Plumbing shops are best place to get a flap wheel... not the "home depot" kind, but a "real" commercial plumbing shop. Keep the RPM on your tool low, or you will have a real mess on your hands. best advice ever... DON'T > TRY THIS WITHOUT FIRST PRACTICING ON A SCRAP PIECE OF SHEET METAL. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Walter Coe" <Whalt@xxxx> To: <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, May 27, 2002 11:08 Subject: Re: [DML] Re graining our car > To get the correct texture, I have found that anything finer than 80 grit > sandpaper is a waste of time -- it polishes instead of textures. Once the > grain is set proper then a coarse Scotch-Bite pad will mellow it to the OEM > finish. > > >From experience, I have found that long smooth strokes are bad -- very bad. > What happens is if you get the slightest bit crooked then you get long > crooked deep scratches. The secret to an OEM finish is to use very short > strokes. Another lesson I've learned from experience is to not use a "touch > & to" technique. (This is how a pilot lands the plane & takes off again > without stopping.) If you do this with your sandpaper, then you end up with > J-shaped scratches. So... in order to refinish a small area by hand, put > the 80 grit paper on a sanding block (preferably one used for automotive > use. They are rubber & conform to the panel's contour unlike a wood block.) > Carefully place the pad on the panel without shifting it. Then press hard > and quickly lift off. This will produce very short scratches which best > emulate the OEM finish put on using a flapper wheel. > > For large areas, I have had great success using a belt sander, BUT -- DON'T > TRY THIS WITHOUT FIRST PRACTICING ON A SCRAP PIECE OF SHEET METAL. The > problem with belt sanders is the backing to the paper is hard and > unforgiving. It will put an uneven deep gouge pattern in the metal. > Instead place a small sponge behind the platen (the thin piece of sheet > metal that backs the sandpaper). This will create a raised area on the belt > sander's working surface, and this is the only part of it you want touching > the car. This works great for broad flat areas but will not get near curves > such as the fender flairs. It produces a pattern of short straight > scratches that looks just like the OEM finish from a flapper wheel. > > The last time I was at NAPA, I saw on the shelf a small 80 grit flapper > wheel made to fit a power drill. This was around 1.5 to 2" diameter. I'm > tempted to try it in the "hard to reach" areas. > > Or you can just spend the bucks and buy a really flapper wheel (if you can > find one). > > Walt Tampa, FL > > > > To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: > moderator@xxxx > > To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > >