This 3M polish any good between nitro coats?

[uOpt]

Is this 3M Polish suitable to use between nitro coats?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

If not what do you like?

Any idea what the shelf life of this stuff is? A quart will last me a while.

(I used to use scratchx but they now have a "scratchx 2" and I'm too lazy to call them to ask about silicone.)

[Smilodon]

Why do you need to polish between coats? Polishing between coats could cause problems with adhesion for the next coat.

Just sand if necessary to get the finish reasonably level. Polish should be done after the final wet sanding.

[uOpt]

Force of habit I guess.

But is this suitable for the buff of the final coat?

[Hopkins]

Polishing between coats is a terrible idea. The wax in the polish will cause adhesion problems in the next coats.

I keep any kinds of wax far away during finishing.

[Smilodon]

I guess you could use it for the final polish, but i would recommend finding something intended to be applied by hand. Doing a hand polish is a bit slower, but is much safer.

On my last finish I used the 4 step compound from Stewmac. (Applied using foam pads on a drill) followed by Meguiars Deep Crystal 3 step system.

I'm not entirely happy with the compound from Stewmac, though. The compund is a bit too sticky for my linking. I have used Scholl concepts S17 followed by S30. Both should be silicone free. The stuff from scholl is intended for machine polishing, though.

As a final step I always apply a coat of Meguiars NXT wax which I also use as a "refresh" wax as well.

Keep in mind that I did use all of these products on 2K poly, not nitro. YMMW

[uOpt]

I don't think this product has wax, Hopkins.

In any case, I take the point, I should probably snoop around a bit more and ask the reranchers or a similar group. Not buying.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by uOpt

I don't think this product has wax, Hopkins.

In any case, I take the point, I should probably snoop around a bit more and ask the reranchers or a similar group. Not buying.

Dont buy it all you want. There are people here that have sprayed a ton of nitro and none of us polish between coats. But its your finish, if you are happy with fish eyes and poor adhesion by all means go ahead.

[Big B.]

I would never use a polishing compound between coats. There is too much potential issues with adhesion and no positive to be gained. A medium high grit paper or sponge is more than adequate for leveling.
You can disbelieve or not but if you research finishing procedures you won't find anyone advocating polishing between coats.

[wcoffey81]

the only polishing i will suggest is with some 600-1200 grit sandpaper. avoid any polishing agent like the plague. wax free-silicon free doesn't matter here please take our advice or your next thread will be something like this: i spent all this time and money painting my bass with nitro and it came out looking like this (insert several pictures here) what happened?? and what do i do now?

[Beej]

Funny, I read his post as "I'm not buying the product" rather than "I'm not buying the advice" as some have assumed. Maybe he'll be back to clarify...

[Musiclogic]

Polish - it is normally used with Finesse - it compounds to build final gloss, and would not be recommended between coats of nitro, only as a final polish situation.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by Beej

Funny, I read his post as "I'm not buying the product" rather than "I'm not buying the advice" as some have assumed. Maybe he'll be back to clarify...

If that's the case then I apologize, but his comment didn't come off to me the way you described it.

[AdamR]

Like said, Dont use any polish between coats. You will cause problems. The 3M is body shop safe which means no silicone but it will still cause a problem.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by Musiclogic

Polish - it is normally used with Finesse - it compounds to build final gloss, and would not be recommended between coats of nitro, only as a final polish situation.

Good stuff! I use it for mild scratch removal and work it with a Dremel rag wheel which is adequate for addressing small areas.

Riis

[Scott in Dallas]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

If that's the case then I apologize, but his comment didn't come off to me the way you described it.

If so, you're not alone. I read it the same way you did: "I don't like your answer, I'll go look somewhere else until I find the one I want." Maybe I misread it too. That's the problem with print sometimes. Regardless of whether there's wax in it or not, I've never seen a suggestion other than to only polish after all coats are down and the nitro's cured.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

Good stuff! I use it for mild scratch removal and work it with a Dremel rag wheel which is adequate for addressing small areas.

Riis

You use your Dremel to polish wood finish? A Dremel would be way to fast, it would burn through what ever finish was on there.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by Hopkins

You use your Dremel to polish wood finish? A Dremel would be way to fast, it would burn through what ever finish was on there.

Slowest speed w/ a rag wheel works well. A felt wheel will burn through anything in a heartbeat. Working by hand is by far the safest if in doubt.

Riis

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

Slowest speed w/ a rag wheel works well. A felt wheel will burn through anything in a heartbeat. Working by hand is by far the safest if in doubt.

Riis

I use an electric buffer, or a drill with a drill buffing pad attachment. Slow to intermediate speeds work best.

[joebar]

the 3m system is the industry standard-there is a #1,2,3 to the process.
you showed #2.
don't polish between coats; only sand. between coats i am unsure as to what grit to use.
as for the final sanding, start with 1500-and go to 3000 to remove most orange peel issues. start with#1-this removes the sand marks. #2 removes the swirl #1 causes. #3 puts on the gloss and removes the very fine swirl that #2 creates.
sanding and polishing should be done by a pro.
final layer of clear should be thicker than previous ones; that way you have more to work with when doing final sanding.
i am a professional detailer who specializes in wet sanding\polishing.

[Hopkins]

Originally Posted by joebar

the 3m system is the industry standard-there is a #1,2,3 to the process.
you showed #2.
don't polish between coats; only sand. between coats i am unsure as to what grit to use.
as for the final sanding, start with 1500-and go to 3000 to remove most orange peel issues. start with#1-this removes the sand marks. #2 removes the swirl #1 causes. #3 puts on the gloss and removes the very fine swirl that #2 creates.
sanding and polishing should be done by a pro.
final layer of clear should be thicker than previous ones; that way you have more to work with when doing final sanding.
i am a professional detailer who specializes in wet sanding\polishing.

Starting with 1500 grit will take you 6 years to get the finish level. Starting with 400 or 600 and working your way up is much more efficient.

Other than a light wash coat to seal the wood, I spray every coat as heavy as possible without runs. The final layer should be no thicker than any previous coat. With nitro each coat burns into the previous anyway.

I use Meguiars, light cut cleaner to do final buffing and polishing. I have never had any reason to use anything more abrasive, or any kind of swirl removers to get a perfect finish. Why would you come on an instrument building forum, where people are either experienced or are trying to learn the art of building basses and advise them that anything should be done by a "pro". The reason they are here asking questions is because they are learning. There is nothing technically difficult about wet sanding and polishing. Anyone with a bit of patience can pull it off.