Video: Wow! 3M #5000 Grit Polishing I mean Sanding Discs!

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's a follow-up from Dave at 3M after sending him the link to this thread,

Mike,

Great Thread!

And thank you for all the work you do promoting and demonstrating our products for your customers to see.

Yes the new 5000 is available in 3" and 5" and can be purchased. I listed the available part numbers and sizes below along with our new Perfect-it brochure, TS bulletin and FAQ sheet.

30662 - 6" Trizact 5000 Grit Hookit Foam Disc - 15 discs per box
30562 - 5" Trizact 5000 Grit Hookit Foam Disc - 15 discs per box
30362 - 3" Trizact 5000 Grit Hookit Foam Disc - 15 discs per box

I'll do some more testing on the panel today and share the results. I also just posted the FAQ for this new disc here,


3™ Trizact™ Foam Discs 5000 FAQs

 

[BLKZ06]

I'll do some more testing on the panel today and share the results. I also just posted the FAQ for this new disc here,


3™ Trizact™ Foam Discs 5000 FAQs

Mike-

I notice in your pics you are using the electric D/A's...have you ever tried an air powered D/A with this paper? I see the big difference in the electric D/A and air D/A being the complete variable speed in the air D/A- you can adjust it to get just about any cut you want.

Here is a pic of some sheetmetal I painted, cut and buffed with a Dynabrade 3.5" D/A with 3/32" orbit, 3M 1500 Finishing Film, 3M Trizact Foam discs, a DeWalt rotary with black foam pad and 3M Trizact Finishing Compound. This is one pass. All cutting and sanding done dry.

The 3000 marks were so easy to remove I was able to buff below 1000 rpms and leave the metal hanging on the stands.

Just as an FYI..these pieces have about 9 coats of clear on them..each color in the design was individually cleared, then sanded down with the Dynabrade with 3M 1500 before the next color in the design was laid out. It took me about 2 weeks to lay the graphics out on this.

A great project!

I see the 5000 discs being a great step up from the 3000. I'm anxious to see your experimentation with the polishes to see if you can remove the scratch pattern with little more than a one step or something similar.

rops:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Mike-

I notice in your pics you are using the electric D/A's...have you ever tried an air powered D/A with this paper?

Not with the #5000 yet, I just received them this week.

I own a Dynabrade

It's the person that does the wet-sanding, cutting and buffing that makes or breaks the paint job -Mike Phillips

I really liked the Dynabrade, or at least I thought I did till we brought in the 3M Orbital DA Sanders and side-by-side I like the 3M better.

Can an air-powered DA Sander be used to polish paint?

I also teach both tools in my classes, the primary differences in the real world.

• Most people don't own HUGE air compressors but most people can plug in a DA Polisher
• With an air powered DA you have to manage the stiff, compressed air line, with an electric DA Polisher the cord is limp and less of a factor for holding the sanding disc flat to the surface at all times.

Anytime you use an air tool you have to contend with a very stiff air line that will try to kick or tilt your tool to an angle unless you constantly monitor and control the air line. With an electric tool the power cord is limp, you just keep it over your shoulder to keep it from dragging against the paint.

IF you look at these pictures from one of my wetsanding classes you can see each person holding the air sander with one hand and managing the air line with the other hand.

Adam aka HarleyGuy

Not a big deal just a practical difference anyone machine sanding or machine buffing with a air powered tool will experience.


Electrical cords easily draped over the shoulder...

If you don't own a 3" Griot's Garage Mini Polisher for a dampsander and 3" discs, I highly recommend them...

Griot's 3" Mini Polisher works great as a 3" Dampsander


Most people don't need to wetsand and probably shouldn't wetsand but if you're ever working on a project that requires sanding then do yourself a favor and get yourself a Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher and then get the Meguiar's 3" Unigrit Finishing Discs and the 3" Interface Pad and you're going to love what this little tool can do.


Here's a few pictures from our recent Wetsanding Project where we machine dampsanded my friend Jay's 1989 K5 Blazer which you're going to see on the 2nd Season of our TV show, What's in the Garage".

Because the 3" sanding and finishing discs have such a small footprint the are EASY to control so you can sand close to edges or tape lines with accuracy.

If you're NEW to any type of sanding, the Griot's 3" Mini Polisher used as 3" Dampsander is a great way to learn and increase your confidence in the art of machine sanding.

End results...

On Autogeek.net



Meguiars Unigrit 3 Inch Finishing Discs

• Meguiars Unigrit 1000 3 Inch Finishing Discs, 15 per box

• Meguiars Unigrit 3000 3 Inch Finishing Discs, 15 per box

• Meguiars Unigrit 3 Inch Foam Interface Pad

I can't recommend enough getting the Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher


Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher

Note: Make sure you get a couple of 3" Interface Pads you want this for contours and curved panels.


:xyxthumbs:

 

[RaskyR1]

My instructor went thru roughly 30 boxes of Trizact a week, and he never had good results with dampsanding with it either. Its could possibly be air D/A related.

Regardless, my experience (and numerous other guys who refinish/paint/etc) is the 3000 Trizact works as well damp or dry. You may go thru a little bit more paper...but its not the end of the world.

Please don't take this as attacking you, but try tell that to the shop manager when it comes to ordering more sanding media. A lot of body shops are struggling right now and looking to save money any way they can. At about $6 a disc it IS a big deal and it adds up over time, especially when employees have that "it's not my money" attitude. Wasting supplies is never good business.

 

[BLKZ06]

Please don't take this as attacking you, but try tell that to the shop manager when it comes to ordering more sanding media. A lot of body shops are struggling right now and looking to save money any way they can. At about $6 a disc it IS a big deal and it adds up over time, especially when employees have that "it's not my money" attitude. Wasting supplies is never good business.

No offense taken at all. rops:

I have found dampsanding to be tedious and slow- as have many of my associates who do this stuff for a living. Labor costs are scrutinized more heavily than material costs- for the most part.

But lets be real...you can tie up as much money in various compounds, buffing pads, etc as you do in a box of paper. I've seen guys dump WAY too much compound on the panel they were working on- throw foam pads on the floor and go get a new one..on and on.

You can be wasteful at any juncture of this process.

Its ALL expensive as anyone who buys this stuff can attest to.

 

[RaskyR1]

No offense taken at all. rops:

I have found dampsanding to be tedious and slow- as have many of my associates who do this stuff for a living. Labor costs are scrutinized more heavily than material costs- for the most part.

But lets be real...you can tie up as much money in various compounds, buffing pads, etc as you do in a box of paper. I've seen guys dump WAY too much compound on the panel they were working on- throw foam pads on the floor and go get a new one..on and on.

You can be wasteful at any juncture of this process.

Its ALL expensive as anyone who buys this stuff can attest to.

True true!

That's why I like being my own boss! I managed some high volume shops back in the 90's and it drove me nuts watching the employees spill and waste various product all the time.


Sweet job on the bike BTW!

 

[BLKZ06]

True true!

That's why I like being my own boss! I managed some high volume shops back in the 90's and it drove me nuts watching the employees spill and waste various product all the time.


Sweet job on the bike BTW!

Thanks!

Great info in this thread- Mike has shown me there may be life without an air D/A !
Im the MAN

I know what you mean about wasteful employees..I've dug bottles of compound out of the trash that were 1/4 full!

 

[RaskyR1]

You should check out the new Mirka electric orbital sanders!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigBrad]

I sooo want some of these!!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

You should check out the new Mirka electric orbital sanders!

Are the designed for wetsanding or dampsanding?

 

[RaskyR1]

Are the designed for wetsanding or dampsanding?

Probably not, but I would think they are just as safe as PC/G110/GG6. I looked at them briefly at SEMA and I know Kevin as well as a few others are using them for it....just a little to pricey for me at this point given I only take on a few sanding jobs a year.


Still a sweet looking tool though! :dblthumb2:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Probably not, but I would think they are just as safe as PC/G110/GG6.

That's what I figured and I could have Googled the answer real quick but I figured you knew. :xyxthumbs:


I was kind of thinking maybe someone finally had the electric tool for sanding that could pass the "Water Test", but nope. So anyone reading this if you're going to do any dampsanding with an electric DA make sure you're using a GFI outlet.

I looked at them briefly at SEMA and I know Kevin as well as a few others are using them for it....just a little to pricey for me at this point given I only take on a few sanding jobs a year.

Still a sweet looking tool though! :dblthumb2:

We just brought in something similar from 3M, it's already on the AG store.


3M Electric Random Orbital 6 Inch Non-Vacuum Sander Kit 28526

Actually, I really like the Porter Cable for dampsanding and the Griot's Garage 3" Mini Polisher for dampsanding.

I got an e-mail from my buddy Lance, he has something cool coming up, I'm going to try do swing by his shop and see what it is and take a picture.

 

[RaskyR1]

Those look very similar to Mirka! Love to hear your thoughts on it compared to the traditional DA's. rops:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Those look very similar to Mirka! Love to hear your thoughts on it compared to the traditional DA's. rops:

I just received the new #3000 Grit Trizact Foam Finishing Disc to test out so I'll give it a whirl...


3M #3000 Grit Trizact Foam Finishing Disc

 

[DaC]

A question came into my mind now Mike.... how many discs from each grit do you usually use per car when removing orange peel ?
I mean... how much surface a polishing pad usually lasts ?

 

[Qusai]

Words cannot describe how much I learn from forums like this!!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

A question came into my mind now Mike.... how many discs from each grit do you usually use per car when removing orange peel ?
I mean... how much surface a polishing pad usually lasts ?

Well you hope they last a long time. Besides hoping you do your best to use them properly so you don't wear them out prematurely.

Top coat hardness is also a factor, the harder the paint the more discs you'll need.

I have not sanded down an entire car yet using the 3M discs but I have a 1970 Cutlass coming up and I'll count and document what I use for this project.

I also have a 1966 Mustang Fastback GT coming up the first or second week of January. The owner Jon and I discussed his car this last Sunday at the King Neptune's Car Show, specifically about how much clear was sprayed over the car and Jon thinks there's enough to re-sand it and then buff it out. At this time we're only planning on dampsanding the horizontal panels or the gloss panels as these are the most important panels as they are the most viewed panels.


Here's a thread I created for this car...


Close, but no Cigar... 1965 Mustang GT

And I have a 1963 Impala Super Sport coming up too... my buddy Bob is supposed to bring it by sometime this week for me to look at and measure the paint thickness.


Always something going on here at AGO...

 

[Hoytman]

I just received the new #3000 Grit Trizact Foam Finishing Disc to test out so I'll give it a whirl...


3M #3000 Grit Trizact Foam Finishing Disc

I find it interesting that you just recieved this. Did 3M not make a disc in 3000 grit already, or just not having the foam backing? Just wondering because I seen this very same package at O-Reiley Autoparts several days ago. I didn't realize they even offered them and I was surprised by it.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I find it interesting that you just received this. Did 3M not make a disc in 3000 grit already, or just not having the foam backing? Just wondering because I seen this very same package at O-Reiley Autoparts several days ago. I didn't realize they even offered them and I was surprised by it.

The date this thread was started can be found just above my Avatar in the first post of this thread, it reads,

05-15-2012, 05:24 PM


That would be back in May of 2012. I called my connection at 3M and he told me Autogeek was one of the first to be sent this new #5000 disc as a part of their field testing.

If it was available to the public before May then maybe my connection at 3M was out of the loop.


:dunno:

 

[SameGuy]

The 5000, yes, but the 3000? I was confused when I saw that, too.