Wet sanding after final clear coat spray

[LexLuthier]

Hey everyone,

I am wondering if the risk of a final wet sand is worth the reward (Trini Lopez Hollow Body Model, metallic gold paint).

Some background:

I am super excited to finish this project but waiting for the nitro paint to de-gas. I did a sealer coat, three coats of nitro paint, and 13 coats of clear coat. I am intimidated by the final wet sanding and worried about making it look worse (eg scratched up) instead of shiny. Is this concern unnecessary paranoia?

My plan is to wet sand with 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, and 3000 grit. I have a random orbital sander but may just use the paper discs by hand given that it's a hollow body.

I intend to tape off the holes I don't want water in, spray lightly with soapy water, and use dry sanding papers (either on the orbital sander or by hand) with all of the above mentioned paper grits.

Ultimately I think my questions boils down to the following:

1) how risky is wet sanding a fully sprayed guitar after you've waited the appropriate amount of time to cure the finish? Put another way, is it sometimes best to just be happy with the results you got from the rattle cans and forego the final wet sand?

2) Should I even use the orbital sander or only hand-sand?

Any input, info, or criticisms of my plan would be appreciated. Let me know if I am overthinking this!

Thanks everyone

[McCreed]

FWIW, I have never *not* wet sanded a guitar finish. Even on my best spray jobs, there has been orange peel to contend with, and especially from rattle cans (I use a gun btw). There are more highly experienced spray painters here than I, and I know they still have to do at least some wet sanding, so I take some solace in that!

The first thing I would recommend is NOT using any powered sander. You're just asking for trouble IMO. Do it all by hand, and all the flat areas with a block and radiused areas in-hand, IYKWIM.

Second, either go very lightly or avoid sanding sharp or even tightly radiused edges. These areas always have the thinnest amount of finish and are prone to sand-through (and ultimately heartache).

The last advice comes with the caveat that this is the way I do it, and others' opinions or experience may be different.

When you start your initial level sanding, don't try to erase every single tiny orange peel dimple that you see in the first go. I find that after working through my finer grits, if I still have about 10% of tiny dimples left from when I started, they won't be visible after the final polish & buff and trying to remove every teeny imperfection increases the risk of a sand-through.

The decision of whether or not to wet sand is yours to make, but I can see a difference between an unpolished and polished clear coat, even with a gloss lacquer. At least with my finishes!

[LexLuthier]

Thanks! I will go for it and wet sand by hand. I was primarily worried about scratching it up. If I use paper meant for orbital sanders (those discs with holes in it), would that be problematic? I already have them and don't want them to go to waste. Given that the ES really doesn't have flat spots, I don't think i'll even use a sanding block (bare hand only). Let me know if that's a mistake!

Also, if you don't mind - if I am not using a powered sander, should I soak the paper in soapy water or just rely on lightly wetting the surface with a spray bottle?

Thanks again. I really appreciate your advice!

[fender3x]

You do have to be careful with all those curves. I have done a lot of the sanding on my two ES guitars with 3M maroon and gray sanding pads. I use them dry, but I rinse them when the get clogged, and then re-use them when they are dry.

I don't think the holes make any difference, but I would not use any sand paper wet that does not say "wet-dry" on the back.

As to the rest, my notes are basically a copy of the procedure I got from McCreed.

[LexLuthier]

Thanks! I thought I bought wet/dry but it turns out I didn't. Good save. Just ordered 3M wet/dry finishing papers.