when to move to next grit?

[SKBarbour]

I recently finished a test peice of EIR with Zpoxy as pore filler and KTM 9. Was very happy with the ease of application and looked pretty good after curing for a week or so. I picked up some micro mesh pads to do the wet sanding. I started going through the grits after level sanding this morning. After finishing with the 12000 pad I noticed I still had some swirl marks.I tried polishing a little with some Maguires but only made them more noticeable. I'm guessing I was not thorough enough with the grits before I moved on, but how do I know when to move on? Maybe I wasn't cleaning the micro mesh enough? I would like to figure this all out before I start the finish on the guitar.

[David L]

Kyle, all I can do is share with you what I did. I used Z-Poxy pore filler and rattle can nitro.

When I get to the final session after at least 4 weeks of cure time I wet sand using a large cup of water with a little bit of dishwashing soap, I start with 800 grit and sand until it looks uniform. I work in small to medium areas at a time. I use plenty of water and after I have sanded for a very short period of time (20 to 30 seconds) I wipe up all of the water until completely dry. I start with a full roll of paper towels. I also check my sandpaper each time I stop. It will eventually start to get loaded, when it does I discard it. I keep doing this until it looks like a uniform scratch pattern then I move to the next Grit.
The sanding pad that I use is a block of wood 4 inches long, 2 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch thick. I cut a piece of thin rubber the same size as the block. The rubber is the stuff used to line the drawers of tool boxes, it's about a tenth of an inch thick, I do not attach it to the block, I cut the sandpaper a bit oversized and make a sandwich, block, rubber, sandpaper, I stretch the paper tight across the block and fold the excess up the sides to hold it all together.
When it is time to move to the next grit paper I do the following religiously (oops, I forgot, religion is one of the 3 no nos of this forum). I dump my cup of soapy water and wash the cup THOROUGHLY, then refill with soapy water. I take my sanding block and rubber pad and blast them THOROUGHLY with the garden hose with the high pressure attachment hooked to it. I take a cup of fresh clean water and paper towels and wipe the guitar with a wet paper towel followed immediatly with a dry one. I do this several times to the whole guitar. I then give it another inspection and address any areas that need it. Then I move on to the next grit.
I do this EVERY time I change to the next grit paper.
I never co-mingle sandpaper, not even the micro mesh stuff, I always keep it all seperate. All it takes is one little piece of loose grit from a coarser piece of paper to mess it all up.
Keep in mind that I used nitro rattle cans and not KTM-9, I don't think that makes a difference in this procedure but I couldn't be sure of it.
I sanded all the way through all the micro mesh system up to 12000 grit and finished it off with maguire's swirl remover.

David L

[SKBarbour]

thanks David I think I may try wet sanding through the grits again using a little more caution to clean the water and area I am working .

[SKBarbour]

I ran through the micro mesh grits again and came up with something I'm happy with. I still have some light swirl marks but I think with the right choice of polishing compound and a new pad for my hand held buffer those would be gone. I used a maguires #9 swirl remover to get this. what polishes have you all had good results with?