How long to wait before cutting and polishing 2K clear?

[Edward Yemm]

I’ve seen times of 24 hours, 2 days and 1 week listed. I’ve had a infrared lamp 3ft away from the panel for about 1/2 hour soon after painting. The temperature got up to about 27 degrees. After that, it’s been sat in temperature below 20 degrees. What’s a good amount of time to wait? Is the 24 hours aimed at oven baked paint? Thanks.

 

[grim_d]

I'd wait a couple weeks in the summer and a couple months in the winter but that's just me, likely overkill.

 

[northwest]

I have always left it two days or so, it really does depend on your level of experience and skill. It is very easy to cut through or burn the lacquer or paint. Anything that is still soft and you run a real risk of burning it. Try a bit and go lightly to start.
I have recently bought a DA polisher and to be honest it would be hard to burn anything with it, it is very gentle. I am used to a big rotary polisher and that could damage bare steel in the wrong hands!

 

[Edward Yemm]

I have always left it two days or so, it really does depend on your level of experience and skill. It is very easy to cut through or burn the lacquer or paint. Anything that is still soft and you run a real risk of burning it. Try a bit and go lightly to start.
I have recently bought a DA polisher and to be honest it would be hard to burn anything with it, it is very gentle. I am used to a big rotary polisher and that could damage bare steel in the wrong hands!

I’ll do it later on today then. I’ve cut this stuff before. It’s absolutely solid to break through even with 800 grit. I then use farecla and a random orbital polisher. I just didn’t want to rush it and end up with defective paintwork, months down the line, like what can happen with 1k if you don’t wait 1 week before cutting and polishing. Thanks.

 

[northwest]

I’ll do it later on today then. I’ve cut this stuff before. It’s absolutely solid to break through even with 800 grit.

I would just flat it then cut it back then, should be fine if you have done it before.

 

[tom2207]

Body shop I worked in many years ago did it the next day , but only very very lightly , and that was after being painted in an oven.

 

[Edward Yemm]

I'd wait a couple weeks in the summer and a couple months in the winter but that's just me, likely overkill.

I’m definitely going to wait at least a week before I try and cut 1K as I’ve had it go dull and crack before when I rushed it. I might do it a bit earlier as it’s 2K. Thanks.

 

[Edward Yemm]

Body shop I worked in many years ago did it the next day , but only very very lightly , and that was after being painted in an oven.

I’ve seen this mentioned on forums. They cut the paintwork lightly then get it back in at a later date if it needs any more cutting.

 

[Parm]

I’ve seen this mentioned on forums. They cut the paintwork lightly then get it back in at a later date if it needs any more cutting.

Few Years ago I did quite a bit of work at Europes largest car body shop, its just outside Glasgow.

They have 5 lines that end up at 10 spray bake ovens. Cars come out the other side. Once cooled enough they are straight on with cutting, polishing and finishing

But to be fair they have probably got some of the best process control in the world. 250 cars in and out a week

 

[tom2207]

I’ve seen this mentioned on forums. They cut the paintwork lightly then get it back in at a later date if it needs any more cutting.

If it needs any more than a very light polish , its a new painter thats needed ,,, not the vehicle to be returned .

 

[grim_d]

If it needs any more than a very light polish , its a new painter thats needed ,,, not the vehicle to be returned .

I can't agree with that, that's entirely dependent on the expected finish.

Average car....gun finish and polish.

Show quality glass smooth paint, that's gonna need a fair bit of cutting, or at least I've never seen a gun finish that good... especially if I'm the operator.

 

[Domdom]

If it needs any more than a very light polish , its a new painter thats needed ,,, not the vehicle to be returned .

depends on the finish you're prepared to live with. If you want a show finish that will never come from the gun. I spray with a DeVilbiss GTI Pro Lite and have been painting for 40 years. Not as a pro but I know how to spray and generally get a very good finish straight out of the gun. But it still needs flatting and polishing properly to get the show finish. And with 2k acrylic paint I leave it a week before that process.

 

[tom2207]

depends on the finish you're prepared to live with. If you want a show finish that will never come from the gun. I spray with a DeVilbiss GTI Pro Lite and have been painting for 40 years. Not as a pro but I know how to spray and generally get a very good finish straight out of the gun. But it still needs flatting and polishing properly to get the show finish. And with 2k acrylic paint I leave it a week before that process.

The trick in accident repair ,, is not to overfinish , often the repaired panel can be better than when the cars left the show room , and there a new set of problems begin .. the only two exceptions back then and it was thirty years ago , was with Bentley Rolls Royce ,, and Nissan ,, they all took a lot longer to finish.

glad to say I was out of that game when water based paints came into play , but I still keep in touch with the old guys , one of them went on to paint coffins , and then onto paint guitars , theres a local guitar company who demand very high quality paint / lacquer finished just down the road . Some times I look at new cars and wonder just how little paint is on them , some of the new finishes are horrid , but then again , gloss primer seems to be the new trendy colour or at least thats what it looks like to me.

 

[Edward Yemm]

I’ve cut any bits that I’m not happy with. Some solvent popping spread out randomly. Some excessive orange peel. I don’t know how to describe it but half the panel has very nice flowing orange peel, which was exactly what I wanted, like on the first and third photos. Then in spots there is very tiny speck patterns of orange peel which look very poor, like what was all over the area shown on the second photo. Some of it may be where I moved the spray gun way too fast to avoid runs but ended up with paint not flowing out properly. Or my gun angles. I only saw white sanding scum so I haven’t broken through the clear. Good job I gave it 4 or more coats of clear. Maybe I did break through over some of the solvent pop but I’m not bothered about that. It’s all still black. Time to get out the Farecla and the polisher.

 

[Edward Yemm]

At least this time I can see the reflection clearly right from the off. I’ve had terrible results before. Thanks to peoples advice I changed the compressor layout and got a better spray gun so it’s got a lot better.