Compounding/Polish with or without Wetsanding

[Rod73]

Hi I was curious about the advantages or importance of Wetsanding when doing paint correction, particularly with RIDS. Is it something that can be skipped, or are there times when it should be strongly preferred before polishing?

thanks

[lawrenceSA]

I would say it depends first and foremost on the paint itself.... is there enough of it to SAFELY remove the defect in question.

If there is, and it is worth doing so (there is a distinct difference between the level of finish required for a show car vs a daily driven car) then from my understanding, wet-sanding [if done correctly] would be a 'safer' option....

I say this because a) you will get a more uniform material removal and this will make it easier to remove those sanding marks when you compound/polish and b) because sanding the paint will not heat it up like heavy compounding would.

On an OEM paint job which is REALLY thin, you need to exercise extreme caution when wet-sanding, and definitely do not even consider it without a PTG.

As with anything though, you should do a test spot(s) starting with your least aggressive method first. So you may very well find that polishing removes 50% of the RID. Then you try compounding and now only 10% is left, which may be 'live-able'.

Had you jumped straight to wet-sanding you may have removed 100% of the RID, but left little to no clear coat behind....

[Desertnate]

If I had a RID that could not be removed with a reasonable ammount of compounding, I think I'd leave it for the reasons Lawrence mentioned.

Honestly, the idea of wetsanding scares me. If I was well practiced in the technique and working on a show car with a known paint thickness, I might go for it. Otherwise, I'd do my best to minimize the RID and move on. Rather safe than sorry.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi I was curious about the advantages or importance of Wetsanding when doing paint correction, particularly with RIDS.

Is it something that can be skipped, or are there times when it should be strongly preferred before polishing?

thanks



What are you working on?



:dunno:

[allenk4]

What are you working on?



:dunno:

Thank God you are back....save us from ourselves!

[Rod73]

I'm going to be working on a 2014 Altima. This will be the first time using anything abrasive (Menzerna line w/Porter Cable). A few months ago I used Klasse AIO by hand before applying a Sealant and Wax.

[Rod73]

The scratch I most concerned with is by the front passenger side door. By the top between the moldings. The two door panels on the right were repainted by a reputable body shop earlier this year after a embarrassing blunder.

[Rod73]

If I had a RID that could not be removed with a reasonable ammount of compounding, I think I'd leave it for the reasons Lawrence mentioned.

Honestly, the idea of wetsanding scares me. If I was well practiced in the technique and working on a show car with a known paint thickness, I might go for it. Otherwise, I'd do my best to minimize the RID and move on. Rather safe than sorry.
Wet sanding (or maybe it's just the extra step) is a little scary for me too

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

I'm going to be working on a 2014 Altima. This will be the first time using anything abrasive.

This is the first time performing anything abrasive on the car?

Define first time using abrasive. First time compounding or first time sanding?

[glen e]

With Mike's help, I wetsanded the sides of my 2014 vette that had pretty bad orange peel. Tried the velvet and denim carpro OP pads, no luck. I stayed away from edges and just used 3000 grit to knock the tops off and REDUCE it, I did not get rid of it, too dangerous to eliminate. It went well, I followed with several polishes, rotary and orbital, (Meg 105/205) and got what I wanted. A paint thickness meter showed I took of a bit but not too much. I followed with CquartzUK to add a bit of thickness back. Months later it still looks like glass. It took about 20 hours of work.I could have cut a lot of time off by stepping up from 1200, 1500, 2000 then 3000 but I wanted to be overly safe.

the finished look:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/gersly123/36db917525d8157af6ecd7b67b752006.jpg (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/gersly123/media/36db917525d8157af6ecd7b67b752006.jpg.html)
the look 7 months later:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/gersly123/uploads/f4aa03157a29b1040e11a0f6cec08aaf.jpg (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/gersly123/media/uploads/f4aa03157a29b1040e11a0f6cec08aaf.jpg.html)
another car that did the same:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/gersly123/uploads/qchL1F4.jpg (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/gersly123/media/uploads/qchL1F4.jpg.html)

[allenk4]

Nice work on the Corvette Glen

If you have a bunch if picture of the before, during and after; please start a thread

I Love wet sanding/OP reduction threads!

Kyle

[Rod73]

This is the first time performing anything abrasive on the car?

Define first time using abrasive. First time compounding or first time sanding?
Will be my 1st time potentially doing either one (compounding/wet sanding). I previously used a non abrasive cleaner polish with a microfiber applicator. I did have two prior RIDS buffed out at the Bodyshop that worked on my car.

[Rod73]

What are you working on?



:dunno:
I'm got myself a combination white, orange, and grey industry standard color foam pads with the Porter Cable 7424xp with the Menzerna polishes FG400, PF2500, and SF4500

[Rod73]

With Mike's help, I wetsanded the sides of my 2014 vette that had pretty bad orange peel. Tried the velvet and denim carpro OP pads, no luck. I stayed away from edges and just used 3000 grit to knock the tops off and REDUCE it, I did not get rid of it, too dangerous to eliminate. It went well, I followed with several polishes, rotary and orbital, (Meg 105/205) and got what I wanted. A paint thickness meter showed I took of a bit but not too much. I followed with CquartzUK to add a bit of thickness back. Months later it still looks like glass. It took about 20 hours of work.I could have cut a lot of time off by stepping up from 1200, 1500, 2000 then 3000 but I wanted to be overly safe.

the finished look:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/gersly123/36db917525d8157af6ecd7b67b752006.jpg (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/gersly123/media/36db917525d8157af6ecd7b67b752006.jpg.html)
the look 7 months later:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/gersly123/uploads/f4aa03157a29b1040e11a0f6cec08aaf.jpg (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/gersly123/media/uploads/f4aa03157a29b1040e11a0f6cec08aaf.jpg.html)
another car that did the same:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h307/gersly123/uploads/qchL1F4.jpg (http://s67.photobucket.com/user/gersly123/media/uploads/qchL1F4.jpg.html)
Very very impressive! That looks great! I have been considering recording or taking pictures of my progress. I told my coworkers about this lol and they looked at me like I was crazy and needed an intervention.

[Mike Phillips]

Rod...


I would highly recommend reading this article before you start sanding... it will bring you up to speed with what's what.


Wetsanding - Fresh Paint vs Factory Paint (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/21471-wetsanding-fresh-paint-vs-factory-paint.html)



:)