Removing wetsand scratches what am I doing wrong

[maesitos]

Hello!

I'm a bit frustated at this point and I'd need some help. I read many articles and watched many videos about this topic that's why I decided to create this thread.

My BMW Z3 was just repainted with two clear coats but the surface had a lot of orange peel. I decided to wet-sand a panel using my Kestrel DAS-6 and 3M discs: fist 1500grit (without foam interface) then 3000grit (with foam interface) followed by 6000 grit.

My problem: I cannot remove the sand marks.

I tried using the DAS-6, Menzerna FG400 and a yellow pad (most aggressive) with no luck. Then I tried with my rotary at 1500rpm, Menzerna FG400 with the yellow pad but still I cannot remove the marks completely.

This clear-coat is obviously hard but I can't believe I can't get rid of the marks. Am I missing any step? Should I try wool? Will the wool really make the difference? Should I make smaller steps with the sanding —something like 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000?

Any help will be appreciated.

[mwoolfso]

Pics would help.

[AGOatemywallet]

FG400 will easily remove 3000 grit sanding marks IF you actually have 3000 grit sanding marks

I suspect that you may have come up short of removing the 1500 sanding marks with the 3000 grit step

This can be exacerbated if you are inducing Tracers in either sanding step

[dlc95]

Do you have any microfiber pads for the da, or wool for the rotary?

[Joe@NextLevelDetail]

By marks do you mean the sanding haze ? Or there are still residual scratches from the sanding

[maesitos]

Hello:

I just came back from insisting a little bit more with the 3000 grit un a test spot but still I'm no t able to remove the scratches. The sanding haze is gone and the surface is shiny but from the right angle I can see it's full of sanding marks. There are no tracers.

I took some pics for you to see the scratches. From the distance it looks flawless.

I only have a wool pad that came with the rotary machine but I don't want to try since I don't know if it's a bad quality wool or very aggressive. I do have a cutting microfibre pad for the DA but it does not remove the starches either.

What can I do?

[AutowerxDetailing]

Spend more time compounding. If the paint is very hard it can take quite a while to polish out sanding marks with a DA.

[maesitos]

Hello Guys:

Since the detailing shop is closed today and I don't have wool pads I grabbed a denim pad, used it with the rotary and believe it or not, this thing removes 3000grit scratches in a few pases (4-6 passes in my paint/diamond). Denim pads are meant to remove orange peel but apparently they work great to remove sanding marks too.

I guess the wool pad is easier to handle than this denim but the denim is not that bad.

After the denim pad I have to polish with the DA, yellow pad (the most aggressive) and Menzerna FG400 in order to remove the swirls. Definitely my clear coat is a diamond. Using a medium polish (V36 in my case) and a polishing pad (orange), doesn't remove the swirls at all.

I'd like to say that I'm a complete novice in this area and reading info here and there I was super scared of using a rotary but I think people like to tell dragon stories. Unless your paint is butter, using a rotary is easy and I'd recommend to any novice to try it (taking into consideration the correct usage) after a few hours of practicing a little with the DA and if they don't achieve the desired results only using the DA (least aggressive first, so DA fist to see what happens). The worst thing that can happen is to visit the paint booth...



I'm super happy now!

[Joe@NextLevelDetail]

Hello Guys:

Since the detailing shop is closed today and I don't have wool pads I grabbed a denim pad, used it with the rotary and believe it or not, this thing removes 3000grit scratches in a few pases (4-6 passes in my paint/diamond). Denim pads are meant to remove orange peel but apparently they work great to remove sanding marks too.

I guess the wool pad is easier to handle than this denim but the denim is not that bad.

After the denim pad I have to polish with the DA, yellow pad (the most aggressive) and Menzerna FG400 in order to remove the swirls. Definitely my clear coat is a diamond. Using a medium polish (V36 in my case) and a polishing pad (orange), doesn't remove the swirls at all.

I'd like to say that I'm a complete novice in this area and reading info here and there I was super scared of using a rotary but I think people like to tell dragon stories. Unless your paint is butter, using a rotary is easy and I'd recommend to any novice to try it (taking into consideration the correct usage) after a few hours of practicing a little with the DA and if they don't achieve the desired results only using the DA (least aggressive first, so DA fist to see what happens). The worst thing that can happen is to visit the paint booth...



I'm super happy now!

Rotary might be easy to do what you was doing. But concave and sharp raised edges thats where the skill and knowledge of a pro and novice with that machines come into play.

A rotary on a flat panel is as easy as a da to work.

The da you can mess up and it will forgive your mistake.

The rotary you can be focused on one part and didn't notice at the other end you hit a body line and burned thru.

Just because you had success on what was fairly easy doesnt mean you shouldn't respect that machine and what it can do.

You also have to remember if your clear was that hard using a rotary was basically like using a da.

Using a rotary on normal or soft clears you take paint off at a more excessive rate then the da.

As because the clear was so hard on your paint using the rotary was actually safer.

In example: your clearcoat was hard and a da simply wouldnt cut it because a da dissipates the heat.
So you needed direct drive more heat to correct the sand marks.

The same heat you had to generate to correct that clear you might burn through on a honda paint.

I know that my g21 boss can generate some serious heat with a mf pad. I dont know what da machine you was using just be careful. With the rotary on normal clears.

The rotary on that hard of a clear is more safe then normal clears.

Am i saying its impossible or you shouldn't no not at all.

All im saying is don't get so comfortable just because it was fairly easy on that car.

Thats how you get into trouble

[AGOatemywallet]

Who is NextLevelDetail?

Why can't I understand what you are trying to tell me?

Your advice is suspect...IMO

Your grammar reinforces this opinion