Yep; 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000. Sanding at 90 degrees to the last grit each time so that I can see any heavier scratches still remaining.

Really a bit tricky to answer. For one, not all gel coats have excellent gloss or polishing characteristics, some will only ever reach a reasonable gloss.

Two, 2000 grit isnt actually all that fine - I sand to 4000 grit before compounding. You can get there from 2000, it will just take longer. So it's quite possible you just havent polished long enough. 

And three, compounding to an exceptional level actually takes quite a lot of experience. Having the best machine and pads and compounds is half the battle - the other half is knowing how hard to push,  how fast to cut, when to slow down, when to apply more compound, when you have too much compound, etc. etc. It took me years to get to a point where I can totally remove all scratches, swirls and holograms. That's not to say you cant achieve it, just that you might need a bit more time with it than you expected!

Alright did a couple other tests.. I had another smaller tray mold which I didn't sand the mold, nor sanded the part. It does still mimic the surface of the original tray so it has very very small waves in it. But the test was to see if it was my buffing pads that were making the swirl marks and it wasn't,  seen in the pic that is looks pretty good. Minus I didn't fully shape the tray yet.



Now I sanded it with 2000 grit and then used the highest cutting compound I have and still have sand marks.. I don't have anything past 2000.. I buffed it 4 times and it got rid of a little of it. Do I need to go even higher in grit to try and get rid of it?  You can see the sand marks when it bounces off the light.. Is this gel coat made of steel lol... Geez having a hell of a time cutting through it.

I'm pretty new here and I got a question. First I want to say I've learned a lot and been browsing all the questions and answers people have and learned so much in so little time from it.  I'm pretty new to infusion (this is my first piece I've made)  but have made some fiberglass stuff in the past where the gel coat surface I didn't have to worry about having the mirror finish. I have a couple gallons of clear gel coat and I want to use it for some personal projects but having a sanding issue. I decided to just make a test mold to make sure I got the process down before I tackle something more complicated. So I choose a random tray I had sitting around.  I've sanded it down to 2000 grit and buffed it with geez.. 4 different types of buffing compound and I still have sand marks. I've used even up to high cut compound by meguiers which is a 12 and their highest cutting compound and still have them. All the way down to a show room glaze compound. Really just to see what would work best. I've used 3 different types of foam pads and wool pads and still.. It was very hard to take pictures of it so I tried my best. The first picture is of the sand marks. I have to bounce the light off them for the camera to pic them up.

The part looks good from a little farther away but I can see the sand marks. I only buffed the flat surface of it so far so and ran into the problem. I take it out in the sun and you really can't see them but I put it under my LED lights I have in my garage and they just pop out at ya. 

Also here is a picture of my setup and what I have tried without good results in my eyes. I've tried everything that I have already to make it work. Before people just say to clear coat it.. Well.. I have this gel coat and it's new stock and I want to learn it all including using the clear gel.  I've showed it to people and most can't notice when it is outside or under normal lights. They see it under the LED and they can.  Am I just being to hard on myself or is just the LED lights picking up every imperfection better than normal light? Are there better products or pads or just about anything to make this easier?  Kinda lost right now on my next step to get the sand marks out. Any suggestions would be appreciated Thanks in advance