DA Sanders…School Me

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  • December 16, 2009 at 8:23 pm #17971

    OK Boys, had a great time in the old garage last night :unsure: I’ve got the car in the garage finally (at -30°C pushing the car in through 2 feet of snow – joy) and have begun sanding in preparation for a complete respray. The hood has at least 3 coats of red paint and I’ve decided to DA it off. My cheapo knock off didn’t seem really up to the challenge, so I broke out my old DA (it’s about 20 years old). It worked better than the cheap one but I was using 80 grit (Norton blue disks) and the paint still took litterally hours to take off the top coat! I’m going down one coat at a time – no fun at all. I don’t want to strip the hood as the factory primers are very good on the Volvo and I don’t want to touch them as the paint seems sound.

    Now the old DA has a nasty habbit of whacking me in the finger (that’s why it was retired) – it has a rotating counter weight and I usually end up loosing a finger nail when I put my hand it the wrong spot (like on the head of the sander).

    So the cheap tool is destined for the garbage – what should I buy for a good DA? Also, has anyone got any advice on hurrying up this job. I don’t have 2 weeks to sand the damn car :exci

    December 16, 2009 at 10:00 pm #17977

    3M makes a good sander, wont take bust your fingers! its faster then the regular DA’s and doesnt consume so much air. as far as sanding goes, 80 grit is more then sufficient, finish with finer paper and Norton is a good brand. it shouldnt take you more then 3 hours if your really removing a lot of material. most cars i sand which are typically full size Crown Vic’s take any where between 45 mins to 2 hours depending on the condition of the original paint. as far as the factory primer goes, dont sweat it, youll have to reprime anyways since your using such harsh grit

    December 17, 2009 at 6:40 am #18004

    I picked up a Dynabrade DA – not doing any sanding tonight, but when I tested it, it was so much smoother than what I’ve been using. No fast moving parts to whack fingers either. Who’s got a Dynabrade (non vac, 6″, 3/16 orbit, PSA) – thoughts?

    December 17, 2009 at 7:40 am #18009

    I do have a Dynabrade, but RO!
    Got it yesterday, haven’t used it yet but it sure feels great
    in my hand and I’m sure its a smooth sander thats going to
    last me a long time.

    [URL=http://img130.imageshack.us/i/dsc0707q.jpg/][IMG]http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/9162/dsc0707q.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

    December 17, 2009 at 8:31 am #18012

    Get yourself an 8 inch variable speed polisher with a 8 inch feather edge pad on it.Then get some 8 inch 80 or 40 grit disks and run that polisher at about 1000rpm and take your time.When you are down to metal just go over it with your da and 80 grit to clean it up and prepare for body work,you can strip a car in a day doing it this way.No need to save your factory primer,after 3 plus paint jobs its safer to go down to bare metal and faster too.You are in Lethbridge right?Go to Offshore auto body supply and ask for Randy or Chris,they will treat you right,tell them Jayson from Kustom sent you 😉

    December 17, 2009 at 9:07 am #18013

    Hey Jayson,

    Where the heck is Offshore Autobody Supply (damn – just looked them up, I live about 6 – 8 blocks away…damit)? I’ve been going to Silver and Wayne always cuts me a good deal. Always looking for other options/products. I’ve got an 8″ polisher, but won’t be doing the entire car, just the hood and front fenders – the rest has a thin coat of white over the original paint.

    So you’re at Kustom – heard good things about you guys.

    Craig

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