intended use for 3000 grit??

[steveo3002]

okay ive always used 1200 to de nib and take down any bad orange peel on new paint , then 1500 and 2000 to lessen the scratches and make polishing easier

i just wondered whats the point in 2500 and 3000? is it simply to lessen the scratches from the more abbrasive papers or does it have a use other than wet sanding new paint

i cant imagine 3000 would have enough bite to remove defects like bird mess etchings etc

what would polish would take care of 3000 grit?

[Murr1525]

It is just to leave finer sanding marks, so that a person could potentialy remove them by PC even, or maybe even ScratchX.

Leaving marks that are too heavy would require a rotary, and that isnt for everyone.

[steveo3002]

ok thought as much

anyone know what removes the most paint?

polishing up 1500 marks with suitable polish or sanding those 1500 marks with 2000-2500-3000 and then polishing with whatever is suitable?

[the other pc]

I think it really comes down to technique.

In theory, whether you go through twelve steps of sandpaper or one round of compound, as long as you just work until you hit the bottom of the deepest original defect you remove exactly the same amount of paint either way. In practice I think it's going to differ based on how you handle the paper vs. how you handle the buffer.

You can grind all the way through a finish with either.

I find sanding easier to control than a rotary buffer (maybe cuz I'm not all that good with a rotary yet) but I sure wouldn't say I'd remove less material when sanding.


PC.

[sneek]

hehe i wet sanded a mobility scooter to remove orange peel with 2000 grit and removed the sanding marks with ScratchX but the paint was pretty soft single stage

[Jimmy Buffit]

We finish with 4000... polish with rotary and #83, and finally PC/#80.

Oh, that's nice...

Jim

[steveo3002]

wow 4000 must polish easy....i have in the past polished up 1200 scratches

[96Lude]

I recently wet sanding on a scrap panel where I used 2000 grit and I was able to buff that out with a #83/W8006 combo with my rotary buffer.

I would think that you would need at least #84 to accomplish this.

[sneek]

did you use unigrit papers or 3M papers, the reason I ask is that I find that the unitgrits buff out better. dont get me wrong the 3m stuff still buffs out but the looks like theres slight micro marring

[96Lude]

I used 3M paper since this is what I had lying around. I did notice some slight micro marring, however keep in mind that #83 is not usually what should be used to buff out wet sanding scratches. From my understanding #84 is what should be used for this task. The next time I order some Meguiar's products I will order a few sheets of the UniGrit paper and give it a try.

[sneek]

unigrit is pretty easy to find at NAPA, its usually not too expensive too so i would reccomend getting some

[Mike Phillips]

Re: intended use for 3000 grit??

Originally posted by steveo3002
i just wondered whats the point in 2500 and 3000? is it simply to lessen the scratches from the more abrasive papers or does it have a use other than wet sanding new paint

Finer grades of paper like #2500 and #3000 are less aggressive options in keeping with the philosophy of using the least aggressive product to get the job done.

They can be used on fresh paint or cured paint. They can be used to reduce the depth of a previously used paper to a more shallow depth to make the buff out easier and faster and finer grades of paper like this can come in handy when working on cured paint, especially if it's hard paint and it doesn't buff very well.

Just keep in mind that Meguiar's philosophy is to always use the least aggressive product to get the job done and finer grades of paper like our #2500 and #3000 are like tools in a tool box giving you more options depending upon what will work best for the job at hand.

[Lambrefinishing]

Yes, the last answer was the best. least amount of effort to do the job. At the shop on blacks and all really dark colors, we have found that using 2000 takes out all the nibs and needs no rough compound to pull the scratches out and allows you to start with a finer compound.