pig tails

Dave C 5

Member
simple question...if I'm getting a fair amount of trash/dirt in my clear coat (not the best garage for spraying)...am I ALWAYS gonna get pig tails ? I clean off the car before I sand. It seems to me that the trash breaks loose from the clear and stays under the pad and then it happens.....sure would like to speed up the sanding process and especially like DA dry to see where I'm at but no matter what I do I get pig tails....I use the eagle super tack yellow, clean real good before and run it slow...nothing helps...just wondering if it's embedded in my clear coat
 
I am not sure if it will help or not but if I get large pieces of trash in the clear, then I use a denibbing file to get it smooth before I start sanding with the DA. I still get the occasional pigtail, but most of the time mine stays free of pigtails. And I have an old style cross flow booth and usually get lots of trash in my jobs as well.
 
Do you denib you trash before da sanding if not i will and do you only do dry not wet?
 
I do not de nib . I use the eagle super tack 1000 dry- I still get pigtails even doing wet - do you go over the car and look for big pieces of trash first and get that by hand before you DA?
 
Ok - I use about a half inch interface pad so I’ll try less pressure and try and de nib hard trash I see and feel
 
Like Shine said, too much pressure. Also you maybe spinning the DA too fast. Slow it down some.
I confess that for a show car finish I still block sand by hand with 1000 grit wet using a hard block. Once flat and orange peel free, I use the DA dry on the higher grits.
 
how many days to let the Universal clear harden before the sanding and buffing stage...assuming it is sitting out in the sun. I' wondering if this is part of my problem after reading a few posts on here
 
cure time is not the problem. look at your da pad . is it worn uneven ? too much pressure stops it from spinning. this is what heats up the paint and balls it up. wet or dry will do the same .
 
what shine said is definitely one of the main things to look at. i have never denibed before colorsanding in my life. the occasional pigtail is normal. if you have 10 on every panel that would be alot. if you sand the uc real early it will be faaaar more prone to pigtails from a dirty environment and especially what shine said. the sanding discs will also cut into the soft clear more making the sanding scratches deeper and harder to buff out. its impossible for us to tell you how long to wait. i have had uc clear rock hard the next day and i have had other jobs that you could still fingernail 8 mos later. depends on # of coat, flash times, temp and especially humidity when you sprayed. if your clear is hard though so you cant put a fingernail mark in it then its good to go and it will sand and buff easiest at that point. you can do it when its soft but you have to be extra careful and spend alot more time getting out the first grit you used with the finer ones. this applies to spi clears and mostly the uc. other brand clears can be rock hard the next day and impossible to buff.
 
Well i just did this today with DA with foam pad for the tolex wet no pigtails i did denib and wipe panel and use CLEAN water 1500 tolex and str8 to cutting compound menzerna 300(right pic) and 400 (left pic) and polishing with menzerna 3500 (this cream is bad ass)

this is a 24 hrs fresh euro with 5 coats 2 coats first sand next day 800 wet and dpray 3 more and wet sandand buff next day to test fast activator abd slow reducer on the euro activator only effects curing time and little on flash times reducer is important on euro.
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Some great information, some of the problems I've had buffing could really be helped following some of these tips.
 
Thanks everyone - maybe my pigtail problem isn’t as bad as I thought - maybe 2-3 on a panel and not every panel has them but the advice here should improve that- and Shine , I do notice my DA stops turning every so often so I guess as I notice my paper stops cutting as well I tend to apply more pressure to get all I can out of a sanding disk - Guilty and I’m cheap !
 
it take little to no pressure with finer grits. you gain nothing . plus your pad will return to the worn spot every time wasting the paper.
 
Agree with shine just let the da do the work very little pressure and if you want to remove more material just go slower thats the thing with DA too much presure and not flat to the surface and they will stop turning same thing with DA polisher.
 
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