Wetsanding new frame

[CarbonFrame]

I just got a CR1 frame on eBay. Its an 05. It had some chips and scratches in the clearcoat so I wetsanded it (2000 grit) and am in the process of touching up the chipped areas. Sure feels funny sanding the frame I just got. Reminds me of a time when I had just purchased a pipe for my GSXR. I got it and it was a street pipe and not the "race" version I thought I was getting, so my buddy said "we can fix it" we hacked out the baffle and made our own less restrictive pipe. It worked great, but just didn't feel right taking a hacksaw to a brand new header. Hope the wetsanding works out as well.

[fabsroman]

Let me know how the wet sanding goes because I am about to do it to a paint chip on my Cristallo. I have the 1500 and 2000 sandpaper, but how exactly do I accomplish wet sanding? Am I just supposed to wet the sandpaper and sand away?

[CarbonFrame]

Just keep a bowl of water close by and keep dipping the sand paper in the water. I sanded gently, then wiped the waer away to see the progress that was made. seems to be fairly easy, It also seems like it may be easy to go BEYOND the clearcoat, so I'm being super careful. I'll post again when I am done. It'll be a few days as I want to let the repairs dry fully prior to blending them in.

[filtersweep]

I thought the whole point of WET sanding was to reduce the dust. Is there any functional reason for using water?

Originally Posted by CarbonFrame

Just keep a bowl of water close by and keep dipping the sand paper in the water. I sanded gently, then wiped the waer away to see the progress that was made. seems to be fairly easy, It also seems like it may be easy to go BEYOND the clearcoat, so I'm being super careful. I'll post again when I am done. It'll be a few days as I want to let the repairs dry fully prior to blending them in.

[ARP]

Remember that the whole primer/basecoat/clear is the thickness of a piece of paper. burning through the clear is very easy to do. I would even consider looking at your work through a magnifying glass to see very clearly where your progress is going.

[AlexCad5]

Originally Posted by Lone Gunman

Remember that the whole primer/basecoat/clear is the thickness of a piece of paper. burning through the clear is very easy to do. I would even consider looking at your work through a magnifying glass to see very clearly where your progress is going.

I doubt you would have any real chance of grinding through with something as fine as 1500 or 2000 grit especially by hand. Paint or clear coat may be relatively thin but it is also very hard and will resist your grinding through it. Be careful with powertools however.

[C-40]

Originally Posted by filtersweep

I thought the whole point of WET sanding was to reduce the dust. Is there any functional reason for using water?

Sandpaper that fine will quickly become clogged and quit working without the water to flush away the material removed.

To repair a small chip, the area should be degreased first with either a specific automotive product for this purpose (wax and grease remover), naptha, or odorless mineral spirits (not paint thinner). Acetone or lacquer thinner can be used also, but can attack some paints. Very little sanding around the area is required, before applying multiple coats of nail polish to fill the defect. After the nail polish dries, careful wet sanding helps to match the level of the new clearcoat with the original. Automotive polishing compound will restore the shine.

[magnolialover]

Why bother?

It's a bicycle for crying out loud. You're going to ride it, and it's going to get chipped again. Sounds like you've got more free time on your hands than I do. I'd much rather be riding it, than sanding it, but that's just me.

Just don't hit the fibers, you'll be screwed then.

[CarbonFrame]

When using polishing compound, how much shine can I expect? Will the frame be "mirror like" or do you only get that final mirror like finish from the wax coat at the end? What about glaze? Should I apply a glazing product following the polish or just wax? Will I get the same results polishing it by hand as I would using a buffer?

[Mr. Versatile]

Polishing coupound is paste-like abrasive. It's a step down from rubbing compound, which has more "cut", meaning it's more abrasive. When I use either one, I scoop out about a tablespoon of polishing compound & mix it with a little water until it becomes like "loose" mud. I apply it with a clean, cotton rag, rubbing in straight lines, not a circular pattern. This lines up the scratches instead of making a maze of them.

You can expect a very fine finish working with this. If I were doing it, it would be the 2nd to last step I'd do. When I got it the best I could with the polishing compound, I would then use McGuire's Plastic Polish. It has a product # after it, but I can't remember what it is right now. It might be 19. I't's raining like hell here, so I'm not going out to the garage to look. I'm not a McGuires fan, but this product is an exceptionally good one. It comes in a small, white plastic bottle & looks & smells a lot like liquid wax. I apply it right from the bottle using a clean rag. With this, you will get the smoothest, shiniest finish possible (IME). Follow that up with a little wax of your choosing, & you'll be good to go.

[fabsroman]

Everybody is different. Me, I like to keep my stuff looking as nice as possible, unless it is something that I intend to get screwed up. I do a lot of shooting and hunting too. My clay guns all have nice wood on them that I wouldn't want getting scratched. My hunting guns are all synthetic stocks because I know they get the crap beat out of them and I don't want a gun with a beat up wood stock.

For racing, I bought a Colnago Arte because I live with it getting scratched up a lot more than I can live with the Cristallo getting scratched. However, it is still somewhat painful to find scratches on the Arte.

We are all different people. My dad can buy a $30,000 new car, put a scratch in it a couple of weeks later, and not even care. Me, I have an 18 year old Mustang that I still worry about scratching. I still wax my 9 1/2 year old Taurus.

Put another way, why worry about wiping your rear because you are going to go again. Some of us just do a better job wiping than others.

As far as time is concerned, we all do different things with the spare time that we have. I watch barely any TV, so it gives me a little more spare time than other people. I also get pleasure out of working on mechanical things. So, fixing the scratch on my Colnago is something that I am looking forward to. Not just because I will be fixing the scratch, but because I will be learning how to do something new.

[CarbonFrame]

Originally Posted by magnolialover

Why bother?

It's a bicycle for crying out loud. You're going to ride it, and it's going to get chipped again. Sounds like you've got more free time on your hands than I do. I'd much rather be riding it, than sanding it, but that's just me.

Just don't hit the fibers, you'll be screwed then.

Yep, Your probably right... I probably do have more free time than you do. It's 19 degrees outside right now and I really have no desire to go ride so I think I'll see if I can't make my frame look a little nicer for the next time I ride it (in April).

[CarbonFrame]

Originally Posted by fabsroman

Everybody is different. Me, I like to keep my stuff looking as nice as possible,

Not just because I will be fixing the scratch, but because I will be learning how to do something new.

Exactly,
I am learning how to do something new and enjoying working on my bike.

[CarbonFrame]

1. Turtle Wax Polish is not the way to go.
2. 3M products work remarkably well. (something I actually knew, but didn't think of)
3. Below is an informative article for anyone interested in bike or car finish care.

http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detai...ing-paint.html

[CarbonFrame]

Originally Posted by fabsroman

Let me know how the wet sanding goes because I am about to do it to a paint chip on my Cristallo. I have the 1500 and 2000 sandpaper, but how exactly do I accomplish wet sanding? Am I just supposed to wet the sandpaper and sand away?

It seems that you should first clean the area, then touch up the area with touch up paint. Once that is dried you would wet sand it, then use rubbing compound, polish and glaze to restore the finish. In this process the wetsanding is actually used to blend (smooth) the touch up paint to the same level as the rest of the paint. This is a quick summary of what I have read. A quick search on the internet will give hours of reading enjoyment on this subject. Whatever you do make sure you know what to expect or it can be a frustrating endeavor. What polish, what glaze, hand or D/A sander/polisher, polishing pad or polishing rags? can I use cheesecloth or terry cloth???????The list just goes on and on and on. The expenses can add up too if you aren't expecting to buy much. Some of these products that work really well are designed for professionals and so don't come in less that quart sizes and are quite costly. Good Luck!