The DA is a necessory weapon in your arsenal. It can, scratch that, it will save you time! As you use your DA, love it and treat it well. Oil it, clean it and please don't leave it on the ground ever!!! Keep it where you can see it and keep it close. Take care of your investment.
Now, where am I headed with this post? Well, easy! I want to give some tips and strategies that can save you time and money. And time permitting, I want to give my do's and don'ts.
So let me start with time saving techniques.
1. Use your DA to sand off the target first. Don't DA forever, just a quick couple passes to where you know in your mind you can wetsand the rest with ease, (yes, I said wetsand).
2. DO NOT spend too much time DA'ing a spot for too long unless you know what your doing. I have to admit I do this sometimes to sand away a dirt nib or piece of unwanted debris I missed during cleanup prior to DA'ing.
3. Don't use a used/spent up Sanding disk but also be sure to make good use of it as well, don't want to be wasting now.
4. Be thorough and don't get sloppy with the technique you will develop. Never miss a spot.
5. ALWAYS have the following with you:
a. blower, i.e. pocket blowing, (looks like a pen)
b. one gray scuff and one red scuff, (I will explain later)
c. One razor blade, ( love my little portable blade)
d. a piece of glaze/putty spreader
e. spot putty
6. DO NOT slap-a-disk or slap-a-block with a stick to clean clogged up disk or sand paper, use the scuff. It's faster and saves time. I don't know where that "slap" technique came from but it needs to be forgotten.
7. 3m Interlace pad it very useful and can produce cleaner sanding and very handy with curvy rounded surfaces.
Next, here are some techniques that will save you time and give you a great professional surface that your painter will love.
1. After DA'ing the surface, wetsand! It will remove the "circles/swirls DA's leave and it will leave a smooth flat surface. Remember, some surfaces require using a block to keep surface even but most shops use hands to save time. You make the decision.
2. Tape off areas you don't want sanded. You don't want to DA a panel that's not going to be painted, the boss will be pissed off lol.
3. Always wetsand after DA'ing! But remember, every shop is different and yes sometimes some jobs it won't be necessary to Wetsand at all.
In the above video, I'm demonstrating the DA-to-primed surface technique on a white truck. Watch how fast it is to sand with the DA. Don't spend to much time with the DA unless you want waves in your finish. This is just a shortcut and saves a little time but in my industry, seconds count.(sorry for the way the video is, I don't have the software to fix it).
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