Wet sand Clear coat

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.



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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:14 am
I was just wondering, what is the difference between watsanding/polishing the clear and polishing it (without wetsanding)? Isnt the two process doing the same thing, cutting down the clear??? wont either one remove the imperfection in the clear?

Is rubbing compound the same as a polish compound?



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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:06 am
marchese_alexander wrote:I was just wondering, what is the difference between watsanding/polishing the clear and polishing it (without wetsanding)? Isnt the two process doing the same thing, cutting down the clear??? wont either one remove the imperfection in the clear?

Is rubbing compound the same as a polish compound?


They quite different in principle. Wet sanding is also commonly referred to as "cutting." It cuts the peaks down to the valleys...in other words, it cuts down the high spots. When you have a level or close to level surface, you then polish/buff the scratches out. This typically takes a few steps depending on your system and if you are using a rotary or DA style machine. So....for example, if you just compound/buff the clear without sanding and you have peel, you are just, for the most part, hitting the high spots and thus you won't get the mirror that you are looking for because your reflective properties aren't had until the surface is level. This gives you the optics that you need to get a great shine.



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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:14 am
:goodpost: if you don't cut it your just going to have hi gloss orange peel :)
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:23 pm
ok!

if the clear got wat sand and polish but you can still see like distortion in the reflex, does it need to be wetsand more or just buff it out?

why use rubbing compund and not any other polish after wetsanding?

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:54 pm
marchese_alexander wrote:ok!

if the clear got wat sand and polish but you can still see like distortion in the reflex, does it need to be wetsand more or just buff it out?

why use rubbing compund and not any other polish after wetsanding?



polish won't do anything for scratches created by sandpaper... all you'll have is shiny scratches... you need compound



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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:14 pm
58mark wrote:
marchese_alexander wrote:ok!

if the clear got wat sand and polish but you can still see like distortion in the reflex, does it need to be wetsand more or just buff it out?

why use rubbing compund and not any other polish after wetsanding?



polish won't do anything for scratches created by sandpaper... all you'll have is shiny scratches... you need compound


I guess it depends on the type of polish used, cause some have a cutting propertie (low-aggressive) and can remove sandpaper scratches. For example, I have the Menzerma Finish Polish and it does remove the scratches! (Already did a test) Thas why Im confused about the function of the compound.



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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:17 pm
marchese_alexander wrote:
58mark wrote:
marchese_alexander wrote:ok!

if the clear got wat sand and polish but you can still see like distortion in the reflex, does it need to be wetsand more or just buff it out?

why use rubbing compund and not any other polish after wetsanding?



polish won't do anything for scratches created by sandpaper... all you'll have is shiny scratches... you need compound


I guess it depends on the type of polish used, cause some have a cutting propertie (low-aggressive) and can remove sandpaper scratches. For example, I have the Menzerma Finish Polish and it does remove the scratches! (Already did a test) Thas why Im confused about the function of the compound.


Compounds cut more than a polish. I think it's like painting, you prime, color, then clear. Wetsand, compound, polish. Most people on here use multiple compounds, polishes, and pads to get a brilliant shine.

I think. This is just what I've gathered from reading posts. Please correct me if I'm wrong.



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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:30 pm
So, the compoud cut more? Is five0hfox correct

Five0hFox wrote:
marchese_alexander wrote:
58mark wrote:
marchese_alexander wrote:ok!

if the clear got wat sand and polish but you can still see like distortion in the reflex, does it need to be wetsand more or just buff it out?

why use rubbing compund and not any other polish after wetsanding?



polish won't do anything for scratches created by sandpaper... all you'll have is shiny scratches... you need compound


I guess it depends on the type of polish used, cause some have a cutting propertie (low-aggressive) and can remove sandpaper scratches. For example, I have the Menzerma Finish Polish and it does remove the scratches! (Already did a test) Thas why Im confused about the function of the compound.


Compounds cut more than a polish. I think it's like painting, you prime, color, then clear. Wetsand, compound, polish. Most people on here use multiple compounds, polishes, and pads to get a brilliant shine.

I think. This is just what I've gathered from reading posts. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:18 pm
Okay, it's kind of like this.... The terminology, when it comes to a cut and buff, is thrown around very "loosely." I still have some compounds and polishes that I use that have a "grit system" very much like sandpaper has. The rough cutting compound is an 800 which feels like beach sand between your fingers, the 1500 compound feels like ultrafine sand in your fingers, and the polsihing compounds from there on have barely any texture in your fingers at all. What we have now are a lot of "crossover" single compound/ polishes that can indeed take out a lot of sanding scratches but I still don't think they can do quite as good a job as separating out these steps. Big plus for a lot of these products though is that you have a lot less cross contamination between compounding/ polishing steps. There's just a lot of different ways to end up with a mirror polish and there's definitely degrees of clarity in that "mirror." This is just my opinion so flame at will... :P
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:56 am
Sanding:
First you block sand the clear to get it flat as stated earlier. What grit depends upon how much orange peel and urethane wave you have.
Next you begin refining the scratches but sanding with a finer grit until all the previous grit scratches are gone. So if you started with 1000 you follow that with 1500 until all the 1000 grit scratches are gone. You repeat the process with the next higher grit, in our example 2000) until all the 1500 grit scratches are gone. Some guys go all the way to 3000 grit during this stage to make buffing very easy.

Buffing:
Buffing compounds can be used to remove scratches left behind by sanding but are nowhere near as effective as sanding. Some claim to remove 1000 grit scratches but the amount of time and material it takes makes it a much better option to wet sand with a finer grit.
Once you have the last of the 2000 grit scratches removed with your buffing compound you begin the process of refining those scratches left from the compound by using progressively finer compounds and polishes.
The swirl removers are the least aggressive and combined with a non-cutting pad to take reduce the last of the finest scratches visible to the naked eye.
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