Mirror type shine?

Row Crop · Dec 20, 2013

I have read back thru 12 pages on this forum, looking for an answer. Is there any way to get a mirror type shine painting my tractor without using that dangerous hardner?

rustyfarmall · Dec 20, 2013

Wet sand with 400 or finer, then buff it out, then apply another coat of paint, repeat the sanding and buffing. Do it as many times as you want. Or do as I do. Just paint the tractor and be happy. Todays paint will still yield a much higher gloss than what was on the tractor originally.

CNKS · Dec 20, 2013

The shine is more the skill of the painter, the hardener causes a somewhat better flow out and perhaps a little more gloss. The main advantage for me is that it allows me to use urethane which is better paint that has UV inhibitors to reduce fading. Hardener also allows you to sand out runs or excessive orange peel the next day and then repaint. That said, hardener is not dangerous if you have the proper protection--supplied air. I have never used paint without hardener.

Formerly PaMike · Dec 20, 2013

Wet sanding and buffing gets that mirror shine. Its amazing what a good detailer can do. I had found a video on youtube a while back of a guy that took a car panel with a lot of orange peel and buffed it out to a show car smooth shine.

CNKS · Dec 20, 2013

That works for the base-clear system--color sanding and buffing single stage gets rid of the orange peel but if the orange peel is relatively small you actually lose gloss. In other words if it is a good paint job, leave single stage alone.

Row Crop · Dec 21, 2013

Thank you for the comments, guys. I"ll try the wet sanding and buffing. Do I put on clear first? Then buff?

CNKS · Dec 21, 2013

The clear will not hide the orange peel. If you want to use clear, use the base clear system. The base will generally go on without orange peel, and the clear (I use PPG) can be applied 30 minutes to 24 hours later. The clear flows out better than single stage, but it uses hardener. If you are sanding single stage without hardener you have to wait several days to sand. If you refuse to use hardener, do what Rusty says and be satisfied with it. Just practice a little more.

glennster · Dec 21, 2013

if you are looking for the eye popping wet look gloss finish, shoot base clear, and select a high solid glamour type clear. i shoot rm diamont base clear here at the shop. for typical production clear, we use dc 5100. it is a fast dry production clear. for a restoration or custom vehicle, we move to a dc 92 or dc 5335 glamour clear. they lay smooth as glass with a wet look shine. production clears generally give a tad of orange peel, so you can match most domestic vehicle clears. a light buff and the 5100 with match the european and asian high line vehicles. yeah, they are spendy, but you get what you pay for. 5335 will run you about 220 a gallon, the dh 46 hardener is about 135.oo for a quart, and the ur 50 reducer is about 19.00 a quart.

Mirror type shine?

Row Crop

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rustyfarmall

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CNKS

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Formerly PaMike

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CNKS

Well-known Member

Row Crop

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CNKS

Well-known Member

glennster

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