Switched from water sanding to dry sanding on my last restoration

I had a 1972 Chevelle come in last month with some nasty orange peel on a fresh paint job. For 20 years I always wet sanded everything with 1500 grit and a bucket of water. A guy at the NAPA counter talked me into trying a dry sanding system with some 3M discs and a DA sander. It cut my time down by about 40 percent and the finish came out just as smooth. Has anyone else had good luck with dry sanding on metallic paints?

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anna5671mo ago

Used to be a wet sand believer all the way, thought dry sanding was just a gimmick for people in a hurry. Then I tried it on a silver metallic truck that had terrible dust nibs, and man did it change my mind. The finish came out so clean with no water running down the panels or getting into the seams. I still keep a wet setup for some stuff, especially if I'm working with really soft paint, but for most metallic jobs the dry method is just faster and way less messy. The key is using the right backing pad and not pressing too hard, let the tool do the work.