corrections up to 2000 or 3000. I currently have a large rotary and a smaller dual action polisher.

Realizing there is always multiple methods to get the final results... what do people use to for the compounding and polish? Specifically, is a 6” wool or foam pad on a rotary sufficient for all the curves & valleys on the fenders and nook & crannies on the front of the body? Or should I get a 3” rotary?

How about dual actions vs rotaries? And finally... has anyone used the 3m Trizact up to 8000 grit? It looks amazing and quicker & easier than a bunch of compounding and polishing steps.

Thanks

[ggunter]

I did part of my car with 2000 wet dry 3m paper and buffed with 3m compound and an orange or yellow foam pad and got great results but took a fair amount of time to get the sand scratches out. I went to 3000 and it buffed much easier with less time. I used a dual action buffer and got no swirl marks. I think a rotary buffer will cut faster but you usually have swirl marks to go back over with another product. I'm not a pro by any means and Im' sure Jeff will jump in and help out. My end result was great but I went slow because I did'nt want to burn through anywhere.

[J R Jones]

Being not patient, I find the foam pads are great for polish but not for removing material. I use the wool pad for orange peel and scratches, then foam for polish.
The 3M compound is good, I use fine and finer grits.
I prefer the Dewalt DWP 849 variable speed buffer.
jim

[cob427sc]

I usually wet sand with a water bug sander, 500, 1000, 2000 and sometimes 4000. Much quicker than by hand. Then I use variable speed buffer with 3M compound followed by polishing compound. Buff compound is a yellow foam pad, polish uses a gray foam. The 3M products aren't cheap but you can do multiple cars with a quart of each and the pads. Big thing is to run buffer slow and keep moving, watch the edges and any raised areas.

[RRussellTx]

And finally... has anyone used the 3m Trizact up to 8000 grit? It looks amazing and quicker & easier than a bunch of compounding and polishing steps.

Thanks

I am also a first time painter and finished my car earlier this year. I LOVED the Trizact! I sanded pretty much everything by hand but I did use the 6" discs on some of the large flat areas. I liked how the Trizact allowed me to finish all the "curves & valleys on the fenders and nook & crannies on the front of the body" without any scratch marks. I did 1000, 1500, 2000 then Trizact 3000, 5000 and 8000. Then polished with the 3M steps 2 and 3 as needed (also by hand on all the edges and tight curves). If you use the discs on a machine you can go from 3000 to 8000. If yours is pretty smooth already then you might be able to cut out some of those steps.

I also used the corresponding 3m Perfect-It Foam Polishing Pads with the 05752 Perfect It Quick Connect Adaptor, 5/8 inch

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[CraigS]

I haven't done any high end painting but have been around a lot of it. One technique I like when using any type machine buffer is taping the edges of all panels so the tape goes about 1/4 inch onto the flat surface. A good friend told me to do this. He said he doesn't do it because he paints for a living, but for me doing it for the first time, it is a good idea to protect from going through the clear at the edge.

[j.miller]

Orbital polishers are for detailing or doing a very small area. You want a rotary veriable speed (set at 1400) with a wool pad for the fist cut and black foam for the polish cut. If you have a very dark color you can do a 3rd polish with blue foam pad. 3M compounds are good if you follow the plan.....HOWEVER, For the past 3 years I've been using a product called CSI. It is made so you don't change compounds, just pads. I do a lot of cars so time and material is important. The CSI allows me to finish with wool and go to foam without cleaning the the schmuts off the car. It's also an easy wash when I'm done with the foam...............(this is what you NEED to understand) .....Let the compound do the work. It's not your strength (how hard you are bearing down on the machine), 1400 RPM is where you need to be (a little slower of the tricky parts) BIGGY ! DON'T BUFF DRY ! Forget keeping things clean, you need to keep the compound from drying on the pad or you'll get swirl marks and you cant polish out deep swirl marks with the same machine that installed them. Move slow and methodical over a couple square feet area at a time. I sand 1500 by hand and then Trizact 3000. If want to go to 8k Trizact save your money and rub it with notebook paper (jus sayin)....Soooo, that should getcha started...da Bat...................OH! , You can ask Kleiner. I told him if you don't have compound slung on the ceiling you are buffing to dry.

[Otee453]

Orbital polishers are for detailing or doing a very small area. You want a rotary veriable speed (set at 1400) with a wool pad for the fist cut and black foam for the polish cut. If you have a very dark color you can do a 3rd polish with blue foam pad. 3M compounds are good if you follow the plan.....HOWEVER, For the past 3 years I've been using a product called CSI. It is made so you don't change compounds, just pads. I do a lot of cars so time and material is important. The CSI allows me to finish with wool and go to foam without cleaning the the schmuts off the car. It's also an easy wash when I'm done with the foam...............(this is what you NEED to understand) .....Let the compound do the work. It's not your strength (how hard you are bearing down on the machine), 1400 RPM is where you need to be (a little slower of the tricky parts) BIGGY ! DON'T BUFF DRY ! Forget keeping things clean, you need to keep the compound from drying on the pad or you'll get swirl marks and you cant polish out deep swirl marks with the same machine that installed them. Move slow and methodical over a couple square feet area at a time. I sand 1500 by hand and then Trizact 3000. If want to go to 8k Trizact save your money and rub it with notebook paper (jus sayin)....Soooo, that should getcha started...da Bat...................OH! , You can ask Kleiner. I told him if you don't have compound slung on the ceiling you are buffing to dry.

I already purchased my CSI and their tiger pad (blue wool pad) kit. People who use it think its a real miracle product. I really debated over the 3m products as I've found their other products (sandpaper & such) up to this point to be superior... sometimes a little better, sometimes vastly superior.

It sounds like no one uses a 3" rotary. Thats good, it'll save me a few bucks since I splurged and replaced my old cheapo Harbor Freight rotary with a Milwaukee M18.

[Jeff Kleiner]

….OH! , You can ask Kleiner. I told him if you don't have compound slung on the ceiling you are buffing to dry.

He did, he really did! Mrs. Captain O-Ring came out to the shop when I was buffing a while back and said “You’re doing it wrong.” I sez “Huh???” And she replied “You told me that your California buddy said if you aren’t flinging it on the ceiling you aren’t using enough schmutz” :p

Jeff

[cob427sc]

Well, I'm definitely not a pro at this but I end up with schmutz everywhere! Walls, ceiling, every conceivable place you wouldn't expect. I love the water bug sander as I usually have a decent amount of orange peel to remove before the buffing process.

[Otee453]

Well, I'm definitely not a pro at this but I end up with schmutz everywhere! Walls, ceiling, every conceivable place you wouldn't expect. I love the water bug sander as I usually have a decent amount of orange peel to remove before the buffing process.

I have some orange peel too. Most of it looks more like factory Ford level orange peel. After a couple days of looking at it, I think maybe 40-50% has a glass like finish. The rest has some level of OP.
Now I need to figure out if I sand everywhere at the same level or hit the more orange peely areas more than the good areas.

I looked at the water bug. At 4 bills, it’s a little too speedy fir a possible one time job for me. I have all winter so I’m ok with the time investment. I’ve only sanded this car 1000 times already… what’s another 6 or 8 times? Lol

[rich grsc]

I bet miller loves getting his schmutz on the ceiling

[j.miller]

I have some orange peel too. Most of it looks more like factory Ford level orange peel. After a couple days of looking at it, I think maybe 40-50% has a glass like finish. The rest has some level of OP.
Now I need to figure out if I sand everywhere at the same level or hit the more orange peely areas more than the good areas.

I looked at the water bug. At 4 bills, it’s a little too speedy fir a possible one time job for me. I have all winter so I’m ok with the time investment. I’ve only sanded this car 1000 times already… what’s another 6 or 8 times? Lol

If you go over the whole car...lets say "lightly" A couple cross cuts (1500) . Dry it all off and you'll have a great idea of what's "good" and what needs to be "gooder". Edges, edges, Edges ,EDGES ! don't roll your edges with the sand paper or buffer (paint disappears at an alarming rate). If you don't know the difference of the cutting side and trailing side of a polishing pad give me a call (berry, berry impotant) Da Bat 951-676-0191

[GFX2043mtu]

Cut pain in this order 600 or 800, 1500, 2000, 3000 then polish with 3m machine polish 1,2,3 in that order. Use foam pads and the righ one for each compound. They are usually color coated to match the compound. Keep away from edges, hard valleys and hard ridges. Use lots of water I prefer a spray bottle and a small Tupperware with water and a few drops of dawn soap. Feel the block as you cut because you don’t want to have a nib rolling around it and the paint so use lots of water to wash the work area. Lastly dry the paint often and check your work so you don’t go to far. When the paint is all full your good.

[Otee453]

If you go over the whole car...lets say "lightly" A couple cross cuts (1500) . Dry it all off and you'll have a great idea of what's "good" and what needs to be "gooder". Edges, edges, Edges ,EDGES ! don't roll your edges with the sand paper or buffer (paint disappears at an alarming rate). If you don't know the difference of the cutting side and trailing side of a polishing pad give me a call (berry, berry impotant) Da Bat 951-676-0191

Thanks SO much Jeff. I very well may give you a shout out when I get into the sand/polish part of this journey. I do think I have an understanding on the rotary and the leading or cutting edge and the trailing edge. As a novice, I plan to tape my edges and be extra careful in those areas. I have a pickup hood and trash can that I practiced my base & clear coat on that i plan to also practice my cut/polish on. I have plenty of runs on my practice hood so it’ll give me lots of practice there also.

[cob427sc]

I bought my water bug from a knock off supplier (maybe through Harbor Frieght?) it was less than $200. I've used it on at least 6 or 7 cars and has held up well. The pads aren'tcheap but it's so much faster than hand sanding and for someone with pretty good arthritis in my fingers, it's been a Gods send.