Tips and tricks for dry sanding film

Jim C said:
im not sure what the issue is there. never had any loading or wrinkling of any of the assilex or bufflex in my life. the stuff goes on and work just about forever. it outlasts 3m trizact by a pretty big margin. its basically wet/dry paper on fabric. keep it wet and it just doesnt load at all. are you using those funky interface pads from eagle that has fuzzy side velcro on both sides? the disc doesnt really even stick to it?
Click to expand...
Guilty. I use them dry. I guess that's a no no.
 
i am a total noob and very much out of touch with modern product. should i assume the days of laying down a paint job and it coming out smooth and flat are over? i understand what lizer is doing, its just that it seems a shame to start sanding new gloss single stage. i have buffed it before, but never sanded. or is this just some thing guys do for a perfect finish?
it all seems so much more complicated than it used to be.
 
sorry chris, skimmed right by your question above. as a quick reply, will 1000 on an interface cut urethane wavy dead flat....absolutely not. it will get some of it if your using a nice new interface pad and the sunmight does cut a bit flatter but dead flat, nope. this will give a nice glass smooth paint finish for your "nice to very nice" resto or show paint job. if your looking for that top 1-2% type job then you should be hard blocking the clear with 1000 and an acrylic block or something like that. with all that said, imo, if your looking for that kind of job you should not be putting on 4-5 coats of clear then sanding and buffing. you should be clearing, blocking with 400 then 2 more slightly reduced coats of clear over then do your sand and buff. if that is done then you can use my method and come out with a super flat finish. remember that excessive lumpy ripple look your talking about comes from spray technique and how the paintjob is done. i could block, reclear, sand and buff my way probably faster than it would take to hard block out urethane wave from a whole car with an acrylic block.

here is a picture of a 41 caddy i did many years ago. this was all done with a da. no hand sanding. this car was euro clear. i think i cleared 3-4 coats, blocked with 400 then recleared 2-3 more coats slightly over reduced. on the reclear i always back the gun away and extra 2" from the surface more than what i usually spray to avoid blowing any urethane wave into the clear. my sanding process was different back then since i dont think 8000 trizact and the bufflex even existed but it was definitely done with 1000 and 1500 finishing film.


IMG_2503.jpg
 
Treeslayer said:
i am a total noob and very much out of touch with modern product. should i assume the days of laying down a paint job and it coming out smooth and flat are over? i understand what lizer is doing, its just that it seems a shame to start sanding new gloss single stage. i have buffed it before, but never sanded. or is this just some thing guys do for a perfect finish?
it all seems so much more complicated than it used to be.
Click to expand...
the days of flat finish out of the gun i believe ended with lacquer. that is before my time though so i dont have a solid answer there but i can say that with the urethanes of today, if you want a perfect show level / glass finish then you need to sand and buff when your done. if your happy with that ford truck slightly peely production finish then your good right out of the gun. some clears flow out better than others but even with the best clears that look glass smooth, if you put some sandpaper on them you will be able to see that its not as smooth as it looked.
 
I have used the Dust Doctor for years on hand sanding blocks. It works surprisingly well and really extends the life of the sand paper.

Dust Doctor.jpg

.
.
.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
How does the flatness compare to using conventional wet paper by hand? I'm assuming that if there is any urethane wave it should be gotten out by hand before switching to this type? What has always stopped me from using it is seeing what other guys work looks like when they use it. The clear/SS always has a wavy (not in the conventional sense) look to it. Wobbly would be a good way to describe it.

Or to ask my question a different way, if I'm using an interface pad and starting to cut a job with 4 or 5 coats on it, will it get it flat? Only way I would want to use the stuff is if I could get it as dead flat and straight as I can doing it by hand. Would be great if I could as it would save so much time.
Click to expand...
There's no way you would get it as flat and straight as hand sanding.

It works well for scratch refinement after 1000-1500 grit, but on a whole panel right off the bat you're not going to get out any urethane wave. If anything it would magnify it.

Most of my work is collision work, and I will denib with a kovax rubber nib block with 1200, then 1500 and 2500 with a da to blend the nib sanding spots out and buff from there.

I still block the clear by hand on any jobs I have that aren't your typical collision repair
 
Treeslayer said:
i am a total noob and very much out of touch with modern product. should i assume the days of laying down a paint job and it coming out smooth and flat are over? i understand what lizer is doing, its just that it seems a shame to start sanding new gloss single stage. i have buffed it before, but never sanded. or is this just some thing guys do for a perfect finish?
it all seems so much more complicated than it used to be.
Click to expand...
I love sanding new finish. You see all that peel and nibs disappear and the surface becomes truly perfect. Work up through your grits to buffing and it’s like magic how everything comes back to life, only a hundred times better than it was before.
 
What effect, if any, does cutting and buffing "without sanding" do?

This would be using a wool pad for cutting and foam pad for polishing.
 
Lizer said:
I love sanding new finish. You see all that peel and nibs disappear and the surface becomes truly perfect. Work up through your grits to buffing and it’s like magic how everything comes back to life, only a hundred times better than it was before.
Click to expand...
i will most likely use a single stage for what ever i do, like you are here. so do you lay extra coats with the idea of sanding some off?
i would be really nervous of going to primer. i have never in my life used any thing finer than 220 grit though, this is an all new thought to me.
 
Treeslayer said:
i will most likely use a single stage for what ever i do, like you are here. so do you lay extra coats with the idea of sanding some off?
i would be really nervous of going to primer. i have never in my life used any thing finer than 220 grit though, this is an all new thought to me.
Click to expand...
Yes—I spray four coats.
 
Ok, I went out and gave buffing a try over lunch and am disheartened. Lots of pigtails and little scratches that didn't buff out.

I used Chem Guys V32 with Hexalogic orange foam, then switched to twisted wool to see if that made it any better.

Either my random orbit polisher needs a shorter orbit, or I'm getting too many contaminating particles causing scratching (which is hard to tell when dry sanding because you can't hear or feel it like you can when wet sanding by hand), or I need to spend more time with 1500 and 2500.

Tried to take a picture but all it showed was a shiny reflection and can't get the scratches to show up.
 
So last night I tried using water with the bufflex deal. I blocked this out halfassed with 1000 wet, then da'd it with sunmight 1500 dry. Then green and blue bufflex wet, then 3000/5000 sunmight. Then buffed. I think it took me a total of 30 min.. Honestly quite surprised how well that worked out. Only gripe was the bufflex paper would come off the supplied interface pad when wet.

1697563285651.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top