Author Topic: A Paint Job  (Read 14623 times)

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Offline Kong

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A Paint Job
« on: December 13, 2010, 06:47:42 AM »
The parts shown below are not Honda-4 parts, in fact they are from a dreaded Harley, but the posting is about painting of motorcycles, not brands of motorcycles.  This is a "home" paint job, done in a shed.  I did it.  I am a hobby painter with many years experience.  PPG (prep) and House of Kolor (color and clear) products were used throughout

OK, we begin.  This was Freddie's bike, a mid-90's Harley Davidson of some sort.  There were 5 parts to be painted, two tank halfs, front and rear fenders, and Freddie's helmet.  The existing paint job was sound but there were a few shallow dents and scrapes to be repaired.  Its basic problem is that it was period-ugly.

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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2010, 06:51:52 AM »
The first step was to grind the parts that had dents in them down to bare metal and then get it sealed with epoxy (PPG MP-170).


I also think it is important to seal the bottom sides of the fenders with epoxy, so after a through cleaning and degreasing, then a good skuff with a red skuff-pad the bottoms get shot too.

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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2010, 06:54:32 AM »
After the metal work was done and everything has been sealed with epoxy its time for filler.  No more than 1/8" will be applied anywhere, there will be several coats too, but here's how it begins,


Then there is the sanding

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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2010, 06:58:35 AM »
One things seem flat you then shoot several coats of 2K primer and get to block sanding.  So the thick primer goes on followed by an "indicator coat" (red rattle can cheap primer in this case) is shot over it and block sanded until its perfectly smooth to 400p.

By the way, I left out Freddie's helmet.  This was the ugliest helmet I have ever seen, it was worthless.  The state requires one though and so I did his to match the rest of the bike.




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1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2010, 07:00:55 AM »
Once all of the panels are dead straight and flat and sanded to the 400p grit level they are sealed by shooting 2 coats of epoxy thinned slightly (10%) with Acetone. 



Now they are ready to paint.
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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2010, 07:04:10 AM »
I'm afraid there are no pictures of the actuall painting because I don't have 4 hands and also because my good wife would turn into something else entirely if I were to bring the camera back into the house with overspray on the lens.

But, first there was black basecoat


Then I did a lot of other stuff, and then I shot two or three coats of clear on it in prep for the second step of the paint job.

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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2010, 07:07:46 AM »
So the next step in this paint job is to shoot a second set of flames - 'cause Freddy loves flames - over top of the color stuff and then to do some mighty magic stuff with them.  So I take the paint that's there and I block sand it with 600p to get it perfectly flat again and then I begin taping it up for step 2 of the paint job.


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1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Alan F.

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2010, 07:10:54 AM »
.....Then I did a lot of other stuff....


 ;D  ;D  ;D

Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2010, 07:11:24 AM »
Now there is a great leap in time - and there was great sorrow in the land.  I shot some pearl black over what you see above and then something started to go horribly wrong (big temperature drop in a very short time) and the paint lifted on every part.

So I had to sand it all back down to the original sealer in most places, re-block it, and then shoot it in sealer again and start all over.

Here it is back, sealed again, and ready to go.


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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2010, 07:16:44 AM »
So in the mean-time Freddie has stopped by and he saw the first set of color before I resanded it and started the black pearl stuff.  He was just country-nuts with happiness and said to forget about the second set of flames on top, just do what I did the first time.  So, I said, sure.

So I shot some black again to start, and then broke out the airbrush and did what I did again, or at least something like it.


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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2010, 07:17:57 AM »
Oh, yeah, and Freddie's helmet.


And that's how you do it.  Got any questions?
2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
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Offline ksmith0034

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2010, 03:48:12 PM »
A hobby painter huh...?  Pretty nice work for just a hobby painter!   ;)
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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #12 on: December 14, 2010, 02:07:33 PM »
Well, thank you.  Maybe hobby painter isn't the right way to say it.  I've never painted for a living, but I get paid for painting. That make more sense?  Actually I'm retired (from an utterly different sort of work) and only paint a few bikes a year; I did 5 last year including Freddie's.

2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
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1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Duanob

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #13 on: December 14, 2010, 02:23:12 PM »
That is super sweet Kong, I wished I would've read this before I started my job. But did you leave a few steps out for us beginners? Like polishing to that super mirror finish? And what brand of filler did you use? Did you do this outside? If I ever paint another tank do you take orders? :)
"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

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Offline Really?

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #14 on: December 14, 2010, 03:16:05 PM »
Nice stuff there Kong.  Curious, after you airbrush, do you sand or do you clear over the top?
I don't have a motorcycle, sold it ('85 Yamaha Venture Royale).  Haven't had a CB750 for over 40 years.

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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #15 on: December 14, 2010, 04:00:22 PM »
Yeah, there were more than a few steps left out.  Actually I was looking through our photos when I found that set so I tailored the narrative to the pictures I had.  In fact I cheated just a little bit on that too, but it is what it is.

OK, the missed parts.  In order to get to that smooth shiny paint job you have to do a bunch of other things first.  The basic rule is that no coat of material will ever be any smoother than the coat under it, so you have to start with the finish you want to end up with.  In other words, its all in the prep.

First all the parts have to be clean.  I wash them and wash them and wash them, then I wipe them down with acetone, then I wash them a few more times (dawn dish washing soap), and finally I wipe them down with acetone again before I begin sanding or grinding them.  I do this even if the parts will be taken down to bare metal.  Keep this in mind, sanding does not remove wax, it just grinds it in.  Well, its even worse these days with silicon in so many car-care products.  You see guys complain about fish-eyes in their paint?  Well, they didn't clean before sanding in many cases.

Anyway you clean it and then you sand it.  If there are dents to take out or welding to do get it done.  Have all of your metal straight and flat (or round) to within at least an eight of an inch.   Anywhere there is bare metal hit it with the grinder (80 grit) and if more than half the part is going to be stripped go ahead and strip it all.  Do not leave bare metal exposed, wipe it down with acetone and immediately shoot it with 2 coats of epoxy to seal it.

Now use your filler, and use it sparingly.  When ever I need to use actual filler I use Rage Extreme, but mostly I just skim the parts with Iceing (a flowing polyester filler) and then go back and sand just about all of it back off.  Also, I never sand anything without a block, right from the start.  That is the key to a perfect finish in the end, that right from the beginning you block sand and nothing else.  Because I only do motorcycles I have the luxury of not needing power (orbital) sanders; I sand everything by hand.

Here comes the monolog:  Lots of guys have trouble cutting and buffing the final paint job because they sand through the clear coat into the base coat.  Sometimes new painters try to compensate for this by shooting the paint heavier around the edges, leaving a rolled edge sometimes and more often runs.  The thing is if the parts are sanded flat right from the beginning there is never a lip that needs to be sanded down.  So I begin my block sanding right from the start and it makes it ever so easy as the job progresses.

Back to the job.  So now the metal (which may also include sound original finish in some cases) has deep sanding scratches and its also got two coats of epoxy over it.  The metal is reasonably flat and straight but not precisely so, so its time to work.  I slather a very thin coat of Iceing over the part, let it set up (2 part catalyzed product) and then begin sanding, usually with 180p or 220p paper and my everpresent block.  I will sand them parts flat at this time using the underlieing epoxy essentially as a reverse guide-coat.  I'll sand down to it, and through it in many places, and any lows will have been filled by the Ice'.  Then I'll shoot two more coats of epoxy over it and let that sit for about 2 hours.  After that I will shoot three or four coats of 2K primer, giving each coat plenty of dry time inbetween coats.  We aren't talking tack-test here, we're talking bone dry.

Oh, to answer your earlier question, yes - up to this point I often do the work outdoors.  Its just primer and its all going to be sanded and I live way way out in the country where the fumes will never be smelled by anyone

Then I let is set at least over night before shooting on a guide coat, which is the stage you see it in in the pictures where the red primer is sort of splotched over the parts.  For guys who have not used a guide coat consider what we have and where we are.  There is the metal and then there is a nice sealer and filler layer which was sanded dead flat with progressively finer sand paper (moving from the 220 up to about 400) and is topped off by a nice sealer of epoxy.  On top of that there are several costs of high build primer and on top of its bumpy surface there is this dirt cheap rattle can primer in a contrasting color (very important) that you stood back and dusted on for no other purpose than to go right back and sand every single bit of it off.  And that's the trick.  You got gray primer, then use some red rattle can cheap primer - the cheapest stuff you can find.  Also, if you are a painter you can just use anything you've got left over, just over reduce it and add a little black or white as required.

This is the most important step in the paint job.  By this point in the game you have progressed up to about 400p~600pgrit paper and its on your block.  All you want to do is sand the dusted coat of paint off of your high build primer.  Once its gone quit sanding in that spot and move to a spot where its not gone.  The very moment its all gone you have a dead flat dead smooth piece in front of you.  There is only one step left.  Now we move indoors.  I give the parts a wipe-down with a degreaser (PPGG Omni product), wipe it with a tack rag Mix up another batch of epoxy, wait out the incubation period, and shoot two coats on as a final sealer.  I reduce mine 10% with acetone.  And now I'm on the clock.   With the epoxy I use I've got 48 hours to get it painted from the time I shoot that sealer.  

Keep in mind that by the time you shoot that last sealer coat that all the surfaces are as flat and straight as they will be in the final job, the only difference really is that the surface hasn't been polished yet.

OK, then you do stuff and we can go into products and effects and how-to articles and all sorts of recommendations for equipment (I'm an Iwata man to the end) , but we'll save that for later.

And finally its sitting there and the basecoat is dry, and you've removed any nibs of dust and got it tacked and its time to clear it.  So you chose a good clear (I generally use House of Kolor UC-35), mix it up, shoot it on and then wait a day or two and now its time to cut and buff it.

At this point in the game the suface may have dust in it, a bug may have taken a hike through it, it may be a bit bumpy, it may have runs in it, it may have a sag or two.  Who knows?  So you begin by sanding that clear coat.  This is the cutting part of cutting and buffing.

I like to start my cut with 800 grit paper and using the clear coat as if it were a guide coat I'll - with my block, always with my block - sand off about 80% of the gloss of the paint job with the 800p.  Then I'll move up to 1000p and sand off about 10% more of the gloss.  Then I'll move up to 1500p to finish taking all of the gloss off the clear coat.  Anywhere there is a speck of dust it will look like a little pimple.  I give each and every one of them personal attention and I sand them off at the 1500p stage, one swipe at a time.  I sand with continuous water to rinse with and a bucket of soap/water (Dawn dish soap once again, just a few drops in a 5 gallon bucket).  Then I give all the parts a final light sanding with 2000 grit.

Next its time to buff.  There is nothing special about my technique.  I use a Makita buffer and I have several backing plates and pads, my current set comes from TCP-Global, its by "Custom Shop" but that's just because my local paint supplier, who sold 3M stuff, closed up shop and now I get most of my supplies via the brown truck.  

I use 3M Perfect-It II, first with a wool pad just to knock the haze off.  Then I move to a yellow pad and the Perfect it II.  Then I go to a black pad, once again with Perfect-It II, and then I finish up with a separate black pad and McQuires (sp?) Swirl Remover.  I am not a bit ashamed to say this, I am really good at cutting and buffing

At any rate a big part of my point is that if you start off doing all of the sanding with a block, and you sand all of the parts several times over the course of doing the job, and you are always using the same blocks (I have many) with ever and ever finer paper the chance of you sanding through anything just keeps on decreasing and of course with every sanding it all gets flatter and straighter.

And that's all there is to it.
2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
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1986 Honda Rebel, 450
1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #16 on: December 14, 2010, 04:23:19 PM »
Nice stuff there Kong.  Curious, after you airbrush, do you sand or do you clear over the top?

Tipper, it really depends on what has been done with the paint job.  In most cases after any airbrush work I'll just go straight to the clear coat (within an hour or so) but if there isn't enough time I will shoot an intercoat clear (HOK SG-100 or PPG Deltron-500) over it and walk away until its ready to clear.  If its just sat over night I'll tack it and clear it, if its been longer I'll hit it with a degreaser, tack it, and then shoot it.  Also, because I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, if there is artwork to be done I'll just shoot a base color (or design if that's what's required) and then seal it, once again with an intercoat clear, and take it to the guy who does that stuff (I supply him with all the paint he uses) - when it comes back I'll clean it and then clear it.  I should also mention that from the time I shoot the sealer coat of epoxy, the one that puts me on the clock, I wear disposable gloves.  So does my Artist buddy.  Nobody ever touches the parts again until it gets cut and buffed.

An awful lot has to do with time.  On the one hand the manufacturer's have recoat windows, and you always have to be mindful of them, and on the other hand I tend to stretch the times erring on the dry side almost all the time.  Also the building I paint in is not heated and so even in the summer time that means I don't get started until nearly noon.  So a lot of times its 8 hours later and I'm getting real tired of paint fumes and I'll wait until the next day to clear coat it.   Of course now and then I get an easy one, I shot a 1930's Harley Flat Track Racer last spring for a guy that was straight black.  It took me two weeks to get it preped, but I think I painted it in two hours.
2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
2001 Acura (Honda) CL Type-S
1986 Honda Rebel, 450
1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Really?

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #17 on: December 14, 2010, 07:15:14 PM »
Why has West Virginia gotta be so far away.   :'(

Bookmarked this thread.  Lotta god stuff you laid out here Kong.  I will use it when the weather warms up, I gotta do momma's.  I jacked up the tank really bad.
I don't have a motorcycle, sold it ('85 Yamaha Venture Royale).  Haven't had a CB750 for over 40 years.

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Offline Duanob

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #18 on: December 15, 2010, 10:30:15 AM »
Wow thanks for all that Kong! I hate to sound like a total noob but can you post pics of your sanding blocks or what kind you used? I don't think I used the right kind from Wesco. I was able to sand right into the dimples and had to refill all of them twice. It was more of a flexible pad.

I may give another try to painting a tank but I will wait until the weather warms a bit. Nothing like waiting for several days for paint to dry when it should only take 24 hours. Practice makes perfect.
"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #19 on: December 15, 2010, 06:31:33 PM »
Dunob,

I could go out and get them and line them up, but the picture would bore you.  I use all sorts of things for blocks, and only a couple of them are store-bought so to speak.  One of my most useful blocks is actually a part of an old oak chair, I have lengths of copper water pipe for curves, and two or three of those hard rubber blocks that auto parts places sell that you fold the paper unto a slot where its held by tacks.  I've got all those sorts of things but in truth almost all of my sanding is done with one style of block.  They wear out in a couple of months and the companies that make them, or at least the ones that get stocked at my favorite auto-finish supplier (when I make the very long drive to go stock up on PPG products), seem to change names more often than I change shorts.  Anyway they are semi-hard foam, usually about 6" long by about 1/2~3/4" thick, by about two or two and a half inches wide.  Keep in mind that all I paint is bikes, so I don't need or use real long blocks, though the general rule is to use the longest blocks you can.   The brand name my guy stocks seem to change every time I go but the styles are always similar and he always has about a dozen different sizes and shapes.  Just grab up a couple that feel good in your hand; they're only a couple of bucks each so its pretty easy to amass quite a collection.

On that sanding.  Use good paper, 3M if you can get it.  Soak your paper (10 or20 minutes before you start sanding) in a bucket with a few drops of liquid dish soap in it and use that water as you sand.  If you're sanding on bare plastic filler go ahead and schedule in a day or two after you get done sanding before you touch up or reshoot your sealer coat in prep for your high-build (2K) primer.  Don't take a chance on any water having found its way into your filler remaining.  Once the epoxy is on there its sealed.  That is what epoxy is so very good about.  Once you have an unbroken coat of epoxy over a part its like brand new day, and this is the prettiest canvas I know of:


PS, I build those wood jigs to hold every part I paint, its one more way to aid in avoiding handling the parts.
2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
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1986 Honda Rebel, 450
1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Duanob

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #20 on: December 16, 2010, 05:38:44 PM »
Looks good! Being this is my first tank and first "Nice" paint job. I will do things different next time (I'll start by reading your tips and tricks) I did use the same block you described but I think using the Bondo brand was the biggest problem.

I did learn something today about polishing. I am using the Meguiar's swirl remover polish and a wool pad on a DA buffer. Wasn'thappy about the results at all, in fact I was ready to buy another can of Spraymax 2K and redo the clear. Then I decided to try the white foam pad trhat came with the buffer and I was really surprised at the end results. Not mirror finish like yours but good enough for my first try. I amy do another buffing before wax just for kicks and grins but the wool pad didn't do much of anything.
"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
2007 Moto Guzzi Breva 750ie
2015 BMW F700GS
Another 1976 CB550K Cafe?

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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #21 on: December 16, 2010, 07:32:58 PM »
Dunab,

Sounds like you're getting the hang of it.  Buffing compounds and pads are very much like sandpapers in that there are grades of coarseness and just like sandpaper, which in effect buffing is just an extension of, you go from a fine grade to a finer grade as you progress towards the final finish.

Wool pads are the coarsest cutting device you can put on a buffer and they are used with coarse cutting materials to begin the process.  Well, sometimes they are.  If you only sanded to 1000p grit before you began buffing then it would be generally appropriate to begin the process with a wool pad and coarse compound (only buy compounds made for machine application).  For your own purposes think of that first cut as being 1200 grit.

Foam pads are the handy work of the gods.  There once was a time when there were no foam pads, and there was great darkness and lack of shine all across the land.  As I'm sure you know pads are graded too, as are compounds, and with two or three of them you can usually make it all the way through the process.   If you start with a wool pad you'd move next to some sort of medium cutting pad and after that to a finishing pad.  At the same time you would move to finer compounds in most cases, its just that the one I use (3M's Perfect It) is sort of a multi-grade compound that gets finer as you use it.

So, Start with wool and a medium to heavy cut compound an buff away, then (this is the step where I normally start) move to a medium pad and buff the entire piece with the same compound.  By now it will shine but there will be plenty of swirl marks.  So you move to a finer pad and the final stuff, the swirl remover.  And that leaves you a mirror finish if life is good.

It doesn't take very long, it doesn't require high RPM, and it doesn't require any great pressure.  I use use the weight of the buffer, and in fact I support it to some extent, and on my buffer (Makita 9227C), which has (without looking) a 5 position switch I rarely run it any faster that the 2 setting for anything other than to spin the water out of a pad after I wash it.

On that note, always wash your pads and dry them when you're done by spinning them and then laying them where they can dry in open air and sunlight, then put them away in a partially sealed zip-lock bag.  Let them get air and keep them clean and dry.  Never cross contaminate a pad, just use one compound with one pad.  Mechanically its pretty straight forward.  Use the rim of the pad, let the rotation always be leaving the workpiece where there is an edge.  Don't let the piece buff too dry, if a dry film forms stop and wipe it off with a soft clean rag.  There are all sorts of after buffing sealers and such that you can use to bring even more shine up too.  I don't use them and I do not use wax and I do not recommend it to anyone.   And that's really all the hints I can give. 

I love to cut and buff.  No kidding, I really do.  I like it from that first swipe with the sandpaper right up until all there is left of the job is the sweet smell of swirl remover.  I absolutely love the smell of swirl remover.  When you're doing the sanding, particularly when you've got the 1000 or 1500 grit on the block, and ever little flaw gets sanded out.  I literarily sand by making one swipe at a time, watching the flaw, be it a dust speck or a fly track, disappear just a little bit more with each individual pass - seeing it completely disappear with that last swipe.  And I don't know, its just a great feeling, to know that you absolutely aced it.  It sounds to me like you are right on the verge of being there.  Trust in the force, the shine will come. ;D
2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
2001 Acura (Honda) CL Type-S
1986 Honda Rebel, 450
1978 Honda CB550K
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Offline Really?

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #22 on: December 16, 2010, 09:26:16 PM »
I like that jig you made.  I was figuring to make a really tall horse with long 2x4s to hang the parts from.
I don't have a motorcycle, sold it ('85 Yamaha Venture Royale).  Haven't had a CB750 for over 40 years.

The Wife's Bike - 750K5
The Kid's Bike - 750K3

Offline Duanob

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #23 on: December 16, 2010, 10:39:39 PM »
Good stuff Kong. This really is a labor of love for you!

So I should've used a heavier cutting compound with the wool pad and then moved to the swirl remover with the foam? I still can go back and can do that and I may for the practice. I found a couple of small missed spots that I should go back and sand and rebuff anyway. Damn dark north, no good daylight during the work week. Ah well, Practice makes perfect.
"Just because you flush a boatload of money down the toilet, doesn't make the toilet worth more",  My Stepfather the Unknown Poet

1974 CB360T
1976 CB550K2 Resurrected
1976 CB550F2 Barn Find
1979 CX500 VG "HONDA-GUZZI"
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Offline Kong

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Re: A Paint Job
« Reply #24 on: December 17, 2010, 05:58:39 AM »
Tippert,

Thats what I did, made an unusually tall saw horse, a couple of them actually, and then the jigs I make set on top of them such that they can not fall off, and where necessary so that the part can be held in both a horizontal and vertical position.

Dunab,

That's close, but what I was trying to hint at is that you probably don't need the wool pad at all.  If you look around you will find postings from folks who will sand to 2000p grit or sometimes even finer and then come back with a wool pad and some of that white Dupont compound that comes in a can, and has the consistancy of dog poop from a sick dog, and start buffing,  Now, think what they have done, they took a piece that they had progressively sanded to a very fine grit finish and then gone right back and dumped what is essentially 1200p grit stuff right back on it and reintroduced the scratches. Going backwards is nott a plan that leads to a fine finish.

So, just like with sanding you go from fine to finer and try to never go back, though sometimes you have to such as if a flaw is overlooked on the first sanding and has to be removed before buffing can continue..

Take a look at this link, its for the last "set" of pads that if a guy was wanting to buy a very nice set of buffing pads at a pretty reasonable price and didn't know where to find them, well this (the pad set in the middle of the 3 items for sale) will do nicely:
http://www.tcpglobal.com/detailsupplydepot/dsd43.aspx

For about $40 and then a King's ransom for compound you'd be in business.  The set includes the Backing Plate with its hook and loop attachment and self-centering pads.  One medium pad (the workhorse) in yellow and one fine pad in black are included.  A guy looking for a set and didn't want to spend a lot of time hunting around for them would do a lot worse than just buy one of these sets.

I've mentioned the compound that I prefer - and please keep in mind that this is a personal preference - is this stuff, the 3M Perfect-It II:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/detailsupplydepot/dsd43.aspx

A quart of it will go a long long way and should cost a guy around $30 at your local auto parts or about five or ten bucks less if you buy it on line.  This stuff can be used with the wool pad (if you use it) and will be the real workhorse with your medium pad (the yellow one in the kit linked above), probably accounting for > 80% of your finish.

After that the last of the scratches can be removed with  Swirl Remover.  3M makes it too, but I have always been very satisfied with the Mequires stuff:

http://www.tcpglobal.com/detailsupplydepot/dsd29-6.aspx

After that there are various machine glazes, which really make things pop, though to my mind they are sort of massive overkill for a street bike.

I think I mentioned above that I don't use waxes, and in fact they aren't at all necessary for the parts to shine and they can be a painter's nightmare if not completely removed before prep begins on a piece.  It the reason I'm nearly manical about cleaning parts before refinishing begins.

2002 FXSTD/I  Softail Deuce
2001 Acura (Honda) CL Type-S
1986 Honda Rebel, 450
1978 Honda CB550K
1977 Honda CB550K