Ok i admit it i don't have the eye for applying clear(paint)...or else i just don't have the lighting, i would prefer to blame it on the lighting, because really why would i blame myself for all these fricken runs.
.....that is the intro to me blowing way way to much clear on my newly flared car,
mind you it looks great, but there are more than a few runs..er a lot but it is clear and i figure i have a polisher and mucho elbo grease.
so i would like to hear your ideas on how to polish clear, (and runs and drips in clear if you don't mind....)
and how long should i wait for it to cure in this cold weather....zero-ish
step by step

Runs are a bitch but def fixable, the key is dont get ahead of yourself.

You need to start with a razor blade, round the corners with a little sandpaper for safety, and start scraping the run flat focus on just the run itself and work it down over manny light stokes. Specifically keep the blade perpendicular to the panel and lightly drag it over the run which will produce fine confetti of white clearcoat. Dont try to just cut it out, you will irreparably gouge it. You will see and feel the run losing elevation until you are unable to just scrape it without scraping the surrounding clear. Actual drips are the hardest, change directions on them a lot and dont always start at the same spot to avoid making low spots around them.

Now get a very hard very small block, Wesco sells something called the unigrit, these work great, I dont trust the grit in it myself, so I wrap it with a small piece of 1000 grit sandpaper and begin blocking my scrapings till all razor gouges are gone, go to 1200, then get a regular wet sanding block flexable style and move on to 1500 then 2000.

At this point I like to Da the panel with 3000 grit trizact paper from 3m(this is actually my favorite product, i could write a thread about it haha) Although not necessary it cutts buffing time and reduces burn though risk and allows you to see your work quite clearly before you buff(have you ever tried to wetsand after getting compound all over a panel) If you use this remember to keep the panel wet just like wetsanding


GOOD LUCK, we had a run happy painter for a while when I was still a buffer. I have a lot of practice . Feel free to ask any questions


EDIT: I have never met a painter that has made a mistake, ALWAYS the booth, the product, the gun, the temp, the lighting is probably the number one excu- i mean reason for mistakes really

and a good way to know when your clear has cured is jab your fingernail into a run or drip, it shouldn't indent or it is very likely to simply tear off while fixing

I could tear apart Slow914's description and say oh, you should NEVER do that and everyone always does THIS, but I won't because he really gave a great description full of good advice. The only thing that I will add is that I use a short piece of paint stick with 1200 wrapped around it to block out other painter's runs because I don't trust the grit on those silly blocks either.
You see, I never get runs but I've helped other painters fix their runs a lot of times. Not mine, oh no, just other guy's.

Just take your time and DO NOT RUSH

I really have no idea. I'm just learning myself but thought it sounded good

They may sand out just fine, but be careful or you'll sand into the color coat and then your SCREWED, I mean you get to sand it all back to base and reshoot it again. Don't ask me how I know.

The even shittier thing is is you burn through on one you still have to spend the time to get rid of each run with like 600 then 800. Unless you want to go to 240 and reprime, oh god Im re-living so many nightmares right now

I am assuming you put a lot of clear on it but it shouldn't matter I used to do this with two coats(collision shit)



I should say, the key is to razor first, If you try to just wetsand block out runs you will almost certainly burn through right next to them where there is a normal amount of clear. Make it flat with the razor then all you need to do is feather out those scratches, that is a the goal haha.

what about using a nib file? I've seen them... but have used the razor blade thing myself.

The best thing i found that works is if you go to your auto paint shop and get a run razor holder. it holds the blade level and cuts exactly what you want off and will not dig into the base coat. it cost under $10 then the second best thing to get is a buffer from Harbour freight they sell for about $50 a digital buffer that you can get the exact speed/RPM you want get foam pads and then buff it up after sanding you wont be able to tell it ran. I have done it many times on jobs.

if you want i can take a picture of the holder
Matt

Nib files work well but the average person is not gonna have one in there tool box. Razors are cheap and just about every wrench owner has a box of them lying around.

Razor. I've tried the nib file, I've tried the run razor I end up grabbing a blade when needed. the others are nice ideas but not worth the money IMHO.

As I said before, wrap one layer of tape around each end of the blade, this wil prevent you from going too deep. It will leave a bit of run above the surrounding paint for you to hard block with 600 or 1000 if you feel better with that. Sand it out to 1500 min, or go all the way to 3000 if you really wasnt it to buf out nice. 1500 is fine though.

Buffing compound I would recommend would be 3M or Presta, polishing compound after buffing/cutting, I use only 3M. But that's me and my analness

3M buffing/cutting

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3M-Perfect-...omotiveQ5fTools


Presta buffin/cutting

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Presta-Chro...omotiveQ5fTools

3M polishing

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3M-Perfect-...Q2em118Q2el1247


the longer the clear sets the more agressive you can be with the buffer. I have buffed out parts as soon as 6-7 hours, and have done things that sat over a year.

I personally prefer a wool pad for cutting and a foam for polishing. The wool pad is much more agressive so if you want you can use a foam for the cutting, it will just take a little more time and effort. Keep a bottle of water handy to occassionaly wet the surface a bit. It helps keeps thins moving, anf keeps the panel cool. Buffing creates ALOT of heat.

With compoiund a little goes a long way, especially with the polishing compound. I can make a bottle of cutting compiund last 3-4 cars WHOLE cars. A bottle of polishing can easily last me half a year. For example a 914 door would take 3 qurter size drops of buffing and 2-3 of polishing. You'll notice the opening on the polishing compound is WAAAYYY smaller than the buffing. One drop of buffing is the equivalent of 5+ of polishing.

Buffing/polishing is a very annoying process to learn, there is a very fine line between not enough and to much. Not enough and you can still see the sanding scratch, too much and you'll be sanding the panel down and repaintintg it becuase you puled the clear.

TAPE OFF YOUR EDGES ! This way you don't hit them with the pad and break it open, you can go back later and hit them with more finess or leave them alone and have a slightly rougher edge then the center of the panel. It's all about how nice a finish you desire.

It seems like the older I get the more runs I get. It's either I am too confident about my strokes and don't get on my knees as much or I flat can't see as well as 30 years ago. You can never have too much light. Also you should not get in a hurry, that is really hard for a painter to keep a handle on. The cooler the enviorment the bigger chance of runs or sags. Just today I got a long sag in a pearl clear mid coat that will show no matter how smooth I sand it, the pearl will puddle on the sag. The only repair is to redo it back from basecoat.

It is really hard to sand a run flat without sanding through the paint on either side. The razor seems to be my only choice.

If I didn't crowd the coats and looked closely at each stroke and overlap and didn't try to stop and pick trash out and respray that spot I would get far less sags, I really don't get many runs. I call a long horizontal run a sag.

I try to spray all the edges of a panel one pass and then do the big area to make sure the edges get enough coverage, some guys do the edges after the big areas, some guys try to get the edges as they or laying the passes for the big areas. The paint will try to go off to either side of a edge, it is hard to get the same film thickness on the edges as the flat area. Runs and sags will be the last of the paint to dry.

steve def knows his stuff on the paint (he taught me )

all I will say is take your time. Go too far and you're screwed, so take your time, imagine that you'll spend alot of time and effort on it making sure its done carefully, and it will be good