Using 320 dry, easy enough. Then 400 wet, hard to see the 320 scratches gone. Then 500 wet, again, too hard to see previous scratches. Then 600 wet, then same. Each grit I make one pass up and one pass down. After 600, I go to #2 sureluster. Not a good shiine at all. what’s wrong? Maybe too much gloss taken off? I then go to a #3 rubbing coimpund. Not much of a shine - average. I also tried bypassing the gloss sanding process and went directly to rubbing compound. Takes away 85% of the gloss wax and leaves a GREAT shine. What do you think?
I don’t know what I think 
but I’m definitely interested in the replies. I usually do 320 dry, then 400 wet, but no “single passes”…I end up sanding the #$%@ out of the gloss. Then Schurlustre, buff, automotive swirl remover. I get a good shine, but still not what I’m after. Seems impossible to get rid of the scratches…
I go 240 dry to nock the little tits off and break the surface. Then 600,1200,1500 wet and dry. Half a sheet does half of one side. I fold the half sheet into quarters and work up and down the board at 45 deg to the stringer. Doing the rails at the same time. When I get to the 1500 I just keep using the one surface as it wears it cuts finer and finer. Then I machine polish with a medium cutting compound (usually needs two polishes) and then a fine compound if needed. All up it takes about two to three hours for a longboard. I’m talking restorations here. People want a high gloss. I think in a production situation this would be to long. But for the home builder doing their own boards the extra hours would not hurt to much.platty.
Platty ,that board looks wet, are you cheating?.. seriously that’s a beautiful polish job…i had a friend polishing for me years ago that came in smelling of alcohol, polished 3 of the 6 boards i needed to deliver that day and complained of being tired and went home… i got really irratated at him and went in and polished the other 3 boards, what was the most frustrating was my sober polishes weren’s as good as his intoxicated ones, and i’d taught him how to polish, we did exactly the same system of polishing…it is kind of an art that’s not exactly measurable… i use a german sandpaper clingspor, the grit numbers aren’t the same as 3m or the other one that fiberglass hi sells, i use 220 dry that’s like a 320,one piece for the whole 9 ft board to flatten… then a 280 that’s like a 400 i think, one piece for each side, then a 400 that’s like a 500 i think, two sheets for bottom ,two for top,all dry, more than just a pass, i work it a little i use a milwakee 5000 to do all these, then a soft pad and 2300 rpm on rail with 400 only, then sure lustre, then myguires,i can’t spell , number 80 speed something…good enough for the stores i do business with…hope that helps…danny
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I go 240 dry to nock the little tits off and break the surface. Then 600,1200,1500 wet and dry. Half a sheet does half of one side. I fold the half sheet into quarters and work up and down the board at 45 deg to the stringer. Doing the rails at the same time. When I get to the 1500 I just keep using the one surface as it wears it cuts finer and finer. Then I machine polish with a medium cutting compound (usually needs two polishes) and then a fine compound if needed. All up it takes about two to three hours for a longboard. I’m talking restorations here. People want a high gloss. I think in a production situation this would be to long. But for the home builder doing their own boards the extra hours would not hurt to much.platty.
Wow! And most replies in thie group do the usual 320, 400, 500, and stop at 600. That’s the trouble with Sway’s, as everyone has a diff opinion, you have to try ALL those diff opinions for yourself. YOUR method is completely diff but you have GREAT results. I applaude you. I should add, BTW, that I do all by succession grits (starting with 320) by machine, except for the rails. I guess I should be going above 600? 800? 1000? 1200? 1500? All by machine? All wet? Dry? Thanks!
Howsit 220, sanding dry with the machine seems to produce a finer finish than the same grit would if I wet sanded by hand… I’ve had my best results when using 320, 500, 600 dry and then 1500 wet, 3M cutting compound with a course bonnet and auto paste wax with a fine bonnet. Sometimes it’s BAM and the thing glows and other times it is a struggle, so keep pluggin dude you’ll get it.
Scott
We used to start with 600 if the gloss in not dustspecked, go up to 800, rub, polish, finish.
That’s two more steps after you finished.
One of our 1975 boards sits at a shop in SanFrancisco, still glossy polished on the bottom, and it was used plenty.
Forgot…depending how warm and humid your glassing room is, and your waiting area, we used to let the board’s sit a week before working on the gloss coat, to allow the resin to fully cure hard. Our warehouse was always cold and dank.
Seems Haut in SC lets them sit about the same, and they are warm and dry.
Howzit Lee,Luckally here in Hawaii the temps don’t get to cold, I wait about 48 hrs after glossing to start rubbing out. Aloha,Kokua
I’d guess 48 hours at 80 degree average is about the same as 8 days in 60 degree daytime and 45 degree nites, no sun.
Our few heat spells do make for different rules.
I’ve also found the longer the board is left the better the finish. I leave them at least a week. I also think it depends on what brand of resin you use. I’m using Surfblanks resin ( Midget Farrelly) I swiched from FGI resin 6 months ago, only because I can buy Surfblanks resin locally. So, I think it is worth trying different brands to find out what suits your particular application. I use lam resin and add wax in styrene (surfacing agent) 3%. I warm my workshop to 22 to 25 deg C. 2% mekp gives me about 10 minutes. Enough time to get it on, brush it out and let it level out. Wash my brush, pull the tape and walk away. platty.
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Seems Haut in SC lets them sit about the same, and they are warm and dry.
Yeah…but old habits die hard. Wasn’t that many years ago that surfers ‘in the know’ wouldn’t order a Haut board in the winter 
That place was notorious. Leonard cracks me up with his stories of babysitting boards, space heaters, and blankets over the windows all night long when Doug was shooting ducks…
Winter orders from Stretch or Haut, we’d let them sit a full two weeks after we get them up here, then bother to put them on the racks.
They were so green they’d smell of resin and polish, and so soft they’d dent from your fingers.
Pearson’s weren’t any better, as we ordered about 15 of them thru 3 winters up here. They were also soft and green 3 weeks after they were glassed.
…well, like I said in a before thread, the problem is not in the polish, the problems are with the resin, the room, the climate, etc. if you have a real good gloss apply with a perfect flatten agent resin, you dont start with heavier grits like 180, 220 or 240…due to that, and a slow rpm s and softer pads youll obtain a good gloss…but its a pain in the ass sometimes, for ex now Im trying with differents resin brands and types specs and Im starting to have fully cure gloss problems…