DA Wetsanding Edge Protection

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PUNISHER VETTE

Sorry... I'm still learning and the way I learn is by doing... which I guess is a good thing that I started on the old hood that doesn't matter.

I quickly found out that sanding near an edge is NOT a good thing :(


Question1:
How should it be done the correct way to avoid this from happening?
-Use tape on the edge a cm or so onto the flat area?
-Do i just need to apply more pressure to the side of the DA that is going off the edge and be positive the side coming onto the edge has less pressure?
-Or should I avoid the edges all together with the DA and hand sand them?

I wasn't really paying too much attention when I did this...but it happened a lot easier than I expected. Mostly because the corner here bends down slightly so to get it sanded I probably went a little overboard on it. But this is a great learning experience so I'm not mad...Just don't want to be looked at like some idiot lol.

I started with 800g to cut the initial orange peal. This is 2 coats clear, 600 block sanded, 2 more coats clear.
Question 2:
would a 2nd block and 2 more coats of clear be a good thing for thicker clear and maybe straighter/deeper end result?)
I read some just do 2 coats and call it good, some do 2, bock, 2. some I saw do 3, block, 3.. Whats the best of the best that I should be doing? 2, block, 2, block, 2?



Question3:
If this does happen on the real thing and assuming I didn't burn through the metallic, (which I did here I believe), do you just shoot some more clear to save it? I guess if you burn through the metallic you have to spot fix it...which is way more than I want to so i'll just be more careful!
 
If you sand into the metalic basecoat at all it will need more color before clear is applied. I would suggest putting down the DA for now and do the sanding by hand until you get a feel for this then try the finer grits with the DA.
 
I think the tape is all I really need to do.

It's not that complicated on flatter surfaces using the DA and hand sanding doesn't teach me anything I don't already know really...

I knew to protect edges but it happened quicker than I would have thought so I guess it's a good thing I'm learning now on the old hood and not something important.
 
i use a ton of tape . when you go to buff the sail panel area lay the buffing pad on the surface and note where the edge hit's. i buy 2 in blue tape for areas like this and hood scoops .
 
shine;41437 said:
i use a ton of tape . when you go to buff the sail panel area lay the buffing pad on the surface and note where the edge hit's. i buy 2 in blue tape for areas like this and hood scoops .
Click to expand...

So do you tape every raised area and edge or are you skilled enough to skip some edges, like the one I ruined, without having to tape?

Once you tape and do the sanding you then untape and hand sand those area?
 
Not related to edge protection but I didn't want to start a new thread just for another basic polishing question so hopefully this works okay.

I got my Flex hybrid 3401(sorry shine... I just couldn't get the rotary :( ) but maybe it's Karma as I'm already having an issue.

I'm getting squigglies!!!

Brand new pads. V32 compound. I tried my orange microfiber pad along with a white hex-logic and both are giving me the squigglies.
Not sure if I'm not priming it right? Not using enough compound? not cleaning it properly between goes. I have air, pad brush, and even a spray cleaner(pretty sure that is for when I'm done though and not between applications?)

I'm guessing it has to be from debris as the scratches appear to be pretty deep and when I tried to go to V36, V38 it just made them shiny...didn't eliminate them.


 
I believe those 'squigglies' came from using a DA to sand the clear before polishing, not from the polisher.
 
That's what I thought at first too and it may still be true.

I only sanded to 2000 with the DA(didn't have trizact discs yet)
So I went out and got some 3000 and 5000 foam sanding sheets and did a section with those by hand and still had the squigglies.
Maybe those squigglies were from the 800 or 1500 DA and I didn't use the 2000g long enough to cover them up? and the 3000/5000 by hand couldn't either?
I guess I don't know enough about sanding to know how long it takes for one grit to eliminate the previous one.
 
those pigtails are from you not working the previous grit out. 800 tough to get out so its either 800 or 1500 or a combo of both. if you started with 8 then 1500 will take it out but its gonna take some time. a quick buzz over the surface aint gonna do it. i start from the finest grit i can get away with. unless you have alot of peel to work out you probably could have started with 1500 then 3000 and 5000.
 
I tend to think experience is the best edge protection. It's a rare job that needs a bunch of taped edges at my shop, mostly because care is taken not to hit the edges with much until the very finest grits, and the buffer can be controlled so that it is not hooking the edge and trying to rip the paint off. Doors and hoods can be opened slightly, etc. to get edges out of harm's way. Some of these things are really hard to explain, you just have to do it and make some mistakes, which are the best teacher of all.
 
Jim C;41635 said:
those pigtails are from you not working the previous grit out. 800 tough to get out so its either 800 or 1500 or a combo of both. if you started with 8 then 1500 will take it out but its gonna take some time. a quick buzz over the surface aint gonna do it. i start from the finest grit i can get away with. unless you have alot of peel to work out you probably could have started with 1500 then 3000 and 5000.
Click to expand...

Yeah. On a 1/4 of the hood that I hadn't tried to buff yet I went back and hit the area with 1000g then 1500 and so on and it made the squigglies disappear. So they were from the 800g and the buffing just couldn't get them out very well.

In the future I think I'm going to start with 1200 or maybe even 1500. It'll take me a LOT longer to sand the orange peel but way easier for me to tell I've gotten the areas that need done. Seeing what areas still have peel is easy for me but telling if I got all the previous grit scratches out isn't... So if I start with a finer grit as long as it doesn't take WAY too long I should be in a better position for the real thing.
 
you wont sand out orange peel with finer grits. once again your skipping steps. it will bite you in the end .
 
shine;41647 said:
you wont sand out orange peel with finer grits. once again your skipping steps. it will bite you in the end .
Click to expand...

But won't I be able to see the hi/low spots of the orange peel as the low spots will still be shiny and the high spots not since they are now scrached.

Eventually the sandpaper will be able to wear the high spots? I guess 800g took a decent amount of work to get the orange peel out(and what I would consider very little orange peel) so maybe a 1200-1500 would take way too long... not sure without trying.
 
On stuff that needs to be right the first sanding for me is always done by hand with a block-there's no way I'm going to get it sanded right with a DA on that step, I use the DA for the finer grits-to refine the scratches. I also use little to no tape
 
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