Thread: Quality sandpaper?

I have been using generic brand sandpaper, 3M sandpaper and some cheap Chinese sandpaper to sand some pitting out of a Solingen blade I have. The difference is VERY noticeable, as I was sanding some corrosion off the blade with 80 grit Chinese paper the cutting speed was quite significantly reduced, about half an hour of sanding has failed to remove 50% of it. While the generic brand paper would remove all of it in 20 minutes or less.

My question is: What is the "best" sandpaper out there in terms of cutting speed?

My favorite papers for hand sanding are 3M's 216u and Mirka gold and 3M's trimite.

Charlie

Can't say I have a ton of experience behind me - just finished my first razor restore last weekend. But to get the restore done right I not only resanded the blade three times, I also tried about 4 different types of sand paper:

• GatorGrit black zirconium from Lowe's
• Norton sandpaper that I believe was Garnet but am not sure since it wasn't marked anywhere on the sheets (it was sand colored if that helps)
• adhesive-backed Norton Aluminum Oxide from some Norton Tool Sharpener packets (pricey but I was cutting them into strips for use on a rotary tool and wanted to try the adhesive backing)
• Eagle brand silicon carbide sheets ordered from Amazon

The silicon carbide worked best for me, followed closely by the Aluminum Oxide from the Norton tool sharpening packets. The other two sucked.

rhinowet
fro super grit cost a bit more then most but is much better
as i run out of the 100 pack of other im swaping to it
supergrit.com if you dont see what you need call and ask them might have it any how

You might try getting a series of sandpaper from the same manufacturer. If you have chinese, 3m, whoever, whoever you probably don't have grit sizes in a corresponding "pattern". Different countries have different grit ratings. For example the European grits are finer than their "matching" U.S. grits.P400 from Europe is similar to the 800 US equivalent. Might be something to look at when making your final decison.

I've checked the grits, as the Chinese papers are only for low grades 80-200 I can easily feel/see the difference, and the 80 grit paper seems to be the same, I'm going to go out and get some more good 80 grit paper, as I've spent around 6 hours sanding the blade with 80 grit paper, with around 2 hours spent with the cheap paper. The difference in grip when using the sandpaper is rather obvious.

3M Auto Body it goes up to ay least 2000

Originally Posted by Don

3M Auto Body it goes up to ay least 2000

My 3M is in the range 800-2000 I believe.

I just checked the "generic brand" sandpaper I have.... It's Norton

I bought another 3 sheets of the stuff, sanding the blade down with 1-2 centimetre strips, baby oil as a lubricant.

I use 3M mostly, but that's what I have available locally. I hardly ever go lower than 400 in grit & have never gone lower than 220 grit personally.