Sanding orange peel

[Bullmoose44]

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:54 pm
I have read all the posts on here concerning cutting and buffing and have learned a lot. I am a novice at this and have tried to follow the steps as best i could. I sprayed 3 coats of SPI Universal clear, wet sanded with 600, then shot 3 more coats. I figure this will give me a good base to work with.

My problem is orange peel...I have started with 1000, then went to 1500 and still have small spots of peel. I even did the hood after several sessions and it looked great after buffing with Presta Ultra Cutting Creme and black wool pad until I turned the light and the little peel spots seemed to come out of nowhere. I even tried a section going 600, 1000, 1500 and it was not completely gone. Is this my lack of sanding long enough? I worry about breaking through, especially around body lines and edges. I read where most do not sand and buff these areas, but how do you deal with the peel that is still there? It just jumps out at me after I finish the surrounding areas.

Do I need to change paper every section? Do I need to just keep sanding in one spot regardless? This has been the most frustrating part of the whole car...it seems i can see the end and keep getting further behind. I am even considering sanding the whole thing with 600 again and respraying it to see if I can get a wetter, more laid down finish. I read on one of the posts that someone said that if you were not running it some, then you were scared of it and you would never get all the peel out of it. I also wonder about my gun and setup...it is a chear Vaper gun and I am using a 1.4 tip, 20 psi with trigger pulled. Do I need to up the pressure, open the product adjustment up some, or just go slower?

I have one sand through where I was trying to work a run out...plus a couple of edges that are bare. Thoughts on just doing it over??

 

[danp76]

I'm not sure about your spray gun, but it sounds to me that you need to work on gun adjustment and technique. Universal clear should lay out wet and slick. Sounds like you may have to up your air pressure some, and open up your fluid adjustment. Sand area with desired paper and a semi-rigid block in soapy water, wipe dry with a rubber squeege, and the surface should be smooth and even. The 600 paper should knock out any ripple or peel, and the finer papers used to step up the scratch so that it can be buffed more easily. The finer you take your scratch the less agressive you have to buff, which will reduce heat and burn throughs while buffing.

 

[Clausen]

It kinda sounds to me like your edges are peely, is that right? First of all edges are a problem always IMO. Its the end of your pass and I know I tend to spray my edges dry. What I try to do is spray as many passes as I need on my starting and ending points and I compensate on my next pass if I think its necessary. (Move faster or over lap less on the next pass.) Thats all based on what it looks like and some times I can just "feel" I have too much material. Thats based on how many passes if I slowed down in an area, if I had to make different angles in a single pass area, etc. For example, if I have right angles in my clear area I try to compensate in the way i spray. I spray less material, (over lap less or fan out sooner,) where ever I think I may have a run area which is any where that "catches" clear. There are areas where you can bury the clear with out running it. Flat surfaces especially. The biggest problem I have with every job is how well you can see the area you are clearing.

If you are having trouble with orange peel well thats no surprise. I still do myself. You have to be reasonable with what you expect...that's one thing I learned a long time ago. Are the areas that are bothering you really that big a deal? Or are you being too picky? If you wet sand you will get all those areas that are sanded super flat...but NEVER your edges and high and low points...any where you cannot buff!!!! I am willing to bet that you are not being realistic. You are seeing all the areas you wet sanded and by contrast the areas you did not are driving you nuts.


Without seeing hard to say. Hope this helps!!!!

 

[Deleted member 7]

Bull,
I believe the edges should be sanded and buffed just like the rest of the car!!! I think if you stop at the edges, the buff job looks like ass!!! I am a firm believer it starts with how you block out the car before you ever spray the bc/cc..

If you were shy on the edges when you blocked the primer, you probably will not fair well if you are trying to cut the clear flat..


Please read this is how I do it and not perhaps the way you should do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With all the coats of clear on the car, I dont see why you cant start with 1000 and cut it ALL FLAT.. Then step up in grits until you reach your final buffing grits of choice..

Buffing is as much an art as body work and spraying the bc/cc..

I learned years ago, that if I stayed away from the edges, I would never be happy with my buff jobs.. So I bit the bullet and make sure there is enough clear to cut it all flat and make sure I block the edges hard as I block the primer on the car, that way the whole things blocks evenly when it gets time to cut the clear flat..

Most people are satisfied with leaving the edges alone.. Honestly you probably will break thru when buffing also,.. Like I said above.. Its an art.. It will take mistakes to learn how to buff edges etc..

Trial and error are the best teachers here.. So you either go for it, or stay away from them.. Pretty simple brother!!

Best of luck in whatever you choose to do!!