straight to buffing or color sand first?

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.



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PostPosted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 7:53 pm
I just shot my clear yesterday and have orange peel I want to flatten out along with a couple drips and a sag and of course trash in the surface. I can't really capture the severity of the orange peel with my camera to show you. It looks a little worse in person than in my pictures.
My question is:

What is the standard procedure for removing orange peel in clear? Do I have to block sand it flat before cutting and buffing? Or would cutting and buffing smooth it out? Or does it just depend on the severity of the orange peel?

Also, my car has a lot of body lines and curves. Should that play a role in deciding how to tackle the job?

Another concern is that I only have 2 heavy coats of clear on it so I would like to get it done removing the least amount of material possible. I know I should have shot more clear. I can't shoot more now because winter has set in

Thank you for any advise:

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Here you can see the body lines and curves I have to deal with

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:29 pm
buffing wont remove OP. yer gonna have to sand. if ya haven't done it before, start at 1000 grit and use a block. sand until there are no shiney spots left. sand in straight lines like /////. then go up a grit to either 1200 or 1500 and sand the same way in opposite direction like this \\\\\\. check you progress to see that you have refined the 1000 grit sand scratches. you could start the process at a lower grit, say 600 or 800. that's up to you. tape off along the edges of panels and use some 1/8" tape on the body lines.
you can go as high as ya want on the sanding grit. I personally stop at 1500.
you have 2 heavy coats of clear on there so that's a good thing, but only sand enough to get the clear flat. I was taught that color/wet sanding removes one coat of clear, but don't own a paint thickeness gage to measure.
then onto cutting/buffing/polishing.
no wax for a couple months either. paint/clear have to be able to off gas and cure.



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PostPosted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 6:42 pm
Thank you so much! That is great info. Much appreciated! :happy:

Would you think I could sand the flat parts of the panels with a DA sander with a good/even technique? or would I have to use a block to get good flat results? I'm not going for a show car finish. Just close to factory quality



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PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:53 am
sure you could, but yer gonna want an interface pad. but since ya haven't done it before, I suggest ya ask yerself if its that important to get it done quick. its pretty easy to end up having to spray more clear and you could end up with pigtails all over the place. its best to have a DA with a small throw.
personally, id suggest stick with hand sanding. I have a set of durablocks plus a couple of meguiars soft sanding blocks(part # E7200) to do the job.
take your time and do it by hand and ya wont have to worry about spraying more clear. ya only want to sand off enough to make it flat.



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PostPosted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:45 am
Forget the da my buddy owned a subby easiest to wetsand cause the lines my personal preference but use tap on the edge of body lines and a block



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:18 am
Thanks guys! It seems like with all the info I can find on color sanding, they only use the small blocks. Would it make sense to start with a long block for the large flat areas?



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:37 am
that's up to you. I dont. there are lot of guys that use a DA. they have more skill than me.



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PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2013 11:51 am
96ls wrote:Thanks guys! It seems like with all the info I can find on color sanding, they only use the small blocks. Would it make sense to start with a long block for the large flat areas?


No, because all the flattening should have been done back at the primer stage. All you are doing at this phase is knocking down the high points of the orange peel.
Gale Gorman
Houston

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