• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

  • In order to help others find info on a particular bike, be sure to put the year, make or model of bike that you are asking a question about, in the Topic Title. This will allow people to pass by posts they have no interest in.

First time wetsanding clearcoat.....ooops!

  • Thread starter Thread starter growler
  • Start date Start date
On the directions from Colorrite it clearly stated wetsanding after 5 days, buffing after 7.

Since this was my first time painting anything besides paper and fabric, I made a mistake that I'm going to have to fix at some point. I was very lightly buffing (slowest setting on my buffer, pretty darn slow) and I guess a spot got too warm and the clearcoat burned off. I'll be fixing it sometime when I don't have so much going on. Overall it looks a million times better, and is ready to be back out on the road again. Who knows, it may get dropped again. :|
 
Yep, keep that buffer moving, friction=heat, all fixable though. Keep up the good work. :)
 
What kind of buffer did you use? A conventional rotating buffer is quite powerful so you need to be very careful if you use one or you can cut through. I have a full size buffer/polisher but don't use it for motorcycle part work. Instead I picked up a cheap Harbor Freight DA polisher. It's hard to damage your paint with one of those things. It's slow, but still plenty fast enough in my opinion since motorcycle parts are quite small. I wouldn't want to have to use it to polish a car though.
 
Hah you describe exactly what happened. I went out Saturday and picked up a 7" buffer at Harbor Freight (I won't be doing this kind of work often, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a buffer) and then picked up my Meguiar's Medium Cut, Fine Cut, and Glaze.

Came home feeling good about everything, prepared to go slow and work smart. I knew that burning the clearcoat and or paint was a possibility, as I watched waaay too many YouTube videos on buffing clearcoat.

Alas, I had the 7" going on the 1st setting, and with the curves and lines of the fairing I must have not held it perfectly parallel to the surface and sure enough, I have two burn marks. I think everyone on my block heard me cursing for a minute. I was totally defeated all afternoon and ****ed off. So I went back to Harbor Freight, returned the 7" and got a smaller handheld trigger polisher for the smaller spaces. I wanted to smack myself for not thinking of that in the first place.

I buffed and polished the other two pieces and things look ok. Not great, not awful. The two other pieces are not focal points, so it makes it a little bit easier to look at it. Bottom line, it looks so much better than it did. I can always go back and repaint that piece since I have leftover paint. I'd like to do that as soon as our weather stops being so rainy and humid.

Thanks for the help. I'll be better next time. :)

Nessism said:
What kind of buffer did you use? A conventional rotating buffer is quite powerful so you need to be very careful if you use one or you can cut through. I have a full size buffer/polisher but don't use it for motorcycle part work. Instead I picked up a cheap Harbor Freight DA polisher. It's hard to damage your paint with one of those things. It's slow, but still plenty fast enough in my opinion since motorcycle parts are quite small. I wouldn't want to have to use it to polish a car though.
Click to expand...
 
growler said:
Hah you describe exactly what happened. I went out Saturday and picked up a 7" buffer at Harbor Freight (I won't be doing this kind of work often, so I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a buffer) and then picked up my Meguiar's Medium Cut, Fine Cut, and Glaze.

Came home feeling good about everything, prepared to go slow and work smart. I knew that burning the clearcoat and or paint was a possibility, as I watched waaay too many YouTube videos on buffing clearcoat.

Alas, I had the 7" going on the 1st setting, and with the curves and lines of the fairing I must have not held it perfectly parallel to the surface and sure enough, I have two burn marks. I think everyone on my block heard me cursing for a minute. I was totally defeated all afternoon and ****ed off. So I went back to Harbor Freight, returned the 7" and got a smaller handheld trigger polisher for the smaller spaces. I wanted to smack myself for not thinking of that in the first place.

I buffed and polished the other two pieces and things look ok. Not great, not awful. The two other pieces are not focal points, so it makes it a little bit easier to look at it. Bottom line, it looks so much better than it did. I can always go back and repaint that piece since I have leftover paint. I'd like to do that as soon as our weather stops being so rainy and humid.

Thanks for the help. I'll be better next time. :)
Click to expand...


So which polisher are you buying from HF? I have a big variable speed 1/2" drill but you have to make sure everything is secure before letting loose with that.
 
I use this one. Just a DA, not a rotating polisher. It's not very powerful but seems to work fine though. No issue bringing back the gloss on color sanded paint...

image_25069.jpg
 
jbird7262 said:
@ Rover, "no need to sand if done properly", whats properly?? I've painted in $50,000 downdraft boothes and homemade "spray rooms", you will ALWAYS get some sort of trash, imperfections, lint, hair, flying critters, airborne contaminates, dust, dirt, solvent pop, and if you want a glass like, show car finish then you will be color sanding and buffing, either to flatten the finish or knock down the nibs so you can buff it, unless your happy with the out of the gun texture. I have sprayed thousands of vehicals in the collision industry and maybe 20% got a light sand and polish, most people don't even see the imperfections, but as the painter, I know they are there, I will go the extra mile to put that quality into my work, even if there is not $$$ to be made, because thats my work out there, I'm proud of what I can do, why not draw attention to it? Every bike I paint gets hit with a buffer, It's like glass when its done, it becomes habit and if I don't do it then I wonder if somebody will comment on the finish product.
Click to expand...

^^^My thinking!
 
Using a DA sort of outs you as an amateur. Most pros I've seen use rotating buffers. A DA is a lot safer from burn-through though. It's slower but so what.
 
Ah, gotcha. I'll use anything that works! :) Good on you for finding what works best for you. Let's hope the next time I do this I'll be better. Hah!

Nessism said:
Using a DA sort of outs you as an amateur. Most pros I've seen use rotating buffers. A DA is a lot safer from burn-through though. It's slower but so what.
Click to expand...
 
remember, friction, you can also burn the clear with a foam pad, just take your time, also on your damaged part, you might be able to salvage it if you just "smuged" the surface. Kind'a looks like a skid mark, see if you can flatten it out with some 1500 and a rubber block (wet), if you have enough material on it you might be ok.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top