"Dan White" wrote in message
...

I applied several (5?) coats of poly and then went right to the 2000. I'm
left with a pretty shiny surface that has some ripples in it that cannot
be
felt, but can be seen if looking at reflected light at a shallow angle.
It
is not strictly a mirror finish but it does feel like one to the touch.
I'm
still not sure if a super shiny surface or a more matted one.


That ripple is what you're looking to sand out when you go for flat. You
can feel them if you run your fingers very lightly down the surface slowly.
Over time you develop a good feel for finding them. Do a little autobody
repair and you'll quickly become an expert at finding them. Either you do,
or the word "dambkit" becomes a frequent part of your vocabulary - usually
just after the clear coat goes on.

Grab yourself a paint stick and wrap it with your sandpaper (wrap the whole
stick) and lay it flat on your surface and sand. It will flatten those
ripples out nicely. Don't stop until the entire surface of the piece shows
sanding marks evenly. Get it back up to the desired level of shine after
that and then stand back and look at it at that shallow angle. You'll love
what you see. For the type of ripple you're describing I probably would not
go more aggressive than 1000 grit. You could go to 600 but you'd want to be
quite careful. 600 can take finish down pretty quickly. 1000 will take
more work but it will get there and there's less chance of burning through
if you're not really accustomed to this stuff. Either way it's work. If
you start at 600 your going to go through more stages to be rid of the
sanding marks. If you start at 1000 you're going to sand more to get to the
same level, but you'll only have one step before buffing. If you're really
into it you can buff from 1000 but I prefer to sand more and buff less. I
just hate buffing.

--

-Mike-