Is this a way to assume plenty of workable clearcoat?

W

White95Max

New member
I was just thinking..."should I be worried about polishing a customer's paint with the rotary and removing too much (or all) of the clearcoat?"

But then I came up with this question:

If there is orange peel left, there must be plenty of clear left right? And you would always be polishing the orange peel wouldn't you? - Since it always sits above the rest of the clearcoat? Or is there OP in the base coat too?



I guess my assumption is that if there is noticeable OP, then there should be nothing to worry about in terms of too much clear removal.

Is this a reasonable assumption?
 
I think so, I talked with a local Professional Detailer in my area that seemed to know his stuff. He said that OP is "one way" but not the most accurate way. I guess if that's the ONLY indication then yea you could go on that. But then again some parts of the paint maybe thinner than others.



I wish I could afford a paint thickness meter! :(
 
White95Max said:
.........I guess my assumption is that if there is noticeable OP, then there should be nothing to worry about in terms of too much clear removal.

Is this a reasonable assumption?
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I don't know about that one Paul. If you were wet-sanding with a block then I'd think you could hit the high spots and not the low spots (if you were very careful). When compounding with a foam pad I think it will contact to both the high and low areas due to the nature of the foam.
 
Quote: I guess my assumption is that if there is noticeable OP, then there should be nothing to worry about in terms of too much clear removal.

Is this a reasonable assumption?



â€ËœOrange peelâ€â„¢ is not necessarily thicker paint, only paint that has a dimpled appearance that paint takes on due to an equipment/operator caused defect. Like wrong paint-gun pressure and/or distance from panel, an operator not knowing how to set-up the equipment for that particular type of paint, or even a partly blocked paint-gun nozzle, improper pre-paint preparation and /or paint application, or uneven drying of the clear coat.

JonM
 
Eliot Ness said:
I don't know about that one ...When compounding with a foam pad I think it will contact to both the high and low areas due to the nature of the foam.
Click to expand...



Yeah, you can't "only work the high spots" unless you're using something rigid (e.g., a sanding block). Despite some recent threads and links that "prove" how little clear a rotary takes off, I'd sure be careful doing somebody else's car with one (especially a car whose history is unknown to you).



And consider this: most people are gonna mar the finish anyhow. As long as they don't *expect* a flawless finish I don't think you should necessarily feel obligated to provide one. How many times could you cut the clear if they come back for more? Many non-Autopians don't even *see* marring, much less care about it.
 
Yeah this season I am going to make sure I know what the customer wants. If they don't care about marring, I'm happy to just leave it there and go to some AIO or something. Or I could just do NXT on a polishing pad, and top with carnauba.

At least the NXT would hide the swirls a bit.
 
the orange peal could be in the actual paint or even in the primer, not just in the clearcoat. only a thickness meter will tell the true story
 
thats the problem with bc/cc. there is twice the likely hood of orange peel defect.



both the base coat or the clear may have the orange peel. wetsanding the clear coat wont do diddley if the OP is in the base coat.
 
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