Wetsanding polished lips....pic included...more sanding or poloshing?
 

First set of wheels with polished lips, they were in kinda rough shape. I wetsanded with 1000, 1500, and 3000, then polished by hand with Mother's metal polish, by power cone with Adam's metal polish and by hand with Adam's #2. They look a lot better but still have scratches visible in the light.

http://i57.tinypic.com/nxp6b8.jpg

What are your thoughts, does it look like they need deeper sanding or are they more likely sanding marks that could use more intense polishing? Or am I hitting a point of diminishing returns and polished lips are never gonna be perfect?

It appears your sanding and polishing needs more refinement.... If I had to guess, you're either not spending enough time sanding, or you're not starting with an aggressive enough compound. Remember the goal of each step... In your process, 1000 should remove the majority of defects on the wheels. 1500 should then remove all of the scratches left by 1000. 3000 should then remove all of the scratches left by 1500. Your first compound should remove all of the 3000 scratches, and so on and so on. If you have one step that does not satisfy this relationship, then you will not create a mirror like finish.

Thanks Zach, know it's kinda tough to judge from the pic but wanted to avoid going to more aggressive sanding if it's not necessary. I'll probably try starting over on one lip with a lower grit paper and more time, see how it turns out. I repaired some curb rash using a dremel and pretty harsh sandpaper that turned out good so I'm sure I can get them smoother with some effort. Thanks again!

The photo doesn't look too bad... I would simply do some more sanding with 3000 grit (or perhaps do a 2000 grit step followed by 3000 grit), and then spend a lot of time polishing. You may need to invest in a proper polishing wheel/tools to really get the best results. I imagine the foam power cone is not nearly as aggressive as needed to do serious cutting for your initial polishing step.

Thanks again! Do you have any recommendations or advice on what to look for as far as polishing tools?

Acrylic paint is very thin and it does not respond well to buffing,
I know some people advocate more of the same
I say, think it through before you buff your way down into the primer, a professional would just repaint it. .You're going to get a bunch of well meaning guess work from anywhere else.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e2ea4879be.jpg

:uh:

The OP is polishing the lips of his wheels.....call me crazy, but they're not primered. :egads:

Correct, bare metal!

I ended up using a more aggressive polish with a wool cutting pad and then a couple steps of finer polishing. They're not perfect but I'm satisfied for now, I may put in a little more sanding work while the car is parked over the winter but they're much, much better than when I got them.