Wet or dry finish sanding?

RosharonRooster

RosharonRooster

Promoted Users
Curious on opinions on finish 400/600 grit wet or dry? I have always done it wet. But I'm curious what others do, and why?

Also, hand block, or DA?
 
It depends. I do it both ways. For 400 I hand block only. Most times I do it dry. The disadvantage to dry is all the dust. This last project that I'm just finishing up, I did most all the 400 blocking wet because I ran out of paper and the only thing the local distributor had was some garbage High Tech which clogged instantly and doesnt cut worth a piss. Nothing "high tech" about it. Wet has advantages. It cuts faster. The disadvantage is if you're using PSA paper, overtime it tends to detach. Also, it eliminates dust but it's causes a messy slurry all over the place. So it's give and take either way.
After blocking with 400 I generally refine that with 600 dry on the DA with an interface pad.
 
I finish dry with a da with interface pad with 500 on solids and 600 on metallics, but I almost always use epoxy as a sealer. This is the way I do jobs that are every day users.
 
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I was taught long ago that if you were doing something nice, you finished it wet by hand. I have never liked finishing with a DA because you get a certain amount of wobble and it's hard to keep it perfectly flat like you can with finishing wet by hand. At least for me it is. Putting aside the guys on this forum, when I see guys finished work who use the DA to finish or to cut before buffing, you can always tell as the clear usually has a wave to it. All this is in context of restoration/custom work not collision or used car work.
 
I always used to sand wet, but cold winters have converted me pretty much. My son hates wet blocking. We still color sand wet, but that is about it.
I think if I was left to my own devices, I would still wet sand a lot in the summertime.
 
crashtech said:
I always used to sand wet, but cold winters have converted me pretty much. My son hates wet blocking. We still color sand wet, but that is about it.
I think if I was left to my own devices, I would still wet sand a lot in the summertime.
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Same here, it all depends on how cold or hot it is.
I have noticed that I can use 400 wet but for dry sanding I can't go below 600 for metallics.
 
At that stage I always wet sand by hand using a guide coat. My thinking is that it gets me to focus on every square inch of the vehicle prior to moving on to sealer and paint.
 
RosharonRooster said:
I'm assuming there should be zero concerns about water getting thru the 2k urethane primer?
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No problems. I block 2k with 220, then spray a final wet coat to fill in the 220 scratches, then wet sand that last coat 400. Nice little trick I learned from Barry about 10 years ago.

I give it overnight to dry, but even just blowing air on it dries it off pretty quickly.
 
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