black.margaret•27d agoMost Upvoted

That painter in Phoenix told me I was wasting time on color sanding

I was wet sanding a jet black hood at a shop in Phoenix about 6 months ago and this veteran painter walked up and said 'you're wasting your life chasing perfection on factory clear.' He argued that modern clear coats are too thin to color sand without burning through, and that good spray technique beats sanding every time. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out mid-job like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.drew27d ago

Wait, hold on. You're telling me a painter actually walked up and said that to you mid-stroke? That's wild, man. @jesse_barnes37 I totally get what you mean about old timers spotting overthinking, but that guy was straight up disrespectful to call you out like that. I've color sanded plenty of factory clears and yeah, you gotta be careful, but it's not impossible if you know what you're doing. A good sand and buff can make a huge difference, especially on a jet black hood where every little orange peel stands out. Sounds like that painter was just set in his old ways and didn't want to admit there's more than one way to get a perfect finish.

jesse_barnes3727d ago

Old timers are great at spotting when you're overthinking something that's already good enough.

carr.willow15d ago

Honestly this whole thread reminds me of something that happened to my buddy Marco when we were both starting out. He was wet sanding a pearl white bumper on a Lexus and this crusty old body shop guy comes over and just watches him for like five minutes without saying anything. Then he goes 'you're gonna burn through that clear by lunch' and walks off. And sure enough Marco hit the edge a little too hard and right through to the base coat. The old guy didn't even gloat he just handed him a fresh can of clear and said 'now you know why I said it.' So yeah I think there's some truth to what that Phoenix painter said, especially on factory jobs where the clear is thin as paper. But at the same time if you're careful and use the right grit progression you can still get results, it's just a gamble every time.