You won't always get orange peel. But if you do...
The first reply was dead-on to my technique. Because you can't dare cut through the clear, I double-clear my cars. Here's a secret to keeping a double-clear shoot from looking 'fat'...don't mask off anything. Remove it all with the utmost care, and roll the clear into the trim cavities just like the factory. And 'roll' doesn't mean use a roller and pan--it's the way you taper clear into cavities or other areas which will be covered permanently by something after assembly. READ THE LABEL on the clear coat cans and wait the maximum time stated after spraying before finishing the paint job off. I NEVER finish a shoot less than 30 days after I clean up the gun. The car should not be driven, washed, or exposed to the elements during this curing time while the esters bleed out. The clear needs to be completely cured for maximum hardness before finishing. Buffers generate heat, and heat improperly and too soon applied to the layers of clear which are in various stages of set and cure is what kills paint jobs before they ever leave the shop. It looks great, but it's already dead. It soon gets hazy, so you buff it again. You just can't figure out why, but it gets hazy again. And again. And then you see large areas of paint without clear start to appear. And then you're screwed, only two to three years out of the garage. A good paint job will last YEARS with proper care. And that starts when you shoot the first mist coat.
You reassemble the car after it's been buffed, and then the shine looks deep and hard and wet and stays that way.
I like to use three coats of base, hand-rubbed between each, and six coats of clear--one mist, two medium-wet, one wet, max flash time, two medium-wet, one wet.
This gives you lots of clear to finish without the buffer burning it, and enough to survive the very occasional subsequent buffings. Do not buff the car often!
I apologize for the verbiose post, but I get carried away sometimes...
"I'm going to need a fast car...faster than that."