any of you guys wet sanded before?

[Nick]

Looking for some tips and tricks about wet sanding. Did a search, but came up confused. Just asking before starting a possible restoration of one of my 2 tractors.

[puds]

Nick I'm not the paint expert around here, but I have did it. Although I did it on a newer tractor that had clear coat on it. I wet sanded with 6oo grit paper and then buffed out at a real slow speed with buffer. Brought shine back to showroom. However, find a small spot that doesn't show and try a bit of rubbing compound by hand. If paint comes off on rag, you shouldn't wet sand and buff. Just my experiance, for what it's worth. Lee

[mowerman1193]

What do you plan to wet sand, paint or primer? I like to wet sand primer with 400-600 grit paper before I topcoat with paint...I prefer to wet sand over dry sanding as it keeps your project clean so you can see your progress... Tips I have are to keep it real wet rinse it alot..If you put a drop or to of dish soap in your bucket of water it helps keep the paper clean.. If you are wet sanding paint before buffing you need real fine paper...I use 1200-1500 grit to take off high spots then finish off with 1800-2000 grit before I buff...If you have a run to sand out you can use like 1000 grit to knock it down faster... I am sure there is probably more tips and I probably missede something but that is the basics..

[HammockJA]

Nick, Wet sanding is accomplished by taking a garden hose with a light trickle of water and constantly running that water over the area you are working. Keeps the materials cool and rinses the material you are removing. Also, helps the wet/dry sand paper to last much longer. Always use 3M, don't waste your money on anything else. For flat areas use a sanding block, easy on the hand. For shaped, curved, or rounded areas use the bare hand. Cut the sheet in half along the long lentgh, then do a tri-fold. This gives you three surfaces of new material, and helps you grip the paper. If you are cutting material away start with 200, as you start to think about a surface to spray either primer or paint go to 400, if you are working paint to re-spray 600 works. Touch up for a buff out of existing surface use 1500. Remember primer is not sealer it will let the moisture right to your metal, use paint to seal. If the projcet is important and your restoration is meant to last a long time, treat bare metal with a metal prep solution before you apply primer. And use a quality primer, dupont, ditzler, martin-senour, or equal. In general the AG paint systems are poor quality. Pick-up a simple how to book on body work, usually they cover all of this and much more.

[D-17_Dave]

So your saying not to wet sand primer? That this will let the moister into the primer? I'm fixing to paint my PU and was going to wet sand the primer coats for good adhesion between layers. I thought this was the process.

[Kent]

I'm certainly a novice, but I always wet-sand primer... in fact, I think this is THE most important step in getting a good smooth paint job. You just have to make sure it is good and dry before you put another coat on....

[thedaddycat]

I wet sanded the paint job I did on my Sportster, but that was laquer paint. You can get wet/dry sandpaper all the way down to 2000 grit.

[mowerman1193]

If you have bare metal then you should apply a sealer primer first, such as a self etching type primer...then top coat with a sandable filler primer..this sealer primer will protect the bare metal from the water...Most people I know skip the sealer primer and wet sand anyway without problems even some of the guys I have worked with in the body shop...I am very picky on doing things right and I don't prefer to take short cuts..They may do more jobs through the week but I know mine are done right and I have never had any rework jobs..

[Tom45]

Wet sanding is normally used to make the surface perfectly level. Like Mowerman1193 says, a filler or surfacer is applied over the primer so that there is enough paint thickness left after the high spots are sanded off. Some people use a "guide coat" which is just a light misting of a different color paint from a spray can. This will sand off the high spots first and still show on the spots that are low, showing where more work is needed. It is important to sand with uniform pressure as your fingertips will make grooves. Some people wrap sandpaper around a paint paddle and use it to level the surface.

[Nick]

Thanks guys for the tips. I learned so much. I will be wetsanding my rims That I bought from Dan back last January, and my Plow I bought from Kirk last February. Will post before and after pics when finished.

[HammockJA]

If you plan to keep you project for a long time... say ten years, you should research and consider the following. If you work to bare metal, consider treating it with the metal prep coat offered by the vender of choice, I use Dupont. It is a mild acid which oxydizes microscopic rust. Then apply a good primer and wet sand to a finish surface. Careful there are two types of primer, regular and filler primer. The filler primer goes on 2 or 3X thicker than regular. It is design to fill abnormal imperfections to small to warrant a filler putty. PRIMER DOES NOT PROTECT THE FINISH FROM MOISTURE, prime it and let is set for a few months the rust will come right threw to the surface. Best to buy a book and do some reading, most devote sevral chapters to surface prep and how you get there.

[TimJr]

Be prepared to work your arms - remember The Karate Kid? Wax on , wax off.... When I was 15 I was given a '75 Maverick 2 door. Painted it in a pole barn with a lousy gun. Laid it on thick, and went to work wet sanding out the runs, drips and orange peel. The other guys are right - don't skimp on the sandpaper. Be patient, and let the paper do the work - once you are used to it, you can hear and feel when you are done with a given grit of paper. Then it's on to the next lighter grit.... If the paint is put on thick enough, and is adhered well, wet sanding and buffing will make almost anything shiny. I agree that as far as I knew that primer should never be exposed to moisture. I think DuPont has just come out with a waterproof primer, but I have not used it. As for the sealer/primers, isn't that for keeping different types of paint from reacting to each other and causing cracking etc.? Have fun sanding. Tim

[Nick]

Thanks again guys. I'll have to pick up some "newer" books on the subject. The two books I own are Petersens's Basic Bodywork & Painting dated 1980, which is vague on the subject. I also have a copy of Goodheart-Willcox's Automotive Encyclopedia dated 1975 which has a chapter on bodywork, but is also vague on the subject. Besides my tractors, you can see I like old things. :D