Some things to know about achieving high gloss.
1. The finish needs to be very clear. We call it "water clear". Some clear finishes can only get so shiny. The harder the finish, the better chance of getting a high polish. It's hard to get a high gloss on a a soft finish. Think of chrome wheel vs. a rubber tire. You can polish both but the rubber tire will never get shiny.
2. The color beneath the clear matters too. White and silver cars "seemingly" shine up easier than black because you can see all the imperfections in a clear finish over black easier than if that same finish was over a light background. Swirl marks are scratches, so are sanding marks. Those scratches you see is the sun light hitting the edge of the scratch. Light surfaces don't provide the contrast so those scratches are less noticeable.
3. As far as
sanding and
buffing and
polishing. Sanding removes the imperfections in the finish. It also flattens the finish, gets rid of any orange peel. Buffing gets rid of those scratches left from sanding. Polishing gets rid of the swirl marks (scratches) left by the buffing wheel and or buffing compound. A high gloss is a three stem process, sanding, buffing and polishing.
If you were to buff before sanding, you would only be buffing the high spots in the orange peel. So You would have orange peel that is a little more shiny than before.
Knock that orange peel down flat, you can buff and polish the entire surface. Mercedes 7 series vs. a Chevy Cobalt. They both shine but put the two side by side, there's no comparison. Sand it down to a fine grit, you'll spend less time buffing to get the high gloss.
When I sand and buff automotive clear-coat I wet sand, buff and polish. Typically I do as little work as possible to get the result my customer expects. Time is money. Sanding is faster than buffing and it doesn't create heat. Friction heat from a buffer will kill a good shine.
I usually start with 1500g, wet. Always use some sort of a sanding block. Fingers are not flat and cannot sand evenly flat. From 1500g wet, I move to 2000g. If it's a light color, I'll go ahead and buff it with
3M A
Don't fall for any claim that a compound will take out 1500 grit sanding marks and leave a high gloss. It won't.
If It's dark car, I'll start with 1500g wet, then 2000g, then sand out the 2000g scratches with 2500g. Then buff with the 3M A and polish out the buffing marks with
3m-2 Machine Polish
Some topcoats are very hard (Mercedes, Harley Davidson) and compounds don't cut them well so I'll need to take my sanding down to 3000g (1500, 2000, 2500, 3000) with
Trizact 3000g before buffing. Then buff out the 3000g scratches and and polish with the Machine Polish.
The reality is that wood finishes aren't nearly as hard as automotive finishes. I'd think you could sand with 1500 and maybe 2000 and use the 3M-A compound and be done with it.
A couple things to remember buffers heat the finish. Heat is your enemy so run the buffer slow or sand down further and use a microfiber rag and hand buff it. I will do that on occasion but not without sanding down to about 3000 first or I' be at it for a long time. Sand paper sands faster tan buffing compound. It's very rare that I'll run my buffer over about 800 rpm. Always sand with some sort of a block.
This block is amazing. Flat, yet flexible.
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