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In my last incarnation we used 30 and 15 micron which I believe equated to P800 and 1500.

Curious as to what other folks use to do their level sanding in prep for buffing, and if manual or power sanding influences the decision.

I'm going manual with this one, and thinking that 800, 1200, 1500, then the wheel should do the trick...

I have settled on 800 grit dry sand by hand with a block. I use the 3M gold stuff. The red compound buff then fine buff. Nitro finish. Never tried air or electric Sanders.

For me its all about level sanding between coats in the spraying process... i use a mirka for this with 500g foam backed pads... awesome... this means that by the time i get to my last 3-4 coats the surface is already pretty level... i then spray these last coats 50/50 lacquer-thinner... it goes on so smooth that when i come to wet sanding (by hand) post-cure i can go straight in with 1000... this is probably enough but out of OCD i then do 1500 and then 2000, just to be sure...

After this i use 3 compounds on the buffer. All Menzerna - P204 (pink) > GW16 (beige) > P175 (yellow)...

Very happy with this method.

G.

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What finish? For lacquer I sand up to 1200 grit. I found it wasn't necessary to go any higher grit than that. Like Gary says, the smoother the last few coats are applied the less final sanding is necessary. I usually have to start with 800 grit after the final coats, then 1000, 1200, then buff on the power buffer with medium and fine Menzerna. This is for lacquer. For Royal Lac Post Cat I'll sand up to 1500 or 2000 before hitting the buffer since this finish doesn't seem to buff as easily as lacquer. I do all manual sanding for the final grits before buffing.

Thanks, it is PCRL...