Used my new finishing sander at the 600 grit stage. No swirls! But it dod leave little z patterns. Didn’t polish out very well either. Sureluster #2, Mguires #3, 3m #5. So-so. What’s wrong?? Should i go higher to 800 or 1000 grit?
Howzit 220, Never seen Z patterns in my years of polishing. One good tip is as you are sanding and are ready to go to a finer grit turn up the rpms to high and keep going over the board. This actually kind of polishes, especially with the 600. How many times did you go over the board with the shurluster, most of the time I can get by with just 2 applications but 3 times will make it shinier. I don’t use the Mcguires,just that cheap 3000 wax. If the rub out is good the expensive wax is a waste in my book.Aloha,Kokua
hey220,
If I can suggest a few things…
First dont be afraid to use more sandpaper than you are using now. use the 600 to take out all of the 400 scratches. Afterwards use 3m superduty rubbing compound then do the polish out steps you already finish with. Should come out great.
Hope that helps.
Austin S.
My finishing sander is a vibrating one like a Jitterbug, hence the little z patterns. Can’t crank up rpms, there set. I’ve only used 1 app for Sureluster but now will use 2-3. Mguires DOES give a real nice luster (for me). The 3m finesse, doesn’t do it for me, probably because I use it after the Mguires, and not after 1500 grit like the directions…
600 should be fine. Another thing to consider is your buffing pads. I remember using a pad that was too fine and could not take out all the scratches on the initial polish with compound. I switched to a courser pad and it removed the scratches. I use the finer pad with with the final polish. I use the surfboard fiberglass polish from Fiberglass Hawaii (FH). I use to use this polish called something like Ebony Shine on the final polish and it brought the boards to a luster. FH does not carry that product anymore. I think the other suggestions are great too.
D
I did not know there were diff grades of bonnets. I use 3 of them for the 3 diff componds. I’ll look around for a coarser one…
Stop…
Take the dog for a walk or water the lawn, go surfing…
Go back and read the threads…
Bill B,LockBox and TFD have some great advice in the recent thread about how to cut sand paper…
Why are you mixing brands and systems??? Who cares about brands anyway?
I’m not a pro board builder ,I have a background in Classic Cars.
I use medium compound…
Where do you live?
There’s got to be a Swaylocks member near by that can help…
220
a slew of glossing threads perked up in the last few weeks.
Are you using a random orbital sander?
If so that might be your problem. I am not sure that they can get the gloss sanded fine enough in order for it to be ready for compounding. I bet after compunding the gloss is dull and cloudy right?
You really need a 7" variable speed sander…like one that goes to 3000rpms.
This is what I use
http://www.makita.com/menu.php?pg=product_det&tag=9227CY
Drew
Drew, of course I have a variable speed sander but was having trouble with swirlies, even with the cut-sandpaper technique. I heard that a couple of top shapers use the Jitterbug obital sander at around the #600 or #800 phase but I don’t know why because mine turned out cloudy and dull. I guess it’s back to the variable speed. I’ll have swirlies but at least a deep shine.
this is going to sound different than i intend it, but this recently happened to me, and i got this response : “why do you need a machine to wet sand your boards?”
it really hurt my pride, but in the end i see that the guy did me a favour. instead of having a bunch of sanding left at the gloss, i had to learn to get my hotcoats better and a bit thicker, and then power sand the board perfect - well as close as i can. then when i gloss it, i only put on a thin-ish coat, and wet sand by hand. i file down the lap line, maybe a quick knock down of bumps with some 220 on a block, then turn the hose on, and grab the 360/400/600.
after a couple times like this, and now i get it pretty quick, and no swirls. also, one good pass with the compound, and some wax, and voila! also if you’re heavy handed like me, no burned areas either.
anyway, i don’t mean to insult, just my R$.02 *thats about US$.0075
Howzit 220, Think before you leap, what causes the swirlies. The sander edge causes them and it's usually when you come to the rocker in the nose or not settinbg down the sander flat when you start sanding or not keeping it flat while sanding. There are other reasons that swirlies happen. When I'm sanding a gloss I kind of lift the sander to keep the full weight of it off the board, this will keep the sand paper from loading up real fast and lessen the chance of swirlies or deep swirlies. Shallow swirlies can be rubbed out pretty easy or use some 600 to take them off before rubbing out. You'll figure it out and probably kick your self in the okole saying why didn't I think of that sooner. When ever I come across a potential problem I sit down and give it a lot of thought since it's better than making a mistake and having to fix it. Aloha,Kokua
1500 grit? WHOA…save some money and stick on some white printer paper to your sander. lol