Pig Tails

'68 Coronet R/T

'68 Coronet R/T

Oldtimer
When using my DA with 3M 1500 film discs and a 1/2" interface pad I seem to be plagued with pig tails. How are y'all preventing these?

Another question: What type of backup pad do I need for the Trizact discs? I have the hook-it 2 set up now and bought a 3M conversion pad for it but the discs only want to hook to the same side I need to adhere to the DA pad. Almost $50 out of pocket and I still can't use them. :mad:
 
only way i stopped tails is to change paper more often and slow down the speed. i think heat can cause them as easy as anything else.
 
Pig tails haven't been a problem when I use the 1500 film discs. I have gotten them occasionally in the past. Proper housekeeping maybe? If I'm not careful where I set the da down I can get pig tails from the disc picking up trash. Trizacts are hook it 2 now. I recently converted my stuff "back" to hook it 2 after I pitched the hook it 2 stuff 5 years ago. I just had the jobber get me a hook it 2 base and interface and it worked.
 
shine;9657 said:
only way i stopped tails is to change paper more often and slow down the speed. i think heat can cause them as easy as anything else.
Click to expand...

Same thing here. Slowed the sander down and change paper frequently.
 
a splash of water to lubricate cuts down on the pigtailing also. I personally prefer a little water when using this method of cutting.

It is my understanding that 3m is phasing out the hookit 2 system. The last pack of 3000 i got, a month ago, was hook it. They dont even list on 3m website any of the trizact system as hook it 2 anymore. I was going to buy a hook it 2 pad a few months ago to finish out some old 2 sandpaper....and the guy told me about this. Figured no reason to buy a new pad just for the small amount of sandpaper i have left.
 
i have a small 1/4 in hose in the booth. use it for everything. i wet sand everything as i dont want anymore dust in my lungs. plus it leaves the car messy. when done wet sanding it is clean and rinsed. jimc got me into dry sanding clear but the dust was just too much for me.

one real important thing. no matter where your water comes from it is full of abrasives. i run a plastic fuel filter on mine and it will fill up with all kinds of crap. i found this is where some of those mystery scratches come from.
 
Thanks guys. I was running it fairly fast and at times it felt "stuck" to the surface because of the slurry. I normally wet sand by hand but want to start using the DA since so many of you are getting good results and my arms are getting old and tired. LOL

JimC,
I have heard that same story on the Hookit 2 system about 3 years ago but they are still selling it. I think I'll convert to the hookit system just so I can use other products that seem to work with it. I'll keep the hookit 2 for those great deals on pads that should come once they do away with the system.

Shine,
You make a good point on the debris coming from the water. I am on a well here and have a .5 micron filter system for the tap water but could be picking up some sand or other junk from the outside hydrants.
Do you let the water run constantly while sanding?
 
i have a bug spray nozzle on it and also have a piece of surgical tube i can put on it. but i do like to flush constantly. even with a filter on the well the fuel filter fills up .
 
I'm sorry, Jeremy is right. I had my hookit and hookit 2's mixed up. I tried to get some hookit 2 500 dry discs a month ago and once they run out of stock the hook it 2 stuff will be gone. My shop has filtered water and I use quality spray bottles when I wet sand. I used to have a hutchins waterbug with a hose that sucks from a bucket. You wanna talk about pig tails then go that route. I kinda forgot about it as it was years ago. Ruined more stuff using that waterbug.
 
yes sir , bucket sanding is the fastest way to get to reclear one. a good way to check your water supply is to run it through a paint filter for a few min. a good filter that is.
i have an ice box full of new and improved stuff that is no longer made.
 
My friend has a restoshop and he could never avoid pigtails with the da.He does everything by hand wet.So do I
 
you can get the same thing by hand only the scratch will be straight . over working sandpaper is the #1 biggest mistake made by painters. paper is cheap.
 
ok i have never had a pigtail issue. yeah you get the occasional one but never where its a problem. actually i get more inconsistant scratches wetsanding than i do dry....go figure. on a whole car if i have any at all it might be 1 maybe 2 and thats alot. i can say that i never run the sander fast for any of my sanding. its always at 1/2 speed or less. it doesn't need to be crankin to work. #2 are you using the finishing film dry or those 1500 grit purple trizact discs that they call clearcoat sanding discs? those suck and you will have pigtails with them left and right. dry finishing film always needs to be on a soft interface pad. i dont know what the problem is but i dont even change my paper often. i can run it with the paper 1/2 clogged and it looks like its making pigtails in the dust on the panel but never leaves them in the clear. i use dry discs until the cutting just slows to the point where i need to change.
 
Jim C, How flat are your panels coming out by dry machine sanding? What grit do you start and end with? Do you skip wet sanding altogether?
 
dan here are a few pics of some black parts for the 41 caddy i did last year. they really show the finish. normally start with 1000 dry then 1500 dry then i will procees to 3000 trizact which is done wet. on a panel that is large and flat like a hood and its a higher end job like this caddy i will sometimes start with 600 finishing film first. dont remember if i did it on this one or not. the only wetsanding i do in the shop is with the 3000 trizact. they are on the 1/8" foam pads. if i try wetsanding with anything else i get pigtails. water in my shop just attracts dirt like crazy. being on the foam they dont seem to pigtail but even so i tack the panel off before i use them.



IMG_2498.jpg

IMG_2502.jpg

IMG_2499.jpg
 
One thing that may help: knock off any dirt specks by hand sanding and clean the panel before starting the DA sanding, some of your dirt specks may be hard enough to act as an abrasive and once dislodged the sander just moves them around causing damage.
 
Great work Jim, so on ultra high-end jobs that you want pefectly flat you will use 600 dry, followed by 1000 dry then 1500 dry then 3000 wet trizact? All on a d/a with an interface pad? Do you find that the "urethane wave" is cut out by using the interface pad and d/a?
 
jim, i've heard the purple ones were pretty much worthless. glad you confirmed that. i do agree that most of the time the problem is with something under the pad. be it from the water supply or airborne. doesn't take much to cause a scratch. cotton wood trees use to give me fits at one of my shops. not only would the clog your filters but you had to watch for the junk when sanding. i did try the dry sanding for a while jim but the dust just killed my old nose . fired my allergies up . it does work good though. my biggest problem is my shop is on the farm and the prevailing winds come right through . it helps cool but dust and stuff is everywhere so i have to do my sanding and buffing in the booth.
 
dan. on the real high end stuff i will only use 600 on the real flat panels otherwise 95% of the time i start with 1000. i find the urethane wave is more controlled or caused by spray technique and the clear itself. you can cut out 90% of the urethane wave simply by your procedure. for instance the hood in the picture was cleared then hard blocked with 400 dry, recleared, slightly overreduced then sanded and buffed. as for the sanding, if you do have urethnae wave you can cut maybe 1/2 out with a soft pad and a da starting with 1000 but thats it. if you need to cut more out then start with the 600 finishing film on the interface pad.
 
Thats been my problem, I need to learn more about redusing the UV clear to match factory jobs, and when I reclear high end work. All with time I guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top