How much paper is used when hand sanding?

[weo]

Hello all. Finally able to get back in the forge after about 8 months away, and spent the past couple of hours hand sanding a 1095/15N20 chef's knife. I'm wondering about how much paper folks use to remove the previous grit scratches when hand sanding.

I took the blade to 400 grit on the grinder, then dropped to 240 grit for hand sanding. It took me almost 6 feet of 2" wide 400 grit paper to remove the 240 grit scratches on only one side and I don't remember it taking that much in the past, so I'm wondering if I need to change my brand of paper, or am I just remembering incorrectly.

Thanks

 

[AVigil]

It actually can take very little if you plan it.

I will take a blade to 400 grit gator, then 400 grit cork with compound, then 800 grit cork with compound.

Go back to 400 grit hand sand and only use a few strips of paper.

The trick is it really has to have all lower grit scratches out 100% and the cork belts make it easier.

 

[john april]

i would go higher on the machine to save hand sanding grits. i go to 400 with a normal AO belt, then a 400 grit cork, an 800 grit cork, a 1000 grit cork. then i hand sand 1000 grit regular paper and on upwards. i like the cork belts because they last. most of mine are over 3 years old.

 

[Hengelo_77]

Sounds like you have sub standard quality sandpaper

 

[CWendling]

Looking at the cork belts, i see they recommend green chrome on all the grits. You wouldnt use a white rouge with the 1000grit belt since its a higher grit compound?

 

[john april]

i use the cork belts with no compound. i will be hand sanding and buffing to a mirror finish usually , so having shiny 400 grit scratches is of no advantage to me. it may be more important with other guys techniques though.

 

[HSC ///]

for the hand sand paper, you could also try 320 grit after the 220...then goto the 400

 

[Robert Erickson]

I use Rhynowet Redline Sheets from supergrit.com for hand sanding steel and handle finishing.
As the others have stated doing more thorough job on the grinder will save hand sanding time.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

I'll share my process to give you more relative benchmark data. For example, let's say I'm making a 210mm kitchen knife with a convex grind.

• I would grind the bevels on the grinder to a ceramic 3M 120 grit finish.
• After that I would start the hand sanding process by using 150 grit Indasa Rhynowet Redline paper with WD40 using a simple hand sanding jig (made out of aluminium with a rubber backing for the convex bevel). I cut my Redline sheets in about 2 inch wide strips. I only do strokes one way and work the blade pretty hard at 150 grit, since this will save me time with the higher grits. This only take me about 8-10 minutes per side (maybe 6-8 strips per side).
• I then go to 220 grit, which will be a fairly quick process since the blade is already uniform at 150 grit. This will take me about 5 minutes (3-4 strips per side).
• Finally, for most of my users I take them to 400 grit which will take me about 3-4 minutes (2-3 strips per side).

So in total I spend about 15-20 minutes per side, for a total of 30-40 minutes per kitchen knife. For a nice and uniform 400 grit finish both me and my customers seem to be happy with.

 

[jdm61]

Yeah, for some reason, the Rhyno red AO sheets are superior to any of the supposedly better black SC sheets of any brand, including Rhyno' own SC (got them by mistake once) or my previous favorite, Norton Black Ice, up to like 800. There is a noticeable change in the Rhyno red paper at like 1000 and, IMO, its not quite the same superior stuff as the heavier grits. Not sure why. The Rhyno black is perhaps as good as the Norton and definitely better than the Klingspor, but why bother in our application?

I use Rhynowet Redline Sheets from supergrit.com for hand sanding steel and handle finishing.
As the others have stated doing more thorough job on the grinder will save hand sanding time.

 

[weo]

Thanks all. Everything makes sense.

And it seems that my initial question about the quality of my paper is possibly/probably correct, that it's poor/inferior.

Looks like I'm going to be ordering some Rhynowet....

Again, thanks for the input.

 

[Ian Fifelski]

There is a noticeable change in the Rhyno red paper at like 1000 and, IMO, its not quite the same superior stuff as the heavier grits. Not sure why.

They change from AO to SC at the higher grits.

 

[Stromberg Knives]

They change from AO to SC at the higher grits.

That is correct, here are the specifications.

 

[Storm W]

I noticed that pops just started carrying rhynowet. Way nicer than a separate Ebay order.

 

[Natlek]

Hello all. Finally able to get back in the forge after about 8 months away, and spent the past couple of hours hand sanding a 1095/15N20 chef's knife. I'm wondering about how much paper folks use to remove the previous grit scratches when hand sanding.

I took the blade to 400 grit on the grinder, then dropped to 240 grit for hand sanding. It took me almost 6 feet of 2" wide 400 grit paper to remove the 240 grit scratches on only one side and I don't remember it taking that much in the past, so I'm wondering if I need to change my brand of paper, or am I just remembering incorrectly.

Thanks

what size of hand hold tool you use for sandpaper ?

 

[weo]

Natlek - I have a couple of different ones I use. One of them is a piece of 1/4" Micarta I wrap the paper around and another one is a piece of wood that I glued a 2" x 1" wide hard piece of leather from an old boot sole.

I'm pretty sure I need to upgrade my paper choice, though, because I can both feel and hear inconsistencies when I change to a fresh piece of paper of the same grit, even when they come off the same piece of paper.