Newbie Question #1

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.

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PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 9:19 am
okay, I've heard people talking about color sanding and stuff like that. My question is, What exactly is color sanding and how is it different then regular sanding?
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PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2005 3:31 pm
Color sanding is really a misnomer. In a basecoat/clearcoat system you shoot your base color then shoot your clearcoat. As long as you have built up enough clear to work with you next "color sand" your clearcoat with successively finer grit papers. Most guys can shoot well enough (level and flat for texture of the clear) to start with 1200 to 1500 grit wet sandpaper and may stop at 2000 grit. I wanted more of a show finish on my last truck project so I went on up to 3000. After the color sanding process is done you usually compound and buff. Proper leveling of the clear like this is what really makes the color of your base coat "pop." You might want to do a search here using color sanding as your phrase, should pop up a lot of discussions on the subject.
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PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2005 12:40 pm
so your actually sanding the clear coat when color sanding in order to make sure the clear coat is of even thickness after sprayed. Am I understnding you correctly? Also how many coats of clear should you have before you do this? Is one enough or do you need multiple coats of clear?
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PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2005 2:06 pm
Yep, you are sanding the clear coat to level it before the compounding and polishing process. If sanded correctly it will look even and dead flat with no glossy areas showing. As far as clear coats I think most of us here have figured that at least 4 coats is the absolute minium to be able to color sand without breaking through to the base. If you are using a high solids clear many times you can only shoot on 2 coats max. at one time. You would then have to let those coats set for a few days before applying the next two coats. If you were using a lower solids building clear like say Omni 161 you could indeed build 4 coats very rapidly. Not all clears are the same but one thing you can be sure of is, never, ever, try to sand your clear with less than 4 coats or you'll surely cut through to your base.
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PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2005 12:20 pm
If you were to sand down to the base, how would you fix it?
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PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2005 1:18 pm
Re-base and clear again.
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PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2005 8:52 am
I was expecting a long complicated answer. 8) thanks
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PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2005 9:56 am
[quote=". Not all clears are the same but one thing you can be sure of is, never, ever, try to sand your clear with less than 4 coats or you'll surely cut through to your base.[/quote]

Why are you making this blanket statement?? It is absolutely incorrect.. I have, as many have, sanded and buffed with less than 4 coats... As a matter of fact I have never laid down four coats of clear so that I could sand and buff..

Matthew

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PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2005 12:19 pm
Matthew, the reason I say that is the biggest problem here with cutting and buffing coatings is that what constitutes a coat? Newbies here a lot of times put the clear on so thin that they break through their clear when they color sand and burn through when they buff. Sure after you get some experience behind your belt you don't need more than a couple of coats of say a PPG 2021 high solids clear but Omni 161 is not as high in solids and definitely needs to be built more. I am sorry you saw that as a "blanket statement." There are rarely complete right or wrongs on this forum just what works for the individual and each shooter has to figure that out for themselves. I personally use a wet mil film guage to determine my coating thickness and rhythm for shooting on test panels but that's usually beyond what I would even discuss with most newbies here.
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PostPosted: Thu May 26, 2005 6:45 am
Thats cool Darrel, I understand you reasoning now... I was just a bit taken back by the statement at first... I pictured some guy doing this 5 years from now and insisting to lay down that many coats... I was not trying to be rude or anything like that, i was just wondering why the statement... that was all

Matthew
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