help with polishing ( swirl marks )

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help with polishing ( swirl marks )

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jingato	j jingato posted 4 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 9, Visits: 48	Hi. I am working on the final stage of my first carbon fiber skinning project. I used all XRC products and carbon from easy composites and the process went smoothly. I did do some of the early sanding with a random orbital sander at 240 grit. I then wet sanded by hand using circular motions from 400 up to 3000. At that stage, the product looked really good, but had a dull, matte finish. I don't recall having any noticeable swirl marks at that time, but it is possible they just weren't visible. Anyways, today I did the polishing. I did all polishing using pads that I also bought on easy composite and attached to my random orbital sander. I started with the NW1 super cutting compound ( black ), then used the TopFinish 2 ( black ), and then finished it off with the EasyGloss. Below is the final result. As you can see, there are a lot of swirl marks. I'm not really sure how to proceed now. Should I just try a second round of polishing? Should I go all the way back to the sanding stage? Should I give it another coat of resin? Or should I spray it with some automotive clear coat? I have the clear coat and wouldn't mind doing that, but would that fill in the swirl marks? I don't want to spray it and then regret it. What do you guys with experience recommend? Thanks! Tags finish polish polishing sanding swirls
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jingato	j jingato posted 4 Years Ago HOT Post Details
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 9, Visits: 48	Just wanted to give a quick update and also let you guys know about a product I found and used. So I tried the regular spray can clear coat and the orange peel was horrible. I sanded it and got most of it gone, but couldn't get it all. Then polished it and it was ok but not great. I started doing research into 2k clears and I found one, and only one, that is a available in a spray can, since i don't have the equipment otherwise. It's called SprayMax 2K Clear Glamour. Here is a link to their site. You can find it an Amazon, Walmart, or other online retailers to buy. I sprayed it with that and the result was amazing. No orange peel at all. It's as close to a professional spray gun as you are going to get! I gave it a light sanding after and then polished and the final product is a perfect mirror finish! I didn't polish the larger piece yet, but here is the small gas door cover I did so you can see the result
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beliblisk	b beliblisk posted 4 Years Ago Post Details
b Group: Forum Members Posts: 53, Visits: 2.8K	When removing orange peal most of the time you dont need to get it 100% flat (unless you are looking for glass like perfection). Its a pain in the ass to get all sanding marks out anyway so for larger stuff i just level area a bit to remove printrought from postcure and apply 2k UHS clear (and sometimes thats a problem on its own doe to mini pinholes). There is no "best method" and its just a question what gives good finish in as little time as possible. With cf there are a lot of possible ways to address imperfections from manufacturing (small mishaps happen) they just take time and you get better and faster over time For the record i hate trimming and sanding but uts all part of the job. Keep up the good work
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 4 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	+x beliblisk - 11/8/2020 9:03:36 PM When removing orange peal most of the time you dont need to get it 100% flat (unless you are looking for glass like perfection). Its a pain in the ass to get all sanding marks out anyway so for larger stuff i just level area a bit to remove printrought from postcure and apply 2k UHS clear (and sometimes thats a problem on its own doe to mini pinholes). There is no "best method" and its just a question what gives good finish in as little time as possible. With cf there are a lot of possible ways to address imperfections from manufacturing (small mishaps happen) they just take time and you get better and faster over time For the record i hate trimming and sanding but uts all part of the job. Bang on, agree with all of this - especially the last sentence I agree with not completely removing the orange peel, as orange peel will actually hide print-through to a degree and can keep the part looking better for longer. A glass flat surface looks unreal at first, but over time as the resin continues to shrink and heat cycles effect the finish, sometimes it is better to have a bit of orange peel to make the surface look more natural and 'intentional'. Obviously it has to be good looking and consistent orange peel though, so good technique and equipment help.
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jingato	j jingato posted 4 Years Ago Post Details
j Group: Forum Members Posts: 9, Visits: 48	+x beliblisk - 11/8/2020 9:03:36 PM When removing orange peal most of the time you dont need to get it 100% flat (unless you are looking for glass like perfection). Its a pain in the ass to get all sanding marks out anyway so for larger stuff i just level area a bit to remove printrought from postcure and apply 2k UHS clear (and sometimes thats a problem on its own doe to mini pinholes). There is no "best method" and its just a question what gives good finish in as little time as possible. With cf there are a lot of possible ways to address imperfections from manufacturing (small mishaps happen) they just take time and you get better and faster over time For the record i hate trimming and sanding but uts all part of the job. Keep up the good work Holy crap, that looks ridiculous. I literally was looking at it for at least a minute trying to understand why you posted an image of a shed door. I didn't even realize that the cf part was there because it looked like a mirror with some shadows. Impressive work. What is print-through anyway?
	Reply Like 1