To end my highjack of Bruce's thread I thought I would open a new one for this
On the last guitar finished in my shop I changed my prep and level sand proceedure. I like it. I found it a lot less labor intensive and real simple and affective. Below is a short explanation
Prep sand: Micromesh 100-180 Mx series on electric RO w/ soft backup pad. (added holes for vacum dust collection. made my own from high den. foam and adhisive backed loop) Clean up with naptha
Apply sealer and 4-6 coats of finish over two days allowing to gas off between coats and set up over night
dry Level with Micromesh 100-240 MX series on electric RO w/ soft backup pad. Clean up with naptha
Apply final two coats and allow to cure (one week Min. Two is better, 30days is best)
Final wet level (lightly soapy distiled water) and polish with 1800 (or 2400 depending)through 12000 regular series Micromesh on peunmatic RO w/ soft backup pad.(no holes) Clean up with naptha
hand polish with Meguires #7 buff off with lambs wool pad on auto buffer
high buff with fine compound
This took half the time It use to take hand leveling with wet dry paper and leaves no disurnable scratch pattern and a pretty high gloss after the 12000 mm wet sand. Keep the pressure light when using the RO sander, let the MM do the cutting (don't try to wet sand with an electric RO. That goes with out saying, I would think
Use a soft backup pad so the Micromesh will conform to the contour and wear evenly. Standard backup pads are too stiff and will not produce the best results.
Micromesh 100MX = to 320p, 240MX = to 600p ( goes finer = to 3250p but I don't use beyond 240MX/600p)
Micromesh 1800 regular = to 600p, 8000 regular = to 2500p, 12000 regular = to 3500p (this last one is a close guess)
