Jon's 3rd build: DTL-1

[jonwhitear]

Wet sanding has more of a polishing effect than abrading of dry sanding.
You can do a test on a piece of scrap that has finish on it: wet sand one area, then dry sand next to it. You can physically see the difference.

Cool. Thanks. I have learnt something today ;-)

[Freakystyley]

Cool. Thanks. I have learnt something today ;-)

Me too. Thanks


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[jonwhitear]

So I lightly sanded back with 800 grit, and sprayed another coat of clear. Unfortunately this last coat has developed a bloom, presumably because it was a rather humid day. Bit of a silly mistake in retrospect, but there you go. I'll let it cure then sand it out. Is there anything else I can do?

[McCreed]

So I lightly sanded back with 800 grit, and sprayed another coat of clear. Unfortunately this last coat has developed a bloom, presumably because it was a rather humid day. Bit of a silly mistake in retrospect, but there you go. I'll let it cure then sand it out. Is there anything else I can do?

I don't use nitro, but it does have some advantages over acrylic lacquer when it comes to repairs, and fixing bloom.
I've copied this from Rothko & Frost website:

"To cure blooming, key the bloomed lacquer to 600 grit, then apply a light coat of lacquer over the top. This will re-dissolve the existing lacquer allowing the moisture to escape. It should now dry to a clear finish. It is important that this process is performed in a dry, room-temperature environment."

[jonwhitear]

That’s good to know, thanks McCreed. I shall wait for a Sydney day with low humidity, which might be a while!

[XP Rider]

Jonwhitear, I just picked up this thread. I too ended up with a slight orange peel while spraying with nitro (metallic blue), and decided that I didn't want to keep sanding and spraying and sanding and spraying. I finally got a coat that's evenly orange peeled, and decided I rather like it. Sanded the last clear coat lightly, polished with Meguires, and I'm going ahead with it. Don't know whether that is an option for you.

[XP Rider]

BTW, love the grain and the color!!

[jonwhitear]

Thanks XP Rider. I'm hoping I'm going to address the orange peel when I get to the final sand / polish. I think/hope I've got a fairly thick layer of clear over the blue. The orange peel wasn't really too bad.

Fortunately, we've had a fairly low humidity day today, and I got a chance to key the bloom and respray. That seems to have done the job nicely, although I ran out of nitro before I had really got enough on the edges.

[McCreed]

That seems to have done the job nicely, although I ran out of nitro before I had really got enough on the edges.

Did you at least get all the bloom?

[jonwhitear]

Did you at least get all the bloom?

Yes I think so. There may be traces left on the edges, but you’d have to look pretty hard to find them.