Wetsanding single stage paint

My brother in law just painted his car and is looking for advice on wet sanding. I have had conflicting responses on what grits to use. The car has some pretty good orange peel. The paint is a semi-gloss finish and he is not sure what grits to use to get a dcent finish with out using rubbing compound if possible.

 

you'll most likely always see sanding marks in it.. depending on the color. is it enamel?

 

I am pretty sure it is urethane.

 

i dont know a ton about urethane paints as far as wetsanding goes..
if it has enough paint on it you might be able to wet sand out some of the roughness with 600, then 800, and finally 1500.
it all really depends on your color of paint and primer. you could take a chance on seeing light spots through the paint if you sand off too much.
if its semi gloss I wouldnt think the orange peel would matter too much..

 

might be easier and come out better if you wet sand with 800 and repaint.

 

there should be some great painters who can give you the advice you need.

 

I don't understand, you want to wetsand it but not buff it out? The semi-gloss finish is gone once you sand it, typically you wetsand first before buffing, but if you just sand it it'll be pretty obvious. I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here.

 

Wet sanding a semi-gloss finish? I wouldn't think you'll acheive the desired effect of semi-gloss..

 

The orange peel doesn't matter to much, its just kind of rough. He doean't want to repaint it, just wants it looking a little better than what it does. We will give the 600-800-1500 and see how that comes out. I was originally thinking about a 600-1500-2000 and see how that works. I'll start with a 600 and if anything We can finish with 2000.

 

I do a lot of single stage. I color sand with 1200, 1500, and 2000. The 1200 is used strictly to knock down the imperfections... Dirt, orange peel, or whatever might be on the surface. I watch carefully and keep the surface squeegeed clean so as not to sand any more than necessary in order to get the surface flat...no more than that. If you have a LOT of 'peel you may need to start with 1000 or even 800.

The 1500 and then the 2000 are used to block the surface smooth and the result should be a sheen that has a definite reflection. If you want a semi gloss finish, leave it as it is. The sand scratches will be insignificant...

The danger here is that you may not have applied enough material to sand the surface smooth. Only the guy squirting the paint knows for sure, but I generally spray 4 good wet coats. That ensures minimal orange peel and gives me enough material to assure I won't sand through.....

These flames are finished in urethane clear and sanded flat using the above technique...

 

He has a cheap ass gun and this was his first paint attempt so anything is better than nothing. If needed a buffing compound is needed to get the scratches out we can. He wants that hotrod black look when its done.

 

don't start with 600, start with 1500 if thats too slow use 1200, then finish with 2000.

 

Without rubbing compound? That part makes no sense

Sand it with whatever it takes, 600 or 800 to start up thru 1500-2000 and hit it with a buffer and a flawless finish can be had.

Without buffing its going to look like one hot mess.

 

If the paint is a semi gloss it should never really shine. You have to sand this within a certain amount of time or it may dry hard and really become tough to sand out If it's got that much orange peel on it sand it like the guys here say, if you rub through it, oh well, keep going till you get all of the peel out, prep her and reshoot her.
If you are painting in this heat it is a wonder the stuff could make it to the body, it's a ways to warm for a good spray. Don't fret it, most first paint jobs turn out in need of a touch of love, if you shot this in temps over 90, I salute you.

 

Finish with water, a gray Scotchbrite and a can of Comet or Ajax.

But truthfully, it would be faster to 320 it with a DA and respray. LOTS faster

 

To maintain the semigloss finish I would recomend wet sanding with 800 grit and the put 1 final coat. The orange peel comes from coat after coat. The 800 will remove the orange peel and 1 finish coat should lay rather flat and give you the results you desire.

 

good idea

 

hahahaha! deja vu

 

If your color has metallic in it,you wont be able to sand and buff it without distorting the finish.If it was cleared or a solid color you will be OK.Honestly if you are not experienced enough to apply the paint well,you will have even a harder time color sanding it.(alot easier to mess it up)

 

wait, so if i shoot urethane, i can sand it out like im going to buff it but not buff it and it will give me that satin finish without using the flatten additive?


punisher, i wouldnt go any lower than 1000. Can we get pics of said paint job?

 

I'm also an amateur painter that has color sanded single stage paints several times. There is very good advice above. I just wanted to say that I always start with 1000 or higher grit. It takes more time, but it limits deeper scratches and minimizes how much paint you will eventually remove. I typically end up at 2000, sometimes 2500. I would sand it to the point you are satisfied with orange peel removal and then decide if you want to buff it some.

 

Listen to the above grits 1500 up to 3000 and buff by hand ,A machine will turn it into gloss

 

Thank you everynpdy for the information. We ended up sanding the shit outta the car and getting it back to smooth. We just finished getting 3 coats on it. It looks a lot better. Not sure what the problem was last time, but it is looking pretty good now. I will post up a couple pics when it dreis up a bit.

 

Start with a 1200 -1500.... 600 is to gritty and will kill the finish you are looking for. use a higher number and u can polish it and still have a semi gloss finish.