imported_jj2ii3344

Hello!

I want to educate myself more on the topic of sanding:

1. What does sanding exactly do? Is it basically used to smooth out the surface of an object (let's use bumper as an example), and to remove old paint?

2. Is wet-sanding essentially sanding using a wet sand paper?

3. How does wet-sanding differ from just dry sanding? What is the purpose of wet-sanding?

4. What is the best way to sand an object, is it by using a top-bottom motion, or a circular motion?

5. Given that time is not a constraint, is sanding an object manually with hand better or sanding using an orbital machine?

Thanks all!

Gallagher

your in vancouver man ? Since when?

imported_hdave

just wait til team ruckus hits this thread up for the right answers.

possibly wrogn answers:
i think wet sanding is a really fine grit sandpaper
if time is no issue its always better by band IMO

RDub99

iTrader: (1)

1. Depends what your goals are - if you want to remove alot of material use a lower grit sand paper (rougher, leaves deeper scratches). If you want to smooth something out then use a higher grit sand paper. If you need to do both, then use a combination.

2. Wet sanding is a different type of sand paper that is a really fine grit and you spray water on the piece and then sand it.

3. Wet sanding you use water, regular sanding you don't. Wet sanding is a finer grit, making the surface smoother

4. Circular is probably better, not really sure if it matters though

5. By hand is better because you have a better feel for what you're doing. But its up to you and what you want to do, if you need to remove a lot of material and smooth it out, you could use a machine to remove the material and sand by hand to smooth it out. You just have to watch you don't go crazy with the machine, like holding it in one spot or going to deep with it cuz it will ruin your piece.

imported_Team Rukus

lets not listen to anything rob said.
thank you.
LOL

What does sanding do? Simple it sands down the surface to your needs depending on what you wanna do. For example with a polyurathane bumper if the bumper had paint on it already i would use a 360 grit sandpaper and sand it down to my liking depending on how deep i want to go into the paint. then i would use a 400 to smooth the surface and then 600 wetsand to smooth it out even more. (never use lower grit sandpaper on plastic like bumpers etc because you will turn the bumper to ****)

wetsanding is essentially like sanding using a wetsand paper however this sand paper is specifically made for it to be wet. and your not supposed to spray water on it actually it should wet all the time (ie. bucket full of water or soap water and sand paper inside it)

wetsanding is not needed but is done to give a better finish to the product. because dry sand can never be able to give it a perfect smoothness you use water to assist however when doing that you will need to use a special sandpaper made to be soaked in water.

best way to sand an item is based on what it is you are sanding. Circular motion is 100 percent a NO NO. as it will give you uneven surfaces. best would be side to side or X pattern sanding.

the last question has nothing to do with the machine or manual labour. It has to do with brains. If it takes the machine 10 mins to sand a bumper it will take 4-5 hours to sand that same bumper by hand. So obviously its better to use the machine. Then after using the machine go over it with a fine grit sandpaper by hand to give it that human touch. simple as that.

RDub99

iTrader: (1)

thats pretty much what I said, I just generalized it.. oh except for the circular thing

imported_Team Rukus

RDub99

iTrader: (1)

I was dead wrong on that one

also I do wood working mostly, not body work.. I've only painted my interior..

imported_jj2ii3344

OMG, that was so informative!
Does the same prep process apply to fiberglass products as well? (spoiler, bumpers)?

Thanks!

imported_Team Rukus

to some extent.