Color sanding/buffing
Posted: September 15th, 2011, 9:05 pm
I thought I'd write a quick how-to on buffing paint. It's very tedious job and requires some skill/experience.
I use mostly Meguiar's products. I have Meguiar's Solo kit, comes with 2 cutting pads (heavy and medium cut) 1 polishing pad and 1 finishing pad. Also has universal cutting/polishing compound, you don't have to change to another compound with each pad, simpy remove pad, put another one on and you're ready to go.
Tools that I'll typically will use some 1500 grit and 2000 grit wetordry sandpaper (nobody uses it dry though) Norton "holey" block works great for this job (if you're working on a flat surface) Make sure you work in a section, don't go crazy over entire panel since you'll miss some areas and will have to go over them again.
For curved panels I'll use flexible sanding pad. Also I use 3m squeegee to clean off water/sanding debris as I sand. For keeping area wet I'll use cheap sponge, works great as it holds water well and you can run it over area you're sanding to clean off residue.
As I'm sanding I run squeegee over area I'm sanding and it'll be dull. Any imperfections will show up as glossy spots. I sand until entire area is uniform and free of imperfections.
As you can see I did most of the panel and that's how it'll look like
After I'm done with wetsanding I start buffing it. I keep clean terry cloth towels handy to clean off residue/dry compound. As with wetsanding it-you work in sections. This particular trunk lid I've divided in 3 sections and went at it.
You can see how it starts looking like as I buff it
Final result
I recommend to wetsand/buff clear as soon as possible, I usually do it the following day. Although more expensive clears buff out easy even after you let them sit weeks/months. Some clears dry or "harden" so hard that it's really hard to wetsand them and when you finally do get it wetsanded you'll have a real hard time buffing it out. This is Omni clear, and one of their cheaper clears but I have good results with it and it's perfect for production work.
It's important to stay away from edges, you never wetsand/buff edges on panel, leave them alone. When you're working near edge make sure you're buffing away from edge not towards it, buffer is spinning clockwise so you want to point it away from edge. Also keep your buffer moving, you can burn through clear real fast. You can do horizontal pass over section at a time, then do vertical pass and follow up with horizontal pass again. Start out your buffer slow and smear compound over entire section that you'll be doing. Don't just pull trigger, you'll shoot compound everywhere and make a mess.
I usually go with Medium cut bonnet and finish with polishing and/or finishing foam pad. Keep speed of your buffer low until you get comfortable with it. I recommend someone holding panel for you as you buff it or you might send it flying across your garage. Best of luck! Feel free to comment/ask questions.
I use mostly Meguiar's products. I have Meguiar's Solo kit, comes with 2 cutting pads (heavy and medium cut) 1 polishing pad and 1 finishing pad. Also has universal cutting/polishing compound, you don't have to change to another compound with each pad, simpy remove pad, put another one on and you're ready to go.
Tools that I'll typically will use some 1500 grit and 2000 grit wetordry sandpaper (nobody uses it dry though) Norton "holey" block works great for this job (if you're working on a flat surface) Make sure you work in a section, don't go crazy over entire panel since you'll miss some areas and will have to go over them again.
For curved panels I'll use flexible sanding pad. Also I use 3m squeegee to clean off water/sanding debris as I sand. For keeping area wet I'll use cheap sponge, works great as it holds water well and you can run it over area you're sanding to clean off residue.
As I'm sanding I run squeegee over area I'm sanding and it'll be dull. Any imperfections will show up as glossy spots. I sand until entire area is uniform and free of imperfections.
As you can see I did most of the panel and that's how it'll look like
After I'm done with wetsanding I start buffing it. I keep clean terry cloth towels handy to clean off residue/dry compound. As with wetsanding it-you work in sections. This particular trunk lid I've divided in 3 sections and went at it.
You can see how it starts looking like as I buff it
Final result
I recommend to wetsand/buff clear as soon as possible, I usually do it the following day. Although more expensive clears buff out easy even after you let them sit weeks/months. Some clears dry or "harden" so hard that it's really hard to wetsand them and when you finally do get it wetsanded you'll have a real hard time buffing it out. This is Omni clear, and one of their cheaper clears but I have good results with it and it's perfect for production work.
It's important to stay away from edges, you never wetsand/buff edges on panel, leave them alone. When you're working near edge make sure you're buffing away from edge not towards it, buffer is spinning clockwise so you want to point it away from edge. Also keep your buffer moving, you can burn through clear real fast. You can do horizontal pass over section at a time, then do vertical pass and follow up with horizontal pass again. Start out your buffer slow and smear compound over entire section that you'll be doing. Don't just pull trigger, you'll shoot compound everywhere and make a mess.
I usually go with Medium cut bonnet and finish with polishing and/or finishing foam pad. Keep speed of your buffer low until you get comfortable with it. I recommend someone holding panel for you as you buff it or you might send it flying across your garage. Best of luck! Feel free to comment/ask questions.