Abralon pads and PC

**discoverypro** · 10-03-2009, 08:08 AM

Can the Abralon pads be used with the PC 7424 on say speed 4-5 and use the 6inch pad?

My boat is taking forever trying to get it ready and my old hand is tired from doing it by hand.

Let me know

**Mister B** · 10-03-2009, 09:18 AM

I’m not sure. I have never tried it myself, but I do know that the DA sanders that are used for wet sanding have a smaller throw or stroke if you will than the PC does which helps in creating that fine uniform finish that you want when you later go to polish out the sanding marks. Also the larger throw of the PC could possibly introduce pigtails into the finish, which would be harder to remove when you get to polishing out your sanding marks later on.

Hopefully someone that has more machine wet sanding experience can give you a better answer. Myself, I’m not sure I would use the PC for wet sanding though.

**discoverypro** · 10-03-2009, 04:53 PM

I wish Mike would reply now. I need his expertise in this. Mike if ya here me--holler out.

Thanks bud

**Kevin Brown** · 10-03-2009, 04:55 PM

You can use it for wetsanding with caution, as electricity and water can be hazardous... "ZAP!!!"

You'll want to use an appropriate backing, one that supports the disc all the way to the edge (or very close to the edge).

As for stroke size, there is a lot of misconception about the need for a short stroke. In fact, the larger stroke machines can work very well, and can even deliver a better finish, with less pigtailing! There is not a lot of documentation to support this, so you'll have to either take this at face value and try it yourself. Plus, most online information and manufacturers lead us to believe small stroke machines are the best choice for fine sanding. Not so in my opinion.

Here is a diagram I have almost finished that discusses a bit about short and long stroke machines:

When using Abralon, periodically check to see that the disc has not shifted or stretched.
If this occurs, you will see little wrinkles in the cloth that the abrasive grains attach to.
There is a high probability that you will see pigtailing from this.

**discoverypro** · 10-03-2009, 05:06 PM

So will any 6" random orbital sander do? Do i need a pneumatic sander? This boat is starting to give me grief. I worked for over 12 hours and got half of it done(heavily oxidized)--but in the mean time i also expended my arms to the limit of exhaustion. I need to work smarter not harder. Also trying to buff out Meguiars #4 with a PC will not work--it looks ok but up close in the halogen lights MIKE was right--I need a rotary Buffer to get out the swirl marks--the #4 was meant for a rotary buffer --i just didnt have one at the time..buying one today though. $$ not an issue here--just want my boat to look showroom new.

**discoverypro** · 10-05-2009, 02:33 PM

Think your right about the ZAP issue--i am looking at buying a 6" pneumatic sander which will be much better than getting one of those Zaps..ordered some abralon pads and they will be here tomorrow.

Well back to work and you guys enjoy your day

Mike Phillips · 10-05-2009, 08:09 PM

Hi Kevin,

Cool to see you on the forum!

Originally Posted by Kevin Brown

You can use it for wet-sanding with caution, as electricity and water can be hazardous... "ZAP!!!"

It's not recommended by any of the manufactures for these types of corded, electrical DA Sanders so it would be irresponsible for a company or a representative of a company, (such as myself), to recommend using an electrical tool in an unsafe manner that's not aligned with the manufactures recommendations.

So on this forum we're never going to have any kind of official or un-official recommendation to use an electrical DA Polisher to use for machine wet-sanding.

It could be done, but we certainly don't want any liability for anything that could go wrong. Horizontal panels probably wouldn't be to dangerous, but when you shift to the vertical panels you'll have water splatter more likely to spray onto the machine. I know a guy that machine sanded a 1954 DeSoto using a PC and it came out pretty nice but it probably wasn't the smartest or the safest thing to do.

Now you could use one to dry sand but if do this then be sure to wear the appropriate dust mask to you don't breathe in any potentially dangerous paint dust into your lungs. I know guys that like to machine sand dry and that's their preference and it's a lot less messy as machine sanding wet is pretty messy, but, the material your sanding off is embodied on water and runs onto the floor instead of becoming air-born where it gets all over your clothes, your skin and without protection you'll breathe it into your lungs. So just a word of caution.

Of course, the stroke or orbit on a Porter Cable DA Polisher is 5/16 and historically this has been said to be too large for machine sanding. I'm confident if any one can make the case that it's safe and even better then Kevin would be the guy.

**Harleyguy** · 10-05-2009, 08:36 PM

Funny that this was posted today when we spent some time on Sunday discussing this very thing .

Mike Phillips · 10-05-2009, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by Harleyguy

Funny that this was posted today when we spent some time on Sunday discussing this very thing .

What's even funnier, or even stranger is I've got pictures of that DeSoto somewhere...

AeroCleanse brought up the same type of question in this thread,

Pictures & Comments from October 4th, 2009 Sunday Detailing 102 - Advanced Class

**discoverypro** · 10-05-2009, 10:03 PM

Well I am glad to know i wasn't the only that had thought of this. BUT and I do mean BUT to be on the safe side - I went ahead and purchased a 6" DA pneumatic sander and ordered some Abralon pads (12) of them for like $38 on ebay. I went to my local shop that supplies the detailing and autobody stores here and a box of 3m 1000 grit was over $100

. That was Crazy !!! Anyways I will be off on Wednesday to get back to my boat and will post photos once i am done.

Thanks Mike for the input as your thoughts and ideas here are much appreciated !!