finish sanding paint

[hndrsn]

I have a RO125 sander and I am very happy with the tool generally speaking. Here is my problem: I am a sculptor working in fiberglass, and I am trying to attain a show-car quality paint finish on some pieces. I have been using various PPG acrylic urethanes. In the past, I have only been able to achieve the level of finish I require through lots of extremely tedious wet-sanding by hand. I was really hoping the RO125 would speed things up, especially since many of the abrasives are listed as being for use with paint. However, I find that they just load up right away, as you would expect, and I'm back to wet sanding. Any and all advice on this would be much appreciated. Thanks
Dave in Brooklyn, NY

 

[bruegf]

Which abrasive are you using and are you using a vacuum w/ the Rotex?

Fred

 

[Ned]

Welcome Dave.

Do a search (underneath the tool in the upper left) on "rotex detailing".  Many of the hits will be interesting to you.

I checked, and Platin 2 is available for your little Rotex (as we 150 owners call it  ).  Platin goes up to P 4000 grit.  Between that and the polishing advice on the threads here, you should be able to do what you want to.

Ned

 

[John Langevin]

Dave, is your paint fully cured? Are you using it with a vacuum? If either answer is no that is probably the problem. The correct abrasive coupled with a vacuum are absolutely essential to success. Good luck!

 

[hndrsn]

Thanks for all the responses. I think my problem is not-fully-cured paint. My shop is not that warm at the best of times and it seems to take forever. And of course I am not very patient.
After research spawned by this forum I have got a bunch of Menzerna products and various felt and lambswool buffs and Mirka Abralon discs. Over the next few days I will try them out on my (now fully cured)(it's been a month, it better be) paint job.

 

[hndrsn]

ps I actually prefer the 125 over the 150 because I can just about use it with one hand.