Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

[the other pc]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

Well, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. All I can say is try it for yourself.

My bet is you’ll be blown away by how much better your results are with a DA compared to hand sanding. I sure was.

It makes sense if you think about it. The critical thing for high quality sanding is consistency. The more consistently you can do something, the more easily you can adjust your process for maximum performance. And once you’ve tuned it to a very high level you can maintain it there.

A DA can perform exactly the same motion, precisely the same way, over and over and over again, thousands of times a minute. A human being simply can’t come close.


PC.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

Well, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. All I can say is try it for yourself.

My bet is you’ll be blown away by how much better your results are with a DA compared to hand sanding. I sure was.

It makes sense if you think about it. The critical thing for high quality sanding is consistency. The more consistently you can do something, the more easily you can adjust your process for maximum performance. And once you’ve tuned it to a very high level you can maintain it there.

A DA can perform exactly the same motion, precisely the same way, over and over and over again, thousands of times a minute. A human being simply can’t come close.


PC.

Yeah, I've wet-sanded hundreds of cars over the years helping my old man in his shop. I think his thinking behind it is similar to that of blocking the car during the sanding stages, prior to paint, to obtain the straightest possible panel. Wet sanding by hand you don't sand with a motion like a DA, you use similar motion like when you're blocking the car. Either way I prefer to do it by DA.

I was just curious if there has ever been any studies/test to show which is better.

[the other pc]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

.... Wet sanding by hand you don't sand with a motion like a DA...

Yes, you use straight strokes for hand sanding vs. the tiny round ones a DA makes. But A human can’t be as consistent as a machine no matter what kind of motion they’re doing. And even though the motions are completely different the end results can be compared directly for uniformity of material removal, ease of buffing out and quality of final finish.

...I was just curious if there has ever been any studies/test to show which is better.

I don’t know about any formal studies. But the simplest test, hand sanding and DA sanding the same panel in the same session, inspecting the results and then buffing out the scratch from both at the same time is easy enough for anybody to try. When I’ve done it the difference was night and day.


PC.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

Yes, you use straight strokes for hand sanding vs. the tiny round ones a DA makes. But A human can’t be as consistent as a machine no matter what kind of motion they’re doing. And even though the motions are completely different the end results can be compared directly for uniformity of material removal, ease of buffing out and quality of final finish.


I don’t know about any formal studies. But the simplest test, hand sanding and DA sanding the same panel in the same session, inspecting the results and then buffing out the scratch from both at the same time is easy enough for anybody to try. When I’ve done it the difference was night and day.


PC.

Thanks!

I've never done a side by side either but I have always found it easier to remove the sanding scratches from a DA then the scratches from sanding by hand. By hand it seems that some of the scratches can groove down a little deeper.

While I think my old man had good intentions in his thinkning I would agree that DA is the way to go. FWIW he does use the DA at work and it's been some time since I've asked him if he still feels the same way.

Thanks for your input.

Rasky

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

DA sanding is definately better! No question about that!

I am hand sanding this Viper for the initial cut. Then doing the final sanding with the DA and the Abralon 2000 grit. I know it's not the perfect procedure, but it's all I have available to me right now. It's going to look a ton better when it's finished

[RaskyR1]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

DA sanding is definately better! No question about that!

I am hand sanding this Viper for the initial cut. Then doing the final sanding with the DA and the Abralon 2000 grit. I know it's not the perfect procedure, but it's all I have available to me right now. It's going to look a ton better when it's finished

Waiting to see pics!

[Mike Pennington]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

I know my father is old school but he says wet-sanding by hand produces better results anyway....

As with many topics on this and other forums....We all have to ask ourselves....What does "better" mean ?

Regarding this thread...What does better sanding mean ?

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

Regarding this thread...What does better sanding mean ?

Easier!

[asim_296]

Re: Sometimes I just prefer to sand by hand...

Mr. Chapman any pics? Viper? process? anything..