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What is wetsanding (I've seen pics n such, but wanna know more about it)? I wanna know how its done, its purpose, how to use the sandpaper, why it should be kept wet. Basically, everything, cuz I don't have one clue about how/when its used!
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In the simplest terms wetsanding is just that, sanding wet rather than dry. In the world of auto paints it’s normally done with water (but it’s theoretically possible to use other liquids).
Using abrasives with liquids is very common, using a whetstone and honing oil to sharpen a knife for example. The liquid lubricates and cools the abrasives and surface, producing cleaner, more controlled cutting while carrying away waste particulates (swarf).
Wetsanding paint typically cuts cleaner and more constantly than dry sanding (although there are specialized abrasives that can be used dry on paint) so the resulting scratch pattern is easier to buff out. The water carries away abraded paint particles so they don’t interfere with continued sanding. It’s also common to add a little soap to the water to improve lubricity.
Wetsanding is used to remove surface defects like runs, dirt, dullness and excessive orange peel from a finish.
Describing how to do it would take longer than I have right now (and there are certainly people with more experience at it than I have anyway) so hopefully someone else can chime in.
Meguiar’s Video page has a segment on color sanding.
PC. -
Oops, typo - should read "more consistently than dry sanding" not "constantly".
Also Meguiar's main server apparently went offline for maintenance or something while I was typing last night and I couldn't link to the page with Meguiar's VHS video. Here it is: Meguiar's training video.
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