The Power of 3000 Grit

[Michael Stoops]

Re: The Power of 3000 Grit

Mike
With compounding with an electric DA, moving to 3" pad from a 6" is stepping up in aggressiveness.
Assuming the same media, is moving to the 3" sanding disk/media from the 6" sanding disk/media stepping up in aggressiveness?

In theory, yes, but you aren't using a sanding disc in quite the same way you use a compound and pad. Mostly the smaller size is used to work in a smaller area, but it's also true that you generally don't sand for as long a time period when using the 3" discs due to the aggressiveness. Risk of strike through is still minimal if you're simply paying attention to what you're doing, take your time, do multiple attempts rather than just try to blast through it, etc. Of course, with time and usage comes experience so you get a feel for what's going on as you get better at it. But for beginners, the best thing you can do is take your time, do multiple attempts to give you a feel for the speed of cut, etc and overall - PAY ATTENTION!!!

[Old Bear]

Re: The Power of 3000 Grit

Thank you for the reply.
Patience is a virtue. I will exhibit patience and do multiple limited passes, checking progress as I go.

[CamarosRus]

Re: The Power of 3000 Grit

Hello Michael Stoops, I am an amateur detailer that has invested significantly into misc Meg's supplies. My car is a 20K mile 2012 Corvette Grand Sport, Inferno Orange.

I have been using my Porter Cable 7424XP with the 6" Meg's MF Cutting pad & M100 to remove what I can best describe as very small inclusions or chips in the
Clear Coat. I have removed 99% of any scratches and reduced the inclusions/chips quite a bit. I do not have a paint depth gauge/tool.

I have recently purchased a TORQ D long Throw Polisher but not used it. I also purchased your X tra Cut MF pad and noticed the MF appears same as reg cut only foam backing is thinner.

After reading about 3000 grit damp sanding I'm asking for advice on further correction of my clear coat via MF pad polishing with M100, Wet Sanding with ??? or STOPPING
and leaving alone before I go thru the Clear Coat...........

Waiting for your reply and questions/answers so I can move forward.........or NOT!!!!!!!!!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: The Power of 3000 Grit

Hello Michael Stoops, I am an amateur detailer that has invested significantly into misc Meg's supplies. My car is a 20K mile 2012 Corvette Grand Sport, Inferno Orange.

I have been using my Porter Cable 7424XP with the 6" Meg's MF Cutting pad & M100 to remove what I can best describe as very small inclusions or chips in the
Clear Coat. I have removed 99% of any scratches and reduced the inclusions/chips quite a bit. I do not have a paint depth gauge/tool.

Are these little inclusions as you call them little tiny pit marks found primarily in the nose and hood of the car? If so, they are tiny impact points from debris getting kicked up from the road - the car essentially being lightly sand blasted while driven. Virtually every car on the road develops these marks sooner or later, with paint color and metallic content being the deciding factors in how noticeable they are. Honestly, I wouldn't bother trying to remove these as they can be surprisingly deep and you can compromise the clear coat when trying to eliminate them totally. Besides, even if you did eliminate them, new ones are going to appear over time and then what? You've already taken off so much paint that doing it again raises the risk exponentially. And what about a future isolated scratch? Again, you've removed enough paint that much of the UV protection has been taken away (most of the UV protection is in the upper reaches of the clear) so even fixing the isolated scratch becomes a potential problem. Sometimes we just have to live with some imperfections and enjoy the car - some risks just aren't worth the reward.

Oh, and a paint thickness gauge that would actually work on a Corvette is going to be pricey - most only read on aluminum and steel substrates.