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I have a rather large surface to wet sand and I was thinking of using a DA rather than doing it by hand to save time, then just rinse it with a water hose as I sand. But I wonder if getting the DA wet will ruin it? I would assume they should be sealed enough for that if dust don't hurt them I've always like good ol' fashioned hand sanding because you can basically feel what you're doing so I may just decide to take extra time and do it by hand to ensure a better job.

[willys36@aol.com]

Assuming you mean an air powered DA, water won't hurt it. If you plan on using an electric one, send me your name and address. I want to take out one of those $1 life insurance policies on you! Be sure to lube it internally after every use (like I have EVER lubed any of my air tools in 15 years!!).

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Of course I mean an air powered DA silly, that's why I asked the question about an "AIR POWERED DA" (you better reread the question a couple of times),,,guess you've been out in that hot CA sun too long No offense of course, just giving ya some ***** P.S.,,,Why on earth would you take out a one dollar insurance policy someone That doesn't seem like much payout-

[willys36@aol.com]

It ain't the sun, it's advanced Alzheimer's! The insurance policy idea comes from when I was an engineer @ an oil company in the 70s. When we engineers had to fly some where for a business meeting, the drafting department would rush down and buy a $1, 7-day insurance policy on us. Payout would have been $100,000. Don't even know if they sell them any more.

[julmer]

If you hook a water hose to your sander in place of an air line, it will absolutely ruin it.

[willys36@aol.com]

Originally posted by julmer
If you hook a water hose to your sander in place of an air line, it will absolutely ruin it.

Good point. And if you water your lawn with your air hose, that will ruin it too. These are all facts that you can derive when you become one with the universal cosmic purity.

[MARTINSR]

Willy's, what the heck is "lube" and how do you use it with your air tools? No kidding, I am pretty bad at that, I use them everyday and lube them about once every year if that. I do have to say have lubed my crap Chinese angle grinder (no offense to my Chinese friends) I bought at Harbor Frieght regularly. It lasted one year before it started "growling". My Chicago pnumatic was never oiled and it lasted four years. Well, that was a good experiment.


Back to the topic at hand, why wet sand at all? You don't have to wet sand, and in fact wet sanding is going the way of the DoDo bird. We don't even wet sand clear to buff anymore where I work. We "da" (actually it is a fine orbial sander made by DynaBrade) clear with 1500, 2000 and 3000 DRY prior to buffing. It works GREAT, the polishing guy loves it, no mess, no cold, wrinkley hands.


As far as prepping primer or existing paint for repaint, just dry sand it with the DA and 320 if you plan on a sealer and paint. Or if you want to move up a notch, go to 400 or 500. I have "Daed" (again, a fine orbial sander was used) urethane primer on a complete with 400, base coated right over that and cleared. It worked very well and I see one of these cars all the time, the paint still looks VERY good. It had some super tiny sand scratches visible if you look REAL close under the right light. But for what I was after, it worked better expected.

[willys36@aol.com]

Martin; wouldn't those 'super tiny sanding scratches' disappear if you polished the paint? I'm planning to do this on a job I am working on and don't want to have sanding scratches in the final lob.

[MARTINSR]

Willy's, these are in the primer so you would have to sand into the paint (thru the clear) to get to them. But all you have to do is use a finer paper or if you were to seal it there probably wouldn't be a problem.

I am talking some pretty small stuff. I would be willing to bet this car could sit at a Goodguys event (it is a beautiful bright red 65 Mustang fastback) next to some car without these "flaws" and no one would be the wiser.

Or, after sanding, dry guide coat it and run over it by hand with 600? I don't know, I don't think I would worry about it.

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Doesn't DA'ing with dry paper get dusty? I tried wet sanding with the DA today with 400 grit and it was as messy as all get out. I finally just said piss on it and went back to hand sanding. Now I have sores on some of my fingertips. I guess next time I'll put tape on my fingertips before I start