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Has anyone here used a Porter Cable 7424 for correction of paint after wet sanding?

I'm curious to see some sample of this.

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I LOVE my Porter Cable 7424... and I use it whenever I am bored and looking for a fun way to kill an hour polishing my cars

I don't really understand what you mean by 'correction' of paint after wet sanding.

If your wet sanding has not gotten the painted surface smooth enough... about the only use the P&C would be... is if you slapped the wooly bonnet on it and used it to try to further smoother the surface.

But what you must remember is that to go from a completed paint job to a finished product.... you go through the wetsanding stages by using finer and finer grit sand paper. The whole point being that you are improving on the smoothness of each previous level of sanding.

Normally... the Porter Cable comes to work once you have finally used sand paper at the highest grit level and the sand paper can no longer improve on the smoothness of the painted surface.

Or a simply way of looking at things... the sand paper... through the various grits... takes you from 800 grit... up to 2000 grit. AND the Porter Cable is simply a further refining of the grit you are throwing at that surface to smoothen it... So the P&C is going from 2000 grit and up to a possible maximum of 4000 grit ( depending on what type of product you are applying to the painted surface - ie rubbing compound or polish )

Clarification : just remember that a "polish' is simply a further higher level of 'gritiness' and should not be mistaken for the 'waxing or protective stage'. Manufacturers are too blame for the confusion between polishing products and waxing products.

BUT if your painted surface is sitting at roughly the appearance of an 800 grit... well it is kind of useless trying to put the P&C to work using its 2000 to 4000 grit to try to knock back the 800 grit.

Now, I have heard of some folks who swear that by using the 'wooly bonnet' on their paint... they are able to get a more agressive polishing of the surface. So for arguments sake, let us just specualte or guess that the wooly bonnet is providing say a 1000 or 1500 'grit equivalent'.

So the 'wooly bonnet' might be useful to go nuts on an 800 grit equivalent surface and rapidly get it to a 1000 or 1500 'grit equivalent'. BUT the warning here is that because it is more agressive then a 'wet sanding'... you run the risk of literally polishing away your paint IF you allow the polisher to remain on one spot too long. So it is do-able, but you must take great care when doing it.

As for me... I would tend to think that the P&C's greatest charm and benefits come when you are using it to :

a ) applying a rubbing compound ( like the Turtle Wax rubbing compound - the murky brown clay looking stuff - or something like the 3m or other manufacturer type 'rubbing compounds'. At this point the 'rubbing compound is providing the equivalent to a 2000 - 3000 grit equivalent - and is really just further enhancing the smoothness of the surface.

b ) applying a good quality polishing compound which is simply taking things to yet a higher level of fine gritiness ( let's say from 3000 to 4500 grit )

c ) applying a good quality waxing compound, which should have no gritiness to it... but instead is attempting to seal the painted surface and lay down a protective barrier on to the paint to keep the Ultraviolet out, the oxygen out, water out and repel any other crapola that might land on the paint.

One thing you need to watch for, as you shop the aisles at your local automotive shop for rubbing compounds, waxes and polishes is to read carefully what each of the products is designed to do by the manufacturers.

For example, there are a lot of 'hybrid' products out there that 'try' to make your life easier by combining two aspects of the task together. For example... a wax with a cleaner, or a wax with a polish, or inversely a polish with a wax etc.

In your mind....... as you pick the products or even the method by which to apply them, you have to visualize how each of those products are helping you to progress further towards achieving the absolute smoothness of the surface that fits with your level of patience

So I hope this long winded explanation touches on some things and explains the process better, so that you can bring about your own conclusion on whether the Porter and Cable should be deployed at a certain stage to accomplish some 'corrective' measure.....

The simple and short answer would be " IF you figure that the finish needs to be additionally tweaked to get it smooth... the odds are that the easiest answer probably rest with choosing the proper grit of sand paper and doing some further wet sanding.... and to save the Porter and Cable for the finishing tweaking of the surface to maximize its final smoothness.

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