5000 grit paper

[blackrose]

Last year I painted my cabin sides but kept getting attacked by flies because being the end of summer there were lots around.

 

I was planning to give the cabin sides a key and then one final coat this spring. However since I'm not really a shiny boat person and don't clean my boat very often, so with the dust & dirt on the sides you don't really see the imperfections made by the flies unless you look closely. I'm just wondering if I could save myself some work by lightly taking back each fly trail in the paint with a bit of 360 grit paper and then going over each with 5000 grit paper (used wet) and then some sort of polish? Would that work?

 

If I repaint the sides there's no guarantee that I won't be plagued by flies again. They seem to like the colour.

Edited March 26, 2021 by blackrose

[BWM]

5000 is way too fine for paintwork, a finishing grade between 800 - 1200 followed by a polishing mop and compound should achieve what you want to do. 

[blackrose]

22 minutes ago, BWM said:

5000 is way too fine for paintwork, a finishing grade between 800 - 1200 followed by a polishing mop and compound should achieve what you want to do. 

 

Ok thanks I'll get hold of some 1000 grit paper. Should I use it wet? Also do I knock back the fly imperfections first with a coarser grade like 360 - 400 grit?

 

So what's 5000 grit used for then if not paintwork?

Edited March 26, 2021 by blackrose

[BEngo]

Start with 360 grit or 400 and work up in stages.   400, then 600 then 800 etc.  Get the scratches made by the previous size out then, and only then, move to the next.  Use soapy water on the paper.

After 1000 or 1200 go to Farecla G3 or G10 or similar on a firm mop.  Once you have the scratches from the 1200 out spray the job with water and polish again with the mop but no extra compound.  Finish with  a wax or a glaze on a soft mop.

 

Inevitably you will remove  some of the paint, and if the surface is at all oxidized your work will stand out.  It might be easier, and probably much quicker, to flat it and put another coat on, if you can get away from the flies doing a post lockdown encore.

 

5000 grit is for polishing things like headlamp transparencies, spectacle lenses and air crew helmet visors.

 

N

[BWM]

5000 grade is a fine polishing abrasive and is so fine it can be difficult to ascertain which side to use! It is often sold on a plastic backing but is outside of the scope of most diy uses. 

 I would personally use either 320 or 400 to locally nip out the damage caused by flies with dry paper on a rubber block and then flat wet with 800/1000 depending on the starting paint finish. A few drops of washing up liquid in the bucket will ease the job. The above assumes that the paintwork is flat without much in the way of brush marks, as if not you will need a good thickness of paint and a lot of patience as these imperfections will become more noticeable until they are gone.

[Tracy D'arth]

5000 paper comes in pre-perforated sheets on a roll in either one or two ply. Very laborious to rub down paint with it, used wet it falls apart.

[cuthound]

An eco friendly alternative to 5000 grade wet and dry is a lettuce leaf. ??

[Bee]

I

54 minutes ago, cuthound said:

An eco friendly alternative to 5000 grade wet and dry is a lettuce leaf. ??

Your dogs tongue is more abrasive too.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, Bee said:

I

Your dogs tongue is more abrasive too.

 

 

So was Izal toilet paper.

[cuthound]

2 minutes ago, Bee said:

Your dogs tongue is more abrasive too.

 

Now there's an idea. I could hire him to @blackrose by the hour.

 

Mind you @blackrose would have to rub his paintwork with steak first in order to get Zeus to lick it! ??

[hughc]

A friend, who is a luthier of some experience, swears by the aquatic plant 'mare's tail' for the final finish.

[Tracy D'arth]

3 hours ago, hughc said:

A friend, who is a luthier of some experience, swears by the aquatic plant 'mare's tail' for the final finish.

Chewed or dried and smoked?

[blackrose]

I'll test it on a few flies and let you know how I get on. I assume the firm mop needs to be on the end of a polishing machine or can I just do it by hand? I don't really want to polish the whole cabin sides. 

[BWM]

8 hours ago, blackrose said:

I'll test it on a few flies and let you know how I get on. I assume the firm mop needs to be on the end of a polishing machine or can I just do it by hand? I don't really want to polish the whole cabin sides. 

They are often fitted to a dedicated machine but you should be able to buy one that was designed to fit an angle grinder.

[blackrose]

Would this sort of thing work?

 

 

[blackrose]

Or are these better?

 

 

 

 

[blackrose]

The other thing to mention is that I used a good quality gloss paint on the cabin sides, but someone told me you can't really polish gloss, only cellulose or enamel paints can be buffed. Is that true?