# Flatting and polishing lacquer tips



## supernova-dw (Apr 26, 2014)

Hi everyone!

As the title suggests I'm just after a few flatting and polishing tips to mainly see if I can speed up my process...

At current I am blocking everything via hand with P2000 And then mopping it up with a sheep's wool pad, it turns out fine but takes ages!! One of the reasons I do it this way is because where I live this is the best I can do, no fancy products available out here....

I am back home in England at the moment so plan to take some supplies back with me so am looking for some advice to as what everyone is using and what process they they use? 

Thanks in advance!


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

We use 3m p1500 da discs lightly sand the clear coat then p2000 discs. After that de-nib any imperfections, and finish of with p3000 trizact discs on a da this part is done wet.
Polishing wise we use 3m three stage polishing 



With The 3M Perfect-it III™ Polishing and Compounding Kit it's even easier for you to purchase all the products you need to get the perfect finish, while enabling you to store the whole system together and easily transport around your workshop.
•Everything you need to achieve the perfect high gloss finish.
•Whole range neatly stored in one kit.
•Stored in a stackable Tanos Sytainer IV® tool box worth £54.50!
•3M Perfect-it III™ Polishing and Compounding range - is the product choice of car refinishing professionals.
•Sold as a single kit, with contents listed further below.

Kit contains:

Compounding

- Perfect-it™ III Fast Cut Plus Compound 1 kg 1 Bottle
- Perfect-it™ III Compounding Pad - Green 150mm 1 Box
- Perfect-it™ III High Performance Cloth - Green 1 Cloth

Polishing 

- Perfect-it™ III Extra Fine 1L 1 Bottle
- Perfect-it™ III Polishing Pad - Yellow 150mm 1 Box
- Perfect-it™ III Ultra Soft Cloth - Yellow 1 Cloth

Hologram removal / Gloss enhancement

- Perfect-it™ III Ultrafina 1L 1 Bottle
- Perfect-it™ III High Gloss Pad - Blue 150mm 1 Box
- Perfect-it™ III Ultra Soft Cloth - Blue 1 Cloth

Glazing and Protection

- Perfect-it™ III Polish Rosa 1L 1 Bottle
- Perfect-it™ III Ultra Soft Cloth - Pink 1 Cloth

Accessories

- Back Up Pad M14 - 1 Pad
- Foldable Respirator - Valved FFP2 5 Respirators
- Tanos Systainer® IV stackable storage case 1 Case


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

The 3M kits ^ are a very nice way of doing it. I use the same.

I still hand block all flatting. I find it a nicer more controlled way.
Even the the trizact disc work really well (only used them afew times) i still like 3k paper. For a really fine finish.


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## Aaran (Sep 18, 2007)

p1500 on a rock hard flat block followed by 3000 trizact on the da to remove the p1500.

gets shizz really flat and it only takes a few passes with g3 ultra to remove the p3000, pretty good stuff you can normally finish a car with this alone if you work it a bit with no pressure. it does eat the farecla pads though


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## supernova-dw (Apr 26, 2014)

Thanks very much for the tips everyone! Due to the price I'm able to charge in my part of the world (around £600 for a colour change respray) I can't go over the top with products... Looking on YouTube I've seen a guy who goes over the lacquer on a DA with 1500 wet using an interface pad then 3000 again wet and using an interface pad after which it is then mopped up and to be honest it looks great so think I'll give this technique a go as it seems very fast! Has anyone else used this method?


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Menzerna power gloss was my ultimate favourite compound but cant seem to get it in litre bottles now &#55357;&#56877;&#55357;&#56877; i find 3m fast cut cuts well but leaves lots of swirls that menzerna didnt !
I would try a more modern foam pad instead of wool pad mate more controlled and results are better in my opinion &#55357;&#56397;


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## supernova-dw (Apr 26, 2014)

Thanks for the tips. What foam pads are you using as I'll have to pick them up here before I travel back as all that's available there is the woolen ones.... Will take a look at the compound you mention also. Cheers


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

Im still a fan of the Farecla compounding heads.

SW, i dont think i'd do 1500 on a da, that could be hard to control the amount removed...


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## toddy23 (Jun 16, 2012)

I just de-nib the dirt using a small Block with 2000 and polish back up with 3m green top


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## supernova-dw (Apr 26, 2014)

I have to paint outside under a car port with open sides so do get a bit of dust in there unfortunately so I have to flat and polish the whole lot... Most of my jobs are full resprays also. 

Just looking at this P3000 3M Trizact discs they are pretty expensive, anyone idea how many I could expect to get through on a whole car?


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## peterboy (Jun 19, 2013)

They go a long way, two or three could probably get away with two.


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

As someone said before -we also like the farecla compound mops for fresh clear coat the velcro or hook and loop on a backing plate seem better than the 14mm screw on type not sure why but then i switch to my meguires da polisher for medium compound and 3m ultrafina which is a fantastic finishing polish ! Using the megs da polisher eliminates holograms better for me on dark colours and i use lake country and sonus pads for that mate hth
We have just had a few norton 3000 foam pads to try and they seem to last longer ! They are the same as trizact and do good job of removing 1500 and 2000 scratches well before compounding. Im not sure how much they sell for but be worth looking bud ?


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## Aaran (Sep 18, 2007)

on my crx's i can make a 3000 trizact do 2 full cars.....

use a thick interface pad with your trizacts in the finer grits? it makes them last 5x as long and that grade its only for removing coarser marks (and that should be where all the flatting comes from)


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## supernova-dw (Apr 26, 2014)

Just a quick update...

I went to see a friend whilst bAck home in England who does a lot of painting and spoke to him about what he was using.

Anyhow turned out he is using P1000 3M trizact discs with a ligh spray of water on a DA using an interface pad for the initial pass over the lacquer and after this going over it with Trizact 3000.

At first I thought the P1000 Trizact discs would be far too abrasive however it seems the trizact discs feel a lot smoother than their standard paper counterparts, the result spoke for itself anyhow! It seems the P3000 Discs give the lacquer a semi polished surface which is super easy and fast to mop up!

Anyhow I followed suite so thankfully no more hand flatting for me


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