First time wet sanding kit - #3000 & #5000 Trizact Sanding Discs

[Mike Phillips]

First time wet sanding kit - #3000 & #5000 Trizact Sanding Discs


Here, just took a few pictures to show you what you need. At this time we don't carry the #3000 Trizact in 5" only in 6" but we're bringing it in and when it's in stock I'll update this thread.


We do carry both #3000 and #5000 in 6" but you'll need a 6" backing plate to use them and I think most people that already own a Porter Cable 7424XP also already own a 5" backing plate.

So this kit is a way to machine sand using the 5" backing plate you already own.

If you own a Porter Cable 7424XP and you don't own a 5" backing plate for it then you want and need to get one anyways you you can burn and turn 5.5" pads.


In the below picture you can see,

Griot's Garage 5" Interflex pad
3M Trizact #3000 in 6" size (the box on the right)
3M Trizact #5000 in 5" size (the box on the left
6" sanding disc that I traced a 5" diameter circle onto using the 5" Griot's Interflex pad and the leftover from a 6" sanding disc after I cut out a 5" disc.
A Griot's 5" Interflex pad
A 3M Trizact 5" #5000 sanding disc.





Here's the Griot's 5" Interflex pad with the 5" #3000 disc I cut out attached.




Here's the other side,





And here I'm showing how the Griot's 5" Interflex pad fits on the 3M #5000 sanding disc.








Here's the Interflex pad with the sanding disc attached to the backing plate.






The above is a very safe way to go as well as cost effective for doing this type of work.

Then of course you attach the Interflex pad onto a 5" backing plate on your Porter Cable and you're ready to knock down orange peel. Or for better and faster orange peel removal don't use the Interflex pad.


A few drops of your favorite car wash soap in a 32 ounce spray bottle of clean water.






Just a few items plus the Porter Cable 7424XP you already own.

[Mike Phillips]

On Autogeek.com

Griot's Garage 5" Interflex pad

3M Trizact #3000 in 6" size

3M Trizact #5000 in 5" size

Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

Dual-Action Hook & Loop Flexible Backing Plate 5"

Pinnacle XMT Gel Shampoo & Conditioner

[Mike Phillips]

Also just to note...

Here inside the Show Car Garage all our primary electrical outlets are GFI outlets.

If you don't have a GFI or Ground Fault Interupter electrical outlet then go to your nearest home improvement store and you can usually find a portable GFI like you see below.



Safety First - Always plug-in to a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter



I do a lot of damp sanding and teach damp sanding using dual action polishers as well as dry sanding and wet sanding by hand . The entire idea behind damp sanding is unlike WET sanding you're only using a little water. So as long as you're using common sense there shouldn't be any safety issues.

That said, if you're going to use any type of electrical tool around water you should always be plugged into a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter equipped electrical outlet.

If you don't have access to electrical outlets with GFI built-in then you can purchase a dedicated GFI like you see in the pictures below.

I also use a GFI when I machine scrub tires or clean vinyl or non-skid surfaces in boats using electrical tool. (SEE BELOW).


For anyone reading this, use common sense and keep water away from any electrical tool and always use a GFI or Ground Fault Interrupter when using electrical tools. If your electrical outlets do not offer GFI then you can get a dedicated GFI at any hardware store.

Looks and works like this...













For the last few years I've been showing a lot of people how to take their electric dual action polishers and turn them into machine wet sanders as well as how to take their Porter Cable, Griot's Garage and Meguiar's G110v2 dual action polishers and turn them into machine scrubbers for rubber, vinyl, non-skid decks on boats, etc.
(See the follow-up post below)


Wet Test
There are no electric tools that will pass the wet test. That's where an electrical tool is tested by blasting it with water.


Common Sense
I've never been electrocuted when machine sanding or machine scrubbing tires but I also use common sense when using any tools anywhere.

[7PaintGuns]

Why the soap in the water bottle Mike? Will you stock Trizac in the 3 inch?

[7.3powerstroke]

Mike, do you need several discs to get you through sanding a car? How do you tell when they are worn out? Thanks

[7PaintGuns]

I just had a demo with our 3M rep. and was told one disc shout last an entire vehicle. I have been using these for a few years and was using to much water and would use two per vehicle. That is why Mike mentioned damp sanding and not wet sanding. You will know the disc has stopped cutting when a. you no longer see clear in your water b. notice it isn't cutting when you squeegee off a section you've sanded and it does not match previous sections.

Edit: The recommendations I gave on how long a sanding disc should last was for a recently painted vehicle.

[Paul A.]

Another practice i have adopted is to dedicate MF towels to wet/damp sanding removal. Even though i try to cleam them thoroughly i don't trust them again on freshly polished paint.

May just be me but to me working clean is almost surgically clean! The last thing i want to do is grab what i thought was a clean MF towel and undo what i just jewelled. My wet/damp sand MF's are kept completely seperate.

[7PaintGuns]

Another practice i have adopted is to dedicate MF towels to wet/damp sanding removal. Even though i try to cleam them thoroughly i don't trust them again on freshly polished paint.

May just be me but to me working clean is almost surgically clean! The last thing i want to do is grab what i thought was a clean MF towel and undo what i just jewelled. My wet/damp sand MF's are kept completely seperate.

Are the MF for cleaning the surface pre or post your buffing process?

[Mike Phillips]

Why the soap in the water bottle Mike?

Helps lubricate the surface as you sand, slow down water evaporation and it also helps to prevent the face of the sanding disc from clogging up with paint.

Will you stock Trizact in the 3 inch?

We already do. We've carried 3M and Meguiar's 3" and 6" for year now, just not the 5" Trizact #3000.

We also have Mirka Abralon in 3" and 6".


I show using 3M Trizact and Meguiar's Unigrit sanding discs in my 3-day ACR class and Mirka Abralon discs in my boat detailing classes.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, do you need several discs to get you through sanding a car? How do you tell when they are worn out? Thanks

Yes. You can tell they have worn out by the lack of white color in your water slurry and when you wipe the paint off to inspect you can visually see the surface is not being sanded as fast as it was when you first started out.

I just had a demo with our 3M rep. and was told one disc shout last an entire vehicle.

Of course the size of the vehicle will be a factor.

I have been using these for a few years and was using to much water and would use two per vehicle.

Too much water creates hyper-lubrication and a lack of sanding and usually your discs last longer. Too little water creates a lack of lubrication and very fast sanding that wears out the disc prematurely plus it will load up quickly with the paint you're sanding off.

That is why Mike mentioned damp sanding and not wet sanding.

That is the correct term because you use a lot less water than when wet sanding. In this article from 2010, hard to believe it was 6 years ago, I defined the terms,

Color sanding
Wet sanding
Damp sanding.

Then I showed how little water is used by taking a picture of my 32 ounce spray bottle of water that started out full and after all the sanding I had only used half the bottle of 16 ounces of water to machine damp sand the entire 1969 El Camino.

Here's a quote and a picture from the article, look at the water level in the spray bottle.

Remember, it's not wet sanding it’s damp-sanding
I took the below picture after completely sanding down a 1969 El Camino. Note the water level in the clear spray bottle.

Only 16 ounces of water used to sand an entire 1969 El Camino

It's a lot less messy than traditional wet sanding with a sponge or rag in a bucket of water or a Wet Wedge.

Edit: The recommendations I gave on how long a sanding disc should last was for a recently painted vehicle.

Definitely top coat hardness is a huge variable and generally speaking, a fresh paint job, even after a few weeks old will still sand and buff easier and faster than a factory baked on OEM paint job or a repaint that is a few years old.


For those interested, here's an old 2-door Chevy my co-worker Matt and I sanded down and buffed out 6 years ago.

1956 Chevy Bel-Air - Dampsanding, Cut & Polish

Here's a quote and a picture from this project...

We started at 9:16AM, and finished around 9:42AM. Under 40 minutes to damp-sand an entire car this big, and we only used (2) sanding discs (1 each)!

For everyone reading this into the future if you don't know a lot about wet sanding, or dry sanding or damp sanding or color sanding keep in mind, the majority of all this type of work is done on repaints from collision shops or custom paint jobs on project cars.

You don't normally want to do any sanding to new cars with a factory paint job because the paint is too thin and sooner or later you'll make a whoops!.

Keep in mind that,

Sanding removes paint
Compounding removes paint
Polishing removes paint

And while it's real easy to sand and buff the larger flat panels as soon as you get into tight area, thin panels, around corners, edges or trim it's a lot trickier to remove your sanding marks. Sanding is easy... that's putting scratches into the paint... the tricky part is getting them 100 percent out of the paint.

For more information on the topic of wetsanding, PLEASE read this article,


Wetsanding - Fresh Paint vs Factory Paint



And for those that are curious... "yes" the old 2-door Chevy came out nice.