Wet Sanding? Or....Not

CakeDaddy

CakeDaddy

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video 1
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UmzrrNi2Yk&playnext_from=PL&feature=PlayList&p=73CE031571DA0E52&playnext=1&index=4]YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Part 1[/video]

2.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymFNDIdCS3Q&feature=related]YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Part 2[/video]

3.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYH-TMwJ6q0&feature=related]YouTube - Wet Sanding 101 - Conclusion[/video]

This young man has 3 videos on wet sanding (Biginning, Part 2 & Conclusion. Videos posted above. I believe he is a member here and he seems to be pretty detailed in his demo, but when do you wet sand? I watched his 3 videos and I was curious to know why not just compound and polish the small scratch in his vette. I'm actually a little facinated(sp) by the whole wet sand process and would like to hear what you good folks here thought. I search for a wet sand thread here, but nothing.
 
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In his first video he says that he tried compounding but he was not able to remove the scratches. Wet sanding is supposed to be pretty aggressive so if you don't have to do it, then don't.
 
You know when to wet sand from experience. You'll be able to look at the scratch and tell whether just compounding will remove it, or if it'll need to be wet sanded. Paint hardness plays a big role in it also. Keep in mind the majority of the UV protection is in the top part of the clear (0.3 mils or 8 microns).
 
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Any way you do it your still taking the same amount of material off. As long as you don't go crazy with the buffer all over the panel prior to wet sanding.
 
bige441 said:
Any way you do it your still taking the same amount of material off. As long as you don't go crazy with the buffer all over the panel prior to wet sanding.
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So if I wetsand the paint then compound it and polish I am taking the same amount off as if I just corrected with compound and polish. Thanks for the info.
 
Bad Bad Leroy Brown, hey at least his video looked good
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
So if I wetsand the paint then compound it and polish I am taking the same amount off as if I just corrected with compound and polish. Thanks for the info.
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If you stop either procedure when the scratch has disappeared, yes you took off the same amount.

If you buff out a decent size scratch, it will take a lot longer to do it, and you have to be careful of not getting the paint too hot while buffing. you could wrinkle and ruin the paint.

wet sanding could be akin to buffing in the stages it takes do it. Then you have to buff it in stages, to make it shine.
 
julian said:
If you stop either procedure when the scratch has disappeared, yes you took off the same amount.

If you buff out a decent size scratch, it will take a lot longer to do it, and you have to be careful of not getting the paint too hot while buffing. you could wrinkle and ruin the paint.

wet sanding could be akin to buffing in the stages it takes do it. Then you have to buff it in stages, to make it shine.
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I appreciate the info, I have wet sanded over a 1000 custom paint jobs, so I have the paint correction procedure down. I was just trying to see how he came to this conclussion. Actually if you wet sand the scratch out then go back over it with compound and polish you would actually be taking more off if you just compound and polished the scratch if the scratch will come out that way. Reason being is that if you sand the scratch out you still have to remove sanding scratches which in turn takes more of the clear or paint off. If you can get away with just a compound and polish you stop there so how are you taking the same amount off, so it is not taking the same amount off.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
I appreciate the info, I have wet sanded over a 1000 custom paint jobs, so I have the paint correction procedure down. I was just trying to see how he came to this conclussion. Actually if you wet sand the scratch out then go back over it with compound and polish you would actually be taking more off if you just compound and polished the scratch if the scratch will come out that way.
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yes... that was sort of my thinking as well.
 
there is just some scratches that no matter how much you polish within reason that will not come out. A good rule of thumb is if you can catch your nail on the scratch you should start with wet sanding. It still isn't going to come out all the way but is going to darken up a whole lot. Polishing and sanding round out the edges of a scratch, which allows light to penatrate all the way to the color.
 
bige441 said:
there is just some scratches that no matter how much you polish within reason that will not come out. A good rule of thumb is if you can catch your nail on the scratch you should start with wet sanding. It still isn't going to come out all the way but is going to darken up a whole lot. Polishing and sanding round out the edges of a scratch, which allows light to penatrate all the way to the color.
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Good rule. I have a friend who has a silver car and it has a palm sized bird crap etch in the trunk lid which isn't present to the touch. I mean if you run your hand across it you can not feel it, but it is visible to the eye. I’m considering using the wet sanding technique in order to release the etch from the car. My plan is to first clay the small area and then polish. I'm a firm believer in polishing before doing any serious cutting, but if all that fails I’m considering wet sanding. 2000 grit to be exact.
 
D&D Auto detailing. What do you mean by "Keep in mind the majority of the UV protection is in the top part of the clear (0.3 mils or 8 microns) ? I paint a little from time to time. I use PPG paints and clears. Is there something to spray on top of clear that adds more UV protection than the clear itself?
 
bige441 said:
there is just some scratches that no matter how much you polish within reason that will not come out. A good rule of thumb is if you can catch your nail on the scratch you should start with wet sanding. It still isn't going to come out all the way but is going to darken up a whole lot. Polishing and sanding round out the edges of a scratch, which allows light to penatrate all the way to the color.
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This is just commom sense. Still waiting to hear on how you come up with taking the same amount of clear or paint off a car after wet sanding or polishing out a scratch.
 
If you start with compounding a scratch your removing material to make it look better. If your not content with the looks then you would hit it with some paper removing more material to enhance the looks. Then continue to correct as needed. If you spent enough time just polishing you would eventually have removed the scratch, but y not just hit it with some paper. I see what your taking about comparing just buffing to wet sanding.
 
I know wet sanding it is quicker but you said whether you wet sand or compound the scratch you are removing the same amount of material but you are not because you still have to compound the wet sanding marks. Just wanted you to see that was not an accurate statement about the amount of material removed.
 
Craig said:
D&D Auto detailing. What do you mean by "Keep in mind the majority of the UV protection is in the top part of the clear (0.3 mils or 8 microns) ? I paint a little from time to time. I use PPG paints and clears. Is there something to spray on top of clear that adds more UV protection than the clear itself?
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Not that I know of. Ive just read from many sources that the majority of UV protection is in the upper portion of the clear.
 
could be an arguable case.
if you sand down to the scratch, stop and polish, I'd say your in the same field of paint removal. for instance, start with 2000 paper - then 2500, then trizac 3000 to get the last of scratch removed. now it won't take much in the way of buffing to get the shine, now that you have a perfectly smooth surface to buff. I don't think were even talking microns at this point. But this is when an experienced hand knows the technique.
buffing, you still have to get to the lowest area of the scratch and then polish when you get there...;)
 
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