wet sanded with 1000 then 2000, buff in two phases, still see sand lines...why?

G

gerard143

Did a paint job, and for the clear used universal clear.

Had some orange peel so I wetsanded it all out. The clear sat for 24 hours air drying before I began this process. I started with 1000 grit and did a lot with that and knocked all the orange peel out of it. I wiped it all down. Got it wet again then hit it briefly with 2000 grit.

Next I cleaned it down and went to buffing with my Makita Rotary. For buffing I used the 3m Perfect-It products (compounds with their 8" foam pads). I started with the White compounding pad and Rubbing Compound. Hit panel twice with that. Then I wiped it all down and swapped pads to the black compounding pad and the machine polish.

I have excellent gloss and shine with zero orange peel. However when I angle the panel in the light I still see tons and tons of circular scratch lines from my sanding. I don't believe it is buffing swirl marks.

So what is going on here? Is the rubbing compound and white pad just not aggressive enough to take out those 1000 grit marks or something ? Do I need their extra cut rubbing compound to go more aggressive? Is 1000 grit just to aggressive? Should I spend more time sanding with finer grade or maybe do 1000,1500 then 2000?




update- Spent some time googling this and looks like the white pad and rubbing compound is good to 1200 grit and finer. Also the extra cut rubbing compound I mentioned still says 1200 grit or finer. They sell a super duty that is good to 1000 grit marks. I figured me sanding with 2000 over the 1000 would take out the 1000 marks, I guess not.

Idk curious to hear from you guys and get some tips on this before I do the big part of my job. Today was just a small panel ( storage door for my boat dash) but I need to get some best practices in a hurry and get this job done. The dash itself is a lot bigger job and there is some orange peel. Is sanding with 1000 a mistake? Should I start finer... I just worry it will take ages knocking down the orange peel with a finer grit. But if that is what it takes to avoid scratch lines that don't come out ok. Just want to know best way to proceed.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
24 hrs dry time before buffing isn't much unless its been in the sun...maybe. If you think the scratches are from hand sanding then I would say you didn't sand enough with 2000. Go back and wet sand a small area making sure you generate some white sludge. Then try compounding again. I know a WHITE foam pad is usually for polishing, not compounding, so it may not be aggressive enough. Try an orange pad or the purple Lake country (wool and foam combo) pad.
 
24 hours not in sun, inside my box van, hot but dark. Clear was really hard though so don't think that was an issue. Noticed the same issue on a small part that sat 2 weeks before I wet sanded a month or so ago.

Ya generated white sludge during the whole process. This was a small panel, maybe 15 wide by 25 inches or so. I spent about 10 minutes with 1000 grit and knocked out all the orange peel. Maybe a minute with 2000.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
its going to take alot of sanding with 2000 to get 1000 grit scratches out. 1000 then 1500 then 2000 then 3000 is the progression you want to go. you cant do a quck sanding with each grit. you need to completely sand out the prior grit scratches before moving on to the next. forget what a compound claims it gets out scratch wise. its mostly all bs. you really dont want to try and compound anything out coarser then 2000 at a min. 3000-5000 is where you want to start compounding.
 
No kidding. Hmm. Well I guess I’ll follow that progression. I just worry about sanding thru the clear. So hard to tell when it’s getting to thin don’t wanna sand right thru it.
 
Barry will tell you to use a wool pad for first cut then go to foam for the finishing stages.
 
How many coats of clear do you have on?

If your goal is to remove only orange peel and no wave, Id consider starting with 1500.
 
Just peel i wouldve started with 1500. Fine peel 2000 even.
Tip i learned here is don't remove all peel with course grit. Each finer grit still cuts.
Oem caddy paint i did yrs ago started at 2000.
 
I have two wool pads that came with my buffer but god knows how crappy they are in quality. Not sure if I wanna even attempt to use those.
 
Back
Top