For those of you working paint, here's what I've been teaching my customers.
3M's niche is fresh paint - use their products. The back label will tell you
if the paint should be at least 24 or 48 hours old. Urethane must be worked
within 3 days.
If you plan to color sand, start with 1000 grit to knock down all the
imperfections like orange peal. Use 1200 next to remove the 1000 grit marks.
Use 1500 last to remove 1200 grit marks. Sand in a straight line, back and
forth, using a vbacking pad to avoid finger marks. Count your strokes and
repeat the same number on adjacent sections. Suceedingly finer grits should
be used perpendicular to the last sanding marks. Use lots of water to keep
the paper clear. I like Meguiar's Unigrit papers. They are sourced from the
electronics industry which has much closer sieving ranges.
You can stop with 1000, 1200 or 1500 but each requires a different compound.
3M's 5954 Super Duty will remove 1000 grit marks. 6011 Imperial Compound or
5973 Perfectit will take care of the 1200 grit marks. Both will leave
compounding marks which 5928 Finessit II cleaner polish will remove. 3M says
Finessit II will remove 1500 grit marks and you may save a step but I would
still compound first.
After Finessit II, all you have to do is enjoy. DO NOT WAX for at least 45 to
60 days. Check with the paint supplier for specifics.
Compound with a 100% wool pad. You need the aggressiveness of the pad.
Finessit II, any Machine Polish and later any liquid wax should be applied
with foam pads. Foam is not aggressive enough for compound. It will tear
them up. 3M's foam pads require a Velcro backing pad as do some of Meguiar's
foam pads (W7000 & W9000) but Meguiars also offers a foam pad with a molded on
backing plate (W1000). It's yellow!
Remember two (2) rules to buffing
1 - Keep the machine moving to avoid overheating the paint (it doesn't have to
be fast)
2 - Stay in the flats, away from edges and corners where the paint is thin.
Foam has the same rule but for a different reason - It tears them up. Newer
foams are much more tear resistant than the first ones.
Wayne Loomis (Co.)
SRL311 #11995
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