Shoutout to the painter who chewed me out for sanding primer with 400 grit
I used to be one of those guys who jumped straight to 400 on primer because it felt smoother and faster, and for years I thought I was doing good work. Then a painter named Ray at a shop over in Fresno looked at one of my panels under his light and flat out said, "You're polishing scratches into your primer, not taking them out." He grabbed a scrap door and showed me how the 400 just glazed the surface and hid the 180 scratches instead of cutting them down, and sure enough under his booth light my old jobs looked like a map of every swipe. Now I step through 180, then 220, then 320 on primer and I stop there, and I spend the extra 15 minutes per panel checking with a guide coat before I hand anything off. My block time went up maybe 20 percent but my comebacks on nibs and pinholed edges dropped to almost nothing over the last 6 months. I still think most of the hype about super fine grit on primer is backwards, and I'll argue it with anybody. What grit do you all actually finish primer at before sealer?