Doing some buffing on fresh clear. Got a few places of light orange peel and some dust in a recent spray job. I've mostly always used the foam wheels, I know theres the eggcrate shaped foam, the smooth foam and the wool of course. Whats the prefered method for buffing a fresh clear job?
In my shop, we got away from the wool many years ago. We use the 3M system of foam pads & heavy/light compounds, then swirl remover, then glaze.
Sand the orange peel & dust out rather than just trying to buff it out. Foam is more forgiving than wool.
Yes, I've sanded it out, now to buff it back. Figured foam was the way to go, just rarely buff fresh paint. I like buffing old paint much more.... its lived its life, so if I kill it i dont feel so bad.
I like the 3m rubbing compound system too. It's not cheap and there's 4 steps and 4 foam pads so it's actually "not cheap x 4" but I like it.
X3 on the 3M system and I also think it is more forgiving. I hand sand wet up to 2400, then start to buff.
Use the foam pads, there's a white, black, and blue. I always final sand with 3000 also. That's makes buffing so much easier.
I like to start with wool and finish with foam. Wool seems to cut much faster to get your initial shine.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/wet-sanding-cutting-buffing/ This forum will blow you away. What # grit did you finish sand? What polisher DA or rotary? Yellow wool 3M is softer and will quickly put down a shine. Follow that w/foam black 3M.
I've used wool in the past but with the 3m system that goes up to 5000 grit I don't see a need. Foam all the way.
I ran out of 3M compound on the last car I painted and ran to get more. My supplier was out of 3M so I decided to try the Presta 2-step system with the black and white wool pad and the yellow foam. I followed up with a 3M glazing. I'll be honest - it buffed better, quicker, and cleaned up nicer than the 3M. However, this is based on only one job. I'm wrapping up a black '60 Pontiac so I'll know more in the coming weeks.
x2 I won't use anything but Presta. Many off topic show winners that I polished with it. Wool is the only way to cut. Then finish with foam.
I guess one of the advantages of being self-taught when it comes to body work and paint is I have learned to try new things, read a whole lot, and adapt when things go haywire. I bounce around between foam (flat, waffle, various densities, etc) and wool. I've used different compounds, glazes, etc. What I've learned is no single product serves my purposes all the time. Different paints, different hardeners, different conditions, different colors....I'll try different products on a job until I am happy with the results. I also ask my supplier a lot of questions....must of their customers frequent them more often than I do so they get a lot of feedback that would take me a lot of trial and error to figure out. I try to go in educated but not with my mind set. Foam is a lot more forgiving, so I tend to do as much as possible with foam. I'd rather creep up on an edge or ridge with foam...it's more predictable and easier to watch. I also never rely on buffing to get rid of dust as indicated by the OP - wetsanding is a requirement.