Help removing wet-sanding scratches - for a newbie

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MarkInCA

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I just repainted my motorcycle myself, and have wet-sanded the clearcoat down to 2000 grit. At that point I realized I should have planned ahead and already ordered some quality products for buffing and polishing. I searched around the local stores and bought 3M Scratch Remover and applied it with a wool pad on my buffer.

Now, I'm really not sure how good this is supposed to leave the finish. It's got a nice shine to it, but there's still a lot of spiderweb swirl marks. Is this expected at this point? Do I polish next with a softer pad? And do I still need something with abrasives, or does that depend on the product I buy? I'm really not sure if I'm on the right track or not.
 
MarkInCA said:
Now, I'm really not sure how good this is supposed to leave the finish. It's got a nice shine to it, but there's still a lot of spiderweb swirl marks. Is this expected at this point? Do I polish next with a softer pad? And do I still need something with abrasives, or does that depend on the product I buy? I'm really not sure if I'm on the right track or not.
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When you are done the finish should be totally free of sanding marks, all you should see is a reflection of yourself.

2000 grit sanding marks are going to need a lot of polishing to remove. You will have better success by sanding down to 3000 grit. After sanding with 3000 grit paper you should be seeing a dull shine and very little sanding marks. After sanding try Megs 105 with wool pad on a rotary then 205 with a white or black foam pad. This is the way we do it in Mike's classes.

As you have already sanded with 2000 grit, an agressive 105/205 approach should give you good results. A big consideration here is how much paint/clearcoat you have to work with. You don't want to sand/polish through your surface coat.

BTW welcome to the forum.
 
Feslope's advice is spot-on. You painted it, so I'm assuming you've got lots of clear to work with. Go back over it with 2500 for a wee bit and then finish with 3000. Now you're ready to compound and polish. Refer to my thread on repairing a key scratch for much, much more info. I'm on my phone, or I'd link it for you.


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feslope said:
When you are done the finish should be totally free of sanding marks, all you should see is a reflection of yourself.

2000 grit sanding marks are going to need a lot of polishing to remove. You will have better success by sanding down to 3000 grit. After sanding with 3000 grit paper you should be seeing a dull shine and very little sanding marks. After sanding try Megs 105 with wool pad on a rotary then 205 with a white or black foam pad. This is the way we do it in Mike's classes.

As you have already sanded with 2000 grit, an agressive 105/205 approach should give you good results. A big consideration here is how much paint/clearcoat you have to work with. You don't want to sand/polish through your surface coat.

BTW welcome to the forum.
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great info here and spot on. I had a clearcoat piece today that needed some 2500 grit and it was dull - I then went to a foam pad to no avail. Got out the Flex, heavier compound and the wool pad and it came back to mirror gloss ready for polish and foam. Wool is the answer!!
 
Thanks guys. I'm going to see if I can find some 105/205 locally. I will look for sandpaper too, but I don't think I have seen anything finer than 2000 in the stores. I really want to get this done this weekend. I do have a lot of clear to work with.

When you say it should be free of sanding marks, is that after using the 105 with wool? I guess I'm confused at what the purpose of going back over it with 205 would be if it already looks perfect.
 
MarkInCA said:
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When you say it should be free of sanding marks, is that after using the 105 with wool? I guess I'm confused at what the purpose of going back over it with 205 would be if it already looks perfect.
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because microscopically, it still can be leveled more with the 205...depending on how good you are, the wool can leave some marks....
 
MarkInCA said:
Thanks guys. I'm going to see if I can find some 105/205 locally. I will look for sandpaper too, but I don't think I have seen anything finer than 2000 in the stores. I really want to get this done this weekend. I do have a lot of clear to work with.

When you say it should be free of sanding marks, is that after using the 105 with wool? I guess I'm confused at what the purpose of going back over it with 205 would be if it already looks perfect.
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glen e said:
because microscopically, it still can be leveled more with the 205...depending on how good you are, the wool can leave some marks....
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Stop at whatever point you are satisified with the results. A wool pad and 105 can look and is awesome until someone comes along with a microscope or a swirl (Not Squirl) finder light.

105/205 are professional products and should be available at your local automotive finish supply house.
 
Unless your extraordinarily good with a rotary you will continue to have holograms to a degree

I sent you a PM I hope might be helpfull to you
yo.gif
 
feslope said:
This is what the 105/205 combo looked like this weekend at Detailing Boot Camp. Wetsanding was done with Megs 3000 Trizact (?) paper and ro polisher.
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Take 2, Here's the picture

IMG_0060.JPG
 
feslope said:
Stop at whatever point you are satisified with the results. A wool pad and 105 can look and is awesome until someone comes along with a microscope or a swirl (Not Squirl) finder light.

105/205 are professional products and should be available at your local automotive finish supply house.
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Gotcha. I guess I wasn't using an aggressive enough compound, because I didn't get a nice finish by anyone's standards.

Flash Gordon said:
Unless your extraordinarily good with a rotary you will continue to have holograms to a degree

I sent you a PM I hope might be helpfull to you
yo.gif
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link.
 
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