Q for the car painters and paint & panel rep's.

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attitudedesignz, Apr 3, 10:08pm
When you guys use a 3 or 4 stage buffing system (cut - swirl removal - machine glaze) do you clean or wash down the area between stages!

Just curious as i've read lately that it's a good idea to wash down with IPA between stages as it eliminates compound getting 'stuck' in the fines scratches which are still visible as very fine swirls when the job's finished.

Asking this because i don't want to have to do this truck 2 or 3 times lol.

grangies, Apr 3, 10:21pm
On a dark colour, if I am only denibbing a few bits of dust or a small run,,, I give the areas I cut with Farecla g3 a wash with wax and grease remover before I machine glaze it .

If it is a full cut and polish on old paint, I compoung the whole body, then take it out side to the wash area and sponge the whole car down with mild car wash, including door jambs to remove all G3 residue from the vehicle.

Then once dry I machine glaze the vehicle. I use Wurth P30 Anti Hologram polish. And a clean sheepskin buff, that I blow clean about every second panel.

Then I will either machine or hand buff it again with something like Mothers Gold wax.

And if the vehicle is extra special, I give it a final wax with Turtle Wax ICE Liquid, the next day.

The Turtle wax is silicon, but I'm the only painter here, so contamination is not an issue. I also have separate micro-fibre cloths for the Turtle Wax Ice.

gunhand, Apr 4, 5:56am
Sometimes I do sometimes I dont, all depends on the car etc etc. I do find wet wiping away the first cutting compound stops it going hard in the hard to get places.Half the cars I do seem to have no motor, flat battery, screwed starter motor or some other ailment that prevents it starting so pushing them in and out is hard on the back at times lol. Do wipe the panels withgood quality cloths though between polishes.

gammelvind, Apr 4, 7:54am
The 3M range has 3 different foam pads with the blue pad/blue top compound being the swirl remover. Never seen anyone using ipa to clean between compoundings, only a micro fibre cloth.
There seems to be so many preferences between paint shops, but I do sell an awful lot of Kemo-pro as a final polish/wax.
All over to you, I don't use the stuff, just sell it.

gunhand, Apr 4, 8:05am
Hey there dude, whats ya most nasty vicious cutting compound you sell!
Not worried about swirls or anything just something that cuts hard.
Cheers.

hounddog2, Apr 4, 8:17am
Hey attitudes do you do perkies!

rob_man, Apr 4, 8:18am
Sounds like someone has a bit of a cock up on their hands.

gunhand, Apr 4, 8:23am
Nope not at all, just looking for a course compound as after 4 days or so baked 2k gets kinda hard and if you 1500 it or even 3000 it the swirls that leaves are bloody hard to polish. Id just like to remove them first quickly then do a finer cut.

rob_man, Apr 4, 8:26am
Just kidding, I change to a wool buff for that sort of thing, they bite a bit deeper.

gunhand, Apr 4, 8:28am
Yea! I have on of those collecting dust somewhere, might fish it out and try.

rob_man, Apr 4, 8:30am
Just don't allow the surface to dry out too much, have a squirty of water on hand.

attitudedesignz, Apr 4, 9:24am
Wool pads scare me lol.

grangies, Apr 4, 9:58am
I find wool pads excellent for stage 2 and 3 of buffing.

You've gotta keep the pad really fluffy and clean though.

And keep the machine pressure light.pretty much hold the buffby the end of the handle and skim it over the polish . pushing more where needed. Then remove the rest by hand.

I've always found woolen pads to be the most effective way to remove swirls in dark or red coloured cars, after cutting with foam pads.

hounddog2, Apr 4, 10:06am
lol can i send you a few pics of a bumper some sideskirts i want done !

grangies, Apr 4, 6:59pm

attitudedesignz, Apr 4, 8:12pm
Yep, my username at the g mail place.

gammelvind, Apr 5, 8:46am
3M extra cut, the good old bucket of green, combined with a wool buff would probably be the most aggressive. Just what out you don't burn the paint. Works good on old laquer.

gunhand, Apr 5, 8:52am
Is that that real strong smelling stuff, gives a headache after a while lol. and the wool buff thing again it seems.

grangies, Apr 5, 9:24am
On good hard 2k, the wool is quite safe as far as burns go.

If you do get a mark, it's actually the wool overheating and coming off the pad, and can usually be easily removed by a quick hand cut.

Not like the old lacquer days, where the wool could melt the colour or clear. (shudders) lol.

grangies, Apr 5, 9:32am
I've recently come across this http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$(KGrHqEOKpIE3tOV4VbLBOGYdsQ0fQ~~0_35.JPG

It's excellent for darker colours after heavy compounding. As the grit feels like about 90 percent hand polish,with that 10%trace of machine compound.

It is expensive though. But it really does help remove the ugly compunding swirls in a hurry.

gunhand, Apr 5, 9:35am
Ahhh a Wurth product, that wont be hard to track down at all.

grangies, Apr 5, 9:50am
Honestly, the stuff is amazing.

On a dark red/blue/green or black.Using an appropriate softish foam pad or clean woolen pad after hard cutting with Farecla G3. It bites into the swirls and actually cuts them out, rather than hide them with a glossy seal.

You still need to glaze it afterwards, but it does that step in between that glazing wont. And it does it fast.

nzemale, Apr 6, 9:46pm
Gawd I love forums such as this.

wokkie2000, Apr 9, 7:59pm
I find an angle grinder with about 24 grit seems to buff the paint up real good

gammelvind, Apr 9, 8:15pm
If you used 36 grit, you would find the swirl marks a bit softer