Sandpaper - so basic, I never knew!

Hi gents,
For those of use with mostly woodworking experience, this may come as a bit of a shock...you can't really just use whatever sandpaper you have for wood when sanding razors...

I put this out there for the other newbie restorers to not have to go through what I did!

I read Bruno's hand sanding how-to thread, top to bottom, I made the little nifty sanding block to avoid the dreaded carpel tunnel syndrome, I cut my sandpaper into nice little strips to affix to the sanding block, and then I went at it....and still at it...and still at it...and yet still! Gah! :rant:

I knew that handsanding could take a while, but I was roughly 22 hours in, and not all the pits had been sanded out yet, and the razor wasn't that bad off to begin with...I couldn't figure out what was going on - not enough pressure? Too much? What?!?!

I then googled sandpaper type, and this is what I learned. Regular woodworking sandpaper is Garnet, which, incidentally, is not good for metal. D'oh! :gaah:

Here's a little table that I'll forever have up in my shop from now on:



Good luck!
Mark

Better to find out late than never!
Happy sanding :) I need to make myself a Bruno block as well

If anyone wants a recommendation for a brand of sandpaper I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Norton's 3X line. I've been dabbling with the restoration thing for a reasonable amount of time now,18 months or so I think, and until recently was just doing basic polishing and honing on ebay razors that weren't too bad to begin with. I always dreaded having to handsand a badly pitted blade, and kept putting it off whilst all the while gathering a bigger collection of ebay junkers that just got added to my "to do" pile.
Having done quite a bit of research on the topic, I settled on the 3X for damage removal and Mico Mesh MX for finishing. I chose the 3X for a number of reasons: it's Norton's top of the line paper,promises a longer life-span than other brands, is less prone to loading and is supposed to offer a more consistent finish than other brands without leaving deep gouges caused by irregular grit.
What finally helped me decide was when I read on a forum that one member felt that hand sanding with the 3X was quicker than using power tools to do the job
I can't offer a comparison with other popular brands of papers, but from a relative beginner's perspective the Norton 3X have been more than satisfactory.
Kind regards,
Alex

Sucks doesn’t it. You sand like a mad man and don’t even scratch the steel. Go to the local body shop/paint supply house and get your paper there, not from the local WoodCraft/Rockler store unless you specifically ask for or look for aluminum oxide or carbide sheet metal paper. I is like trying to drill a hole in steel with a brad point bit, it just does not work very well. I try to keep my paper in two separate spots, one for wood one for steel. After a while you know when you picked up the wrong sheet, you can feel the difference. The particulate is sharper/grittier feeling in oxide/carbide verses general purpose wood paper, price is usually a little higher as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A_S

If anyone wants a recommendation for a brand of sandpaper I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Norton's 3X line. I've been dabbling with the restoration thing for a reasonable amount of time now,18 months or so I think, and until recently was just doing basic polishing and honing on ebay razors that weren't too bad to begin with. I always dreaded having to handsand a badly pitted blade, and kept putting it off whilst all the while gathering a bigger collection of ebay junkers that just got added to my "to do" pile.
Having done quite a bit of research on the topic, I settled on the 3X for damage removal and Mico Mesh MX for finishing. I chose the 3X for a number of reasons: it's Norton's top of the line paper,promises a longer life-span than other brands, is less prone to loading and is supposed to offer a more consistent finish than other brands without leaving deep gouges caused by irregular grit.
What finally helped me decide was when I read on a forum that one member felt that hand sanding with the 3X was quicker than using power tools to do the job
I can't offer a comparison with other popular brands of papers, but from a relative beginner's perspective the Norton 3X have been more than satisfactory.
Kind regards,
Alex

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I second the Norton 3X. I use it in varying grits in my shop all the time (almost exclusively). It's a good value for the price, too.

dont tell the garnet story to the couticule man.

It would be kinda neat if they made a closed coat garnet paper i guess.

For anyone still struggling to make a choice regarding brands of sandpaper I found this blog to be quite helpful ToolCrib.com Blog Links to lots of other good information there as well.
Kind regards,
Alex

Haven't used the carbide aper yet, but it is true that Alum ox cuts much better and faster than wood paper.
And yes, I found out the hard way too. :)
I also found that 'dry' cuts better than 'wet/dry' paper.

Thanks for that, Bruno! At least I dont' feel so dense any more!

As for Aluminium Oxide vs. Wet/Dry paper, well, I could only find Alum Ox paper up to 400 grit, after that it's all wet/dry - can you get Alum Ox in higher grits?

Mark

is there a good source for the 3m and mico mesh online? seems I cna't find good stuff here. went to auto store and I thought I had bought some 2000 grit paper, but it is lost in the black hole of my shop apparently. also, how heavy a grit are you starting with? I really need to check, i wonder if I didn't accidently buy the wrong type of paper in the lower grits (or if it is leftover from some woodworking I did before).

Red

I have used silicon carbide papers for metal for more years than I like to acknowledge, and discovered a really good way to get a LOT more life as well as a better finish from them. I use the wet/dry as "wet", but do it with a light oil instead of water. (think 3-in-1 type). Just takes a little, doesn't get all over the place, doesn't require constant replenishing, and really seems to reduce the "scratching" problems.
Have used this on steel,(both soft and hard), brass, and aluminum with good success. Might be worth a try if you're having problems dry sanding.........Mike


Forgot to add-doesn't RUST!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Red

is there a good source for the 3m and mico mesh online? seems I cna't find good stuff here. went to auto store and I thought I had bought some 2000 grit paper, but it is lost in the black hole of my shop apparently. also, how heavy a grit are you starting with? I really need to check, i wonder if I didn't accidently buy the wrong type of paper in the lower grits (or if it is leftover from some woodworking I did before).

Red

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This is the official site for Micro Mesh https://www.micro-surface.com/default.cfm?page_id=1

They have an online store and a list of distributors on the home page.