Wet Sanding

[kahunajb]

Can't afford to get my bonnet resprayed at the moment so thought I would have a go at painting all the stone chips and a couple of scratches then wet sanding and polishing.

Used 2000 then 2500 then 3000 grit wet and dry using a small square piece of eraser as a sanding block about 10mm x 20mm.

When sanding I tended to go back and fourth in one direction not in a circular motion or in random directions using light pressure and plenty of water.

The stone chips and scratches are now hardly noticeable and the sanding lines have polished out perfect however where I have been sanding is now slightly lower than the surrounding paint so in certain lights it looks slightly rippled/dented you can actually feel it if you run your fingers over.

Think I am going to get a larger sanding block and try and blend it into a larger area of paint work.

Question is what have I done wrong and how could this have been avoided?

[Dan J]

From reading your post you've used 2000 and 2500 when you didn't need to really and only going in one direction,
 the paint in the stone chips will be much softer than the surrounding paint so all You needed to do was gently take the tops of them off with 3000 to level them then polish it up.
Just my scope from what you've put.
Got any pictures you could post up?

[kahunajb]

Will try get some pictures tomorrow evening but not sure it will come out. Basically I have taken a thin layer of the existing paint off in the direction I have been sanding which has resulted in a very shallow groove the width of the sanding block i.e 10mm wide.

There is a sticky in this section in which you use 1200 grit so thought I was being pretty careful and read lots of other info which recommended 2000-2500 grit and also sanding in one direction. It suggests to me my paint may be pretty soft but thought VW's were supposed to have hard paint.

[Dan J]

Yep that's my sticky and was done a while back, I used 1200 and yes it wasn't ideal for the job in hand but I used pretty much no pressure to avoid going too deep and lots off lube, I also went across the scratches to avoid getting a sunk area of clearcote, it was to remove the tops off the touch ups, when I did the stone chips on the bonnet I used very light and tight circular motions to concentrate on the nibs rather than the area around them.
From your description you concentrated in one area for too long and only did it in one direction.

[kahunajb]

Cheers for your advice I will try your technique on the remainder and see I get on.

[Dan J]

No probs!
Check your work on a regular basis, use lots of water in a sprayer throughout the whole process, little to no pressure and concentrate on the raised paint.

[Seanl]

Great guides here.


http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=153965


http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=217520

[Dan J]

Great guides here.


http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=153965


http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=217520

Yep these are much better and more up to date than mine.

[kahunajb]

Thanks for the links, had already read them and still managed to c*ck  it up. 

[tg1]

cyc do 5000 grit by the way, much easier to get the marks out