Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

[downesy]

Hi guys,

Just a quick question about wetsanding.

Is it OK to use just normal 3000grit wet and dry sandpaper? Or is it essential that you use Megs Unigrit?

Is there that much of a difference?? It will be for repairing a keyed panel.

I am asking this because I cant purchase Megs Unigrit over here in Oz.

Thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

The benefit to the Meguiar's Nikken brand of paper is that it offers a Unigrit particle size feature to help reduce tracers.

You can use any paper, best bet is to get the highest quality paper you can find and the most important thing to look for in a sanding paper is,

Uniform Particle Size
Uniform Particle Coverage Over the Paper

These two things help to control the sanding marks you're putting into the paint with the goal to keep all your sanding marks the same depth so they will buff out completely. Removing as little paint as possible during the process is also important and uniform particle size helps with this.

Best of luck to you...

[downesy]

Re: Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

Thanks for your honest opinion Mike, much appreciated.

I will just shop around and try and get the best paper I can get.

Thanks again.

[Derrick]

Re: Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

I use the Megs sanding paper and love it but i agree with Mike. If you are going to get it elswhere make sure to look for the uniform particle size and
uniform particle coverage over the paper. Also i would invest in some sanding backing pads to help make sure your sanding evenly

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

I only wetsand little projects, but the Nikken papers are much better.

The uniform particle size really helps when it comes to removing the scratches.

[downesy]

Re: Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

So what kind of Uniform Particle size should I be looking for? Is there a minimum figure I should be aiming for?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Wetsanding? Megs Unigrit or normal Wet and Dry?

So what kind of Uniform Particle size should I be looking for? Is there a minimum figure I should be aiming for?

You look at the features the company lists for the sandpaper in their marketing materials, website, labels etc. If you don't see it listed then it could be they don't offer this feature in their paper.

The tighter the control over the particle sizes of the abrasives on the paper and their distribution over the paper, (that's 2 things), give you more control over the sanding mark pattern you instill into the paint. The better the control, that is the more consistent the depth of the sanding marks, the easier and faster it will be to remove them and the potential for "Tracers" will be reduced and if you've ever spent any time chasing out tracers then you can appreciate this idea.

Tracers = Deeper scratches left behind after the majority of the sanding marks have been removed. The cause is either larger size grit particles
on the paper leaving deeper scratches than the rest of the particles on the paper or any kind of loose abrasive particle that gets trapped between your paper and the finish while sanding.

The entire goal of wet-sanding is to remove some type of paint defects like orange peel, that is to sand off all the high points and leave behind a totally flat surface. Then, after the sanding work is finished it's time to remove the sanding marks using a compound and some type of pad on a rotary buffer.

The better the job you do during the sanding process, that is the higher the grit you leave off with and the more uniform depth of the sanding marks, the easier and faster it will be to remove the sanding marks during the compounding process.

When done correctly, you achieve the goal, a super flat finish that equates to a super high gloss finish after the polishing and final waxing is performed.

And, you leave the most amount of paint on the car. And if you're reading this and involved in some kind of wet sanding process and the car belongs to you then you have a vested interest in doing things the right way the first time and this includes doing things in a way that leaves the most of the precious film build you're starting out with on the car.

At least, that's Meguiar's philosophy.

"Use the least aggressive product to get the job done"


For what you're doing, just get a good name brand paper. When you're sanding, work clean, that is keep the area you're sanding clean by adding plenty of fresh water while your sanding, you can use a generic spray bottle for this or even use an empty Quik Detailer bottle or something similar. Fill with water and add a few drops of car wash soap for good lubrication and suspension features.

Hold your backing pad for the paper flat to the surface and do your best to hold the backing pad in a way that you can apply equal pressure over most of the backing pad. Sand and while your sanding spray some water/soap solution on to the sanding area. Check your work stop sanding after you reach your determined stopping point.

Now compound out your sanding marks.