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

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

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

The Painter is the person that has the knowledge, skill and talent to spray new paint onto your car and have it come out looking great. If the quality of the finish is acceptable with no further sanding or buffing, then the painter gets all the credit for the quality of the end result.

If the car is to be sanded and machine buffed, or perhaps just machine buffed, then the quality of the end result is now in the hands of the person doing the wetsanding, cutting and buffing (or just machine buffing), as they are the last person to exercise power and control over any process related to the end results. If the end results are good, then they get a portion of the credit. If the end result is bad, that is the paint is filled with swirls and scratches, then they get all the credit.

Another way of saying this is...

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


Some painters do their own wetsanding, cutting and buffing, so in some cases the painter and the person doing the doing the wetsanding and buffing, (or just buffing), are the same person and they get ALL the credit whether it comes out show car quality or swirl city. If it comes out looking great then the other thing they get is that anyone in the know of how cars are painted and then polished, after seeing their results first hand, well this person raises their respect level for that person a few notches higher... whoever it might be...

And then... you got that going for you...

[sohail99]

^ Nice article!

btw is it possible to lay down the base coat and clearcoat in such a way that wet sanding isn't required at all?

I have a few extra painted panels with me!( I usually keep an extra of every panel on my car at my home(just in case))

If I wetsand them should I start with 2000grit?(the painter in my area is kinda noob! I know more than him! lol!)

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

The short answers to your questions are that a really good painter with a dialed-in paint system and paint booth can turn out very flat paint jobs. Flat as in no orange peel but high gloss, not flat like in matte.

If you wetsand factory clear coat paint, you should start using the least aggressive paper to get the job done, that way you'll reach your goal and leave the most paint on the car. Depending upon what your goal is and how you're doing your sanding, #2000 might be a good place to start.

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Here's a great example of how you can have a GREAT painter... but it's the guy that does the wetsanding, cutting and buffing that makes or breaks the end resutls...


Wild Paint Job - Swirl Removal - Cover of Trukin Magazine



This truck was filled with sanding marks and wool pad and compound swirls when we got to it.


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