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Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:58 am
by jMedia
I had my jeep painted several months ago and didnt get around to wetsanding the slight orange peel because school got in the way. Is it possible to wetsand this much later? Will it just be more difficult? As I have never wetsanded new paint, I am gonna stay away from power tools for now and do it slowly. Start at 1500?

For the record its a blue metallic b/c paint job

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:30 am
by OldDupontGuy
Yes,,,the clear will be very hard.
Remember, you can buff after 1500 grit, there is no need to use anything else, unless the clear is just to hard.
Try a small spot first and see what happens

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:34 pm
by '68 Coronet R/T
Like ODG said the clear coat will be hard but it can be done.
I would start with 1000. Put a little dawn dish washing soap in your water bucket. Have some clean water in a spray bottle handy and a rubber squeegee. Work a 6"x6" area at a time and wipe the area with the squeegee to see your progress.

This is what orange peel will look like when sanding:
Image


Here it is gone and ready to move up to 1500 grit.
Image


Personally, I like to sand to 2000 before buffing however the trick is to be absolutely sure the 1000 grit scratches are gone because the compound can take out 1500 scratches but those 1000 grit ones will be tough especially on well cured clear coat.

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 3:35 pm
by twfsa
How long should you wait before color sanding, I used to wait 8 hrs, at least.

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 8:11 pm
by '68 Coronet R/T
twfsa wrote:How long should you wait before color sanding, I used to wait 8 hrs, at least.

Read your clear coat tech sheets.

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 2:10 pm
by Daz_England
twfsa wrote:How long should you wait before color sanding, I used to wait 8 hrs, at least.



That all depends on how much material you've put on,the speed of your activator,the temperature etc.....what I'm saying is there is no definitve answer.
I sometimes use infra red if I'm in a hurry I can have a panel painted,cured,sanded and polished in an hour but it's not something I like to do too often.I much prefer to let it air dry overnight at the very least

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:22 am
by Lyrikz
jMedia wrote:I had my jeep painted several months ago and didnt get around to wetsanding the slight orange peel because school got in the way. Is it possible to wetsand this much later? Will it just be more difficult? As I have never wetsanded new paint, I am gonna stay away from power tools for now and do it slowly. Start at 1500?

For the record its a blue metallic b/c paint job



Hope this makes you feel better. I waited about 4 months. It was very easy to buff out. BUT, it depends on what grit you finish in.

I did some panels i finished in 1500, some in 2000, and 1 in 3000. All of them buffed out fairly easy (black paint). BUT the 3000 buffed out 3 times faster then the 1500. IT was SOOOOOO easy. And my paint was WAY cured.
I would listen to cornet and finish in 2000 wet and you will see, it will buff out easy.

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:34 pm
by metalsoul
Coronet, thanks for supplying pics to the post, for the OP's benefit as well as my own, do you suggest sanding back and forth or in a circular motion? I would think that a although it is somewhat easier and quicker to sand back and forth, that the scratches would be easier to remove as you go up in grit by sanding circular...

Thanks!

Re: Wet sanding after a long while

PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:23 am
by Rafsen
wetsand in X motion (criss cross) and then your buffer will cut in... errr.... round motion.

most importantly keep the paper clean to avoid rouge scratches that you will see when you buff it out. dont skimp on the paper; buy good quality paper and change it when its worn out.

if you've got dirt in the paint take the dirt out first, wash panel down then start westanding the whole panel.

HTH