Order of Painting

[dhutton01]

For the clueless among us, can you elaborate n how to use the sponges? Do you use them with some sort of interface (block/interface pad) or directly by hand? Does sanding direction matter, i.e. crosshatch or straight?

Thanks,
Emil

I use them by hand. Just a quick scuff on nibs etc. I’m not sanding the whole car.

I use my Astro sunlight with the booth lights off to find nibs. They jump out at you.

Don

 

[50Shep]

Don, if I do one coat 25% reduced epoxy, do you think that would give me enough material to do a quick 800 grit wet sand? I can’t get unreduced epoxy to lay flat enough. I don’t have a booth so I would really like to flatten and clean my sealer before base.

Jason

 

[dhutton01]

Don, if I do one coat 25% reduced epoxy, do you think that would give me enough material to do a quick 800 grit wet sand? I can’t get unreduced epoxy to lay flat enough. I don’t have a booth so I would really like to flatten and clean my sealer before base.

Jason

Sorry no idea. Hopefully one of the pros will weigh in.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Don, if I do one coat 25% reduced epoxy, do you think that would give me enough material to do a quick 800 grit wet sand? I can’t get unreduced epoxy to lay flat enough. I don’t have a booth so I would really like to flatten and clean my sealer before base.

Jason

Get the car as clean as possible. If it's not a frame off, mask off the wheel openings. Get your jambs and inside the doors as clean as possible. 90% of the trash in a paint job comes from the vehicle itself. Get your area as clean as possible. Wear a paint suit. Tack before every coat. That should keep the trash to a minimum. If you have some nibs in the sealer use 1000 grit by hand and take them out. Your not sanding, just cuttting the nib(dirt or trash). A small flexible block like the old 3M black rubber squeegee blocks works well for this. Doing that you should be able to go 25%.

 

[50Shep]

Thank you!

 

[texasking]

Personally, I don't like sanding reduced epoxy. It is already very thin, and sanding with 800 to remove texture, it would be difficult not to go through. The epoxy reduced 25% should not add any more texture than a coat of base. Another alternative is sanding the base after sealer, then spraying 2 more coats. http://www.sunmightusa.com/products/flex-sanding-sponge. These sponges work good.

 

[50Shep]

Interesting. Im using a SS. I never thought of sanding the base…. I am cutting and buffing so most of the trash isn’t a problem but I’ve noticed bigger pieces cause a bit of discoloration right around the trash even after sanding. Thank you

 

[texasking]

If using single stage, you could put 2 coats of reduced epoxy, wait overnight, then sand the epoxy before color.

 

[dhutton01]

In my experience 3 or 4 coats of single stage is extremely forgiving. I think you might be overthinking this a tad imho. A simple denib should be all that is needed.

Don

 

[50Shep]

Got it. I do overthink for sure. Thank you