Reef Bruh's 600 Gallon Upgrade

So I have to follow that up with a 2000 grit and do it by hand this time? Is that going to take alot of sheets of sand paper? Will that work on the outside also?

 

It's going to be next to impossible to buff out 1200 scratches, not that it can't be done, but that's a lot of buffing, and you risk overheating the acrylic and making a huge mess. 2000 grit by hand is best, and with the rubber pad (3m makes them, any body shop supply has them) It won't take as much paper as you think. I could do a whole car with about six full sheets. Cut the sheets in 1/3's width wise, and wrap that around the rubber block. Fill a small pail with 1/2 gallon or so of water, maybe 2 teaspoons of dishwashing liquid soap. Sand in a straight line with over-lapping patterns, and wash the paper in the soapy water often, keeping the acrylic surface wet, and the paper clean. Wipe the acrylic dry every so often to check your progress. When the paper stops "cutting", simply unfold it and move to a fresh side of the paper. You should effectively get three sides from one of the 1/3 sheets. When complete it will be kinda shiny with no visible scratches. Then you're ready to buff. Honestly, I would spend most of my time on the outside, as the inside imperfections will fill with water and be pretty much invisible. Be sure to use the rubber pad on the outside and keep it perfectly flat. It may "look" flat until you get a shine on it, but any imperfections will give it a real "ripply" look when viewed from any angle. Ever saw a car that looked nice and shiny when viewed straight on, but if you look down the side at an angle it looked like a washboard? That's what I'm talking about.

 

That will save on man hours and my arms. And to think I was looking forward to having those Popeye arms. Thanks for the advice and lets see the turnout.

 

Never even thought of that, genius idea for sure, you can also pick up the 3m blocks in different sizes as well, and different styles, i have an extra long one, its about 8" and i used it when i repainted my mustangs they are like 30$ at autozone or napa, and make sure you get the "wet sand paper" otherwise the other stuff will fall apart much faster then a wet sandpaper, learned that really fast after i painted my car and wet sanded the coat to make it shiney lol

 

That's all I have is wet sand paper. I am going to start sanding the outside of the side I finished Friday. I'm strong to the finach, Cause I eats me spinach, I'm Reefbruh the sanding man, whoomp whoomp.

 

this is why I am a member on this forum, never would have even thought of that, sucks to hear you have so much more sanding to do but from the sounds of it the results are going to be worth it!!

 

I'm glad I could finally contribute something worthwhile here. After all these years sucking info off you guys it makes me feel good! :thumb_up:

 

Thanks and your help has been greatly helpful. But what do you mean by cutting?

 

"Cutting" just means that the sandpaper is removing material. It's harder to see/feel it with such fine grits, but when it starts to feel too "slippery", it's probably time for a fresh piece.

 

You might wanna look at these ffor flow, might save you some cash.
Hydro Wizard medium now available for pre-order from Panta Rhei, shipping in December