Looking for a certain type of sanding sponge...

[Grease]

My uncle, a big fan of buying storage locker auctions, gave me a sanding "sponge" he found in his last buy. I'm not sure what grit it started out as, but it's worn down to something similar to a 1200 grit diamond hone. It puts a beautiful polish on edges, and it makes convexing them stupidly easy.

My problem is, it's falling apart and I want more of them.

Have you guys ever come across a piece of really stiff closed cell foam coated in extra fine grit sanding material?

 

[Razorsharp-Travis]

You can generally find abrasive sponges at any hardware store, well atleast its that easy for me, ask at the counter

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

3M and Norton both make sanding sponges. The grit descriptions for them are somewhat vague, such as 'medium/fine' (2-sided). Don't know what that translates to, in an actual particle size. Here's a .pdf catalog of Norton's abrasive sponges (link below). There's one type listed in there, called a 'soft touch', which is apparently available in Medium/Fine/SuperFine/UltraFine/MicroFine grits on closed-cell foam, and might be similar to what you're looking for. I'm betting they are aluminum oxide abrasive (based on color shown in photos of them; see below), but I don't know for sure.

http://www.nortonconsumer.com/uploa...ments/AbrasiveSpongeSpecifications-DIY340.pdf

This is a quoted description of the 'Soft Touch' sponge, from the catalog:

"Coated on one side, these thin flexible sanding sponges
are coated on closed cell foam to generate extremely
consistent and uniformly fine scratch patterns
necessary for applications such as sealer sanding and
sanding between coats of primer or top coats."

David

 

[incaorchid]

Try MicroMesh

 

[pertinux]

You can generally find abrasive sponges at any hardware store, well atleast its that easy for me, ask at the counter

Yup.

In the meantime, do a Google image search for "3m sanding sponge." Do any of those look like what you have?

~ P.

 

[Bruceter]

Google "Norton diamond hand pads" and see if that is what you have. It looks like they have them up to 800 grit.

Bruceter

 

[Grease]

Google "Norton diamond hand pads" and see if that is what you have. It looks like they have them up to 800 grit.

Bruceter

I'm betting that is what I have, albeit a much older version.

 

[jonc123]

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Polishing_and_abrasives.html

Check out some of the products on this page, I play guitar and have bought a couple things from them. I am not familiar with these particular products and don't know much about the pricing but worth a look.

Jon

 

[Swoop03]

You can generally find abrasive sponges at any hardware store, well atleast its that easy for me, ask at the counter

Agreed.

I also had forgotten about sanding sponges. They would be wonderful for convex edges like you said. Gonna have to go to lowes it looks like.

 

[Grease]

Agreed.

I also had forgotten about sanding sponges. They would be wonderful for convex edges like you said. Gonna have to go to lowes it looks like.

They're great for setting an edge, but I haven't been able to find any that go above 320 grit in stores. 3m has bulk boxes of sponges that go up to 800 grit, but those norton diamond pads seem to be the best bet. They've got one that's 1800 grit. That should be more than enough edge refinement - from there you can just strop and go to work, I would think.


Looking through a pocket microscope at the one I've got, I'm thinking it's an 800 grit - it's somewhere between the 600 grit and 1200 grit sandpaper I've got.

 

[TacticalAnt]

Think automotive paint supply??

 

[pjwoolw]

Mirka Gold Flex Pads go up to like 500 grit IIRC.