Getting ready for buffing

The Sunmight discs tend to plug up quicker than the Assilex or Tolex. As far as how many discs, it can vary depending on how dry the clear is, wet or dry, and what grit you are trying to remove. On fully dry clear, 1500 wet, sanding over 1200, can last several panels. Dry maybe half as long. Sanding out 1000 with 1500, you want to keep the paper pretty fresh, so maybe 1 disc per panel. I've gotten to really like the orange assilex (1200) as a first step. It cuts like 1000, lasts forever, and the pink assilex (1500) cuts the scratches out easily. They work great wet or dry. Dry, you can see progress easier. Wet, the paper lasts longer. The 2500 Buflex works awesome after 1500. I started out buying sample packs on Amazon (Eagle abrasives store) before buying boxes.
 
@dhutton01 just an fyi, if you buy the pink assilex instead of the tolex, they are the same disc without the drylube on them. the assilex starts cutting immediately.

@RosharonRooster the amount of discs vary. you will use the most of the 1000 because that is done dry with the yellow film discs. i would say though 2-3 on a trunk the size you mentioned. the 1500 assilex/tolex is done wet. you may use 4 or so on a whole car. same with the blue 2500 bufflex and trizact. could the pigtails you speak of just be that your not getting the sanding the scratches out from the previous grit or are they obvious large and deep random pigtails from dirt under the disc?

i also dont get pigtails from using a yellow film disc for too long UNLESS the clear is real soft. i can have the paper somewhat clog on me and you can see the little pigtails in the sanding dust. i can run it like that all day and have it not leave pigtails. i just dont get them from that. when i get an actual random deep pigtail its always from dirt. again it is an absolute must that you run a soft interface pad on your sander and you cut the sander speed down to about 1/2-2/3. 3/16" orbit sander is what you want. keep the sander moving. you should never leave it in one spot or small area and never put pressure on the sander. just the weight of the sander is basically all you need. you will never be 100% pigtail free. you will get some in a whole job but they should be easy to get out. after your done buffing the whole job, toss a 1500 dry disc back on, lightly sand it and buff the spot about out. should only take a few min to do a few of them. another tip, before you start dry or wetsanding, blow your sander out with compressed air to be sure there is nothing in it or on the interface pad that can come out and cause the pigtails.
 
@texasking i have some orange assilex. been sitting here forever. i thought that was 800 grit though? i need to go back and check.

edit: just checked and it is 1200. i dont know what i thought it was 800. thats why it has been sitting in my cabinet for about 8 years. lol
 
Reading all these posts made me think of something. The first time I tried the DA it was with 1000 grit and I got pigtails. At that time I didn't want to keep experimenting with it, so I opted to do the 1000 grit wet sanding by hand (using a hard block).

After that I read a post, by Shine IIRC, that suggested using the lower RPMs when using a DA. So, I put the 1500 film disc on and then proceeded to dry sand the clear using low rpms. The difference was amazing as I could easily see when the 1000 grit scratches were removed, the same when I switched to the 2000 grit. This is why I still wet sand with 1000 first and then go to the DA for the finer grits. It is what worked for me and still does.
As for going with finer grits above 2000, I never found it beneficial. The rotary buffer and M100 will easily handle the 2000 grit scratches.
Disclaimer: I am not a pro, just a hobbyist.
 
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Jim C said:
@texasking i have some orange assilex. been sitting here forever. i thought that was 800 grit though? i need to go back and check.

edit: just checked and it is 1200. i dont know what i thought it was 800. thats why it has been sitting in my cabinet for about 8 years. lol
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Ya, the yellow is the 800. It is aggressive for 800, but all the assilex is pretty aggressive. That is why I started using the orange instead of the yellow film discs. It seems to cut just as well, and lasts longer. I rarely get pigtails any more, but I would much rather remove a pigtail than the inevitable deep straightline scratches I always seem to get a couple of.
 
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texasking said:
Ya, the yellow is the 800. It is aggressive for 800, but all the assilex is pretty aggressive. That is why I started using the orange instead of the yellow film discs. It seems to cut just as well, and lasts longer. I rarely get pigtails any more, but I would much rather remove a pigtail than the inevitable deep straightline scratch I always seem to get a couple of.
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They each cut a step below but leave a finish true to the grit number.
 
Jim C said:
@dhutton01 just an fyi, if you buy the pink assilex instead of the tolex, they are the same disc without the drylube on them. the assilex starts cutting immediately.

@RosharonRooster the amount of discs vary. you will use the most of the 1000 because that is done dry with the yellow film discs. i would say though 2-3 on a trunk the size you mentioned. the 1500 assilex/tolex is done wet. you may use 4 or so on a whole car. same with the blue 2500 bufflex and trizact. could the pigtails you speak of just be that your not getting the sanding the scratches out from the previous grit or are they obvious large and deep random pigtails from dirt under the disc?

i also dont get pigtails from using a yellow film disc for too long UNLESS the clear is real soft. i can have the paper somewhat clog on me and you can see the little pigtails in the sanding dust. i can run it like that all day and have it not leave pigtails. i just dont get them from that. when i get an actual random deep pigtail its always from dirt. again it is an absolute must that you run a soft interface pad on your sander and you cut the sander speed down to about 1/2-2/3. 3/16" orbit sander is what you want. keep the sander moving. you should never leave it in one spot or small area and never put pressure on the sander. just the weight of the sander is basically all you need. you will never be 100% pigtail free. you will get some in a whole job but they should be easy to get out. after your done buffing the whole job, toss a 1500 dry disc back on, lightly sand it and buff the spot about out. should only take a few min to do a few of them. another tip, before you start dry or wetsanding, blow your sander out with compressed air to be sure there is nothing in it or on the interface pad that can come out and cause the pigtails.
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Thanks. At one point I thought maybe the pigtails were coming from the velcro on the interface pad. I'm going to try a different sand paper system. I really like the sunmight for 80 180
 
i dont typically like the big 3/4" thick ones. i feel like i lose a little bit feel with the sander. especially up close to edges. the most common interface pads are typically 1/2" or there abouts. i am not a fan of 3m's. they fall apart quick and seem to lose their flatness and shape real quick. all others i have used seem to be fine. last time i got some i just ordered about a doz off ebay. they were shipped in from china. they hold shape as well as any other ones i have used and better than 3m. they were also only about 5 bucks a piece.
 
Jim C said:
i dont typically like the big 3/4" thick ones. i feel like i lose a little bit feel with the sander. especially up close to edges. the most common interface pads are typically 1/2" or there abouts. i am not a fan of 3m's. they fall apart quick and seem to lose their flatness and shape real quick. all others i have used seem to be fine. last time i got some i just ordered about a doz off ebay. they were shipped in from china. they hold shape as well as any other ones i have used and better than 3m. they were also only about 5 bucks a piece.
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Agree and why I asked. They seem to thick and soft to have any feel.
 
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