Problems with your hand sanding of lighter woods & materials?

R

Rhinoknives1

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Jul 1, 2013
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Sandpaper for those white handles
We had a few threads lately with newer makers :confusion: "with good reason" about their light or white colored handle woods/materials getting black smeared crud on them from the paper and belts over at knife dogs so I posted this there and here.

I and others had mentioned using white or garnet wood working papers to avoid the smear smutz from black wet & dry papers.

I had a 12 x 12" x 3/8" slab of white C-Tek and was low on white papers and started poking around the internet looking for some stuff.

I have found some great fairly new paper for this application and perhaps all handle work.

Its a heat treated ceramic paper from Norton.

"Faster working and longer lasting than conventional sandpaper, Norton ProSand sanding sheets offer superior performance and a flawless surface finish. Their premium P-graded aluminum oxide abrasive gives you a quick cut with less pressure, and a smooth, consistent finish on all types of materials, including primed and painted surfaces. Will not clog, tear or transfer color. Available in a full range of grits. 9'' x 11'' sheet size.
Premium heat-treated abrasive offers faster cut and longer sanding life than 3X technology
Heat treating toughens the grain, allowing it to stay sharp and last longer under extreme pressure, and making it the most durable abrasive on the market
Super sharp edges allow grain to remove material faster
Increased backing weight, fiber-reinforcement and latex saturation offers better grain retention and tear-resistance, yet is highly flexible for easy folding and unfolding
Non-pigemented water-based stearate (anti-clog) coating
Open coat for best resistance to clogging and loading during sanding
No color dye in coating process so there's no chance of color transfer to workpiece
Ideal for smoothing and finishing wood as well as stripping metal, paint, rust and corrosion"


So far, I'm impressed with this stuff! I bought the 220 G & 400 G and plan to use the 3m Micron papers after that. I'l post a pic of this monster Chef knife with the white C-Tek handle when I'm done.

http://www.rockler.com/norton-prosan...paper-20-packs I'm sure its available from other places.
 
Thanks for the lead man. Always looking for better stuff. Can't wait to see the C-tek chef, I have loved working with it so far.
 
Thanks for the tip sir. I have a ivory colored micarta to be used on a upcoming order, wasn't sure if ryhnowet was up to the task.
 
Thanks for the follow up! I like the look of white G10 liners and they always look dirty. I'll check those out.
 
I have some chef's knives ready for handles and was thinking of doing one in white paper micarta. I was a little hesitant because on some previous light colored handles I would get a little gray on them. I was under the impression that this was from the metal tang since I was doing a full tang knife. If so, I'm not sure paper would help my problem. But anyway, next time I order paper I will give these a try.
 
Awesome, thanks for the tip Ill have to see if I can get some.
 
Interesting tip!

To date I have just used standard 3M, Norton, and Klingspor sandpapers on my handles, with a liberal amount of Windex to keep the swarf/grit from getting mushed into the material's tiny pores and making it look dingy.
 
I've been using Rhynowet Redline paper going on two years now. I've never had any trouble with staining on blonde woods or lighter colored synthetics using it, so I'll be sticking with it. It also happens to cut the most aggressive, the longest, on metal than any other paper I've tried. It works great for hand sanding as well as on the disc grinder. As long as they keep making it,.......I'll keep buying it.
 
I use Rhynowet paper for everything too, including sanding all handle materials. Never had a problem that couldn't be traced to technique, working with materials as picky as ivory paper micarta and stag.
 
Salem Straub said:
I use Rhynowet paper for everything too, including sanding all handle materials. Never had a problem that couldn't be traced to technique, working with materials as picky as ivory paper micarta and stag.
Click to expand...

The purpose of my thread is to helpful and informative to other makers. while your chosen paper may work for you there are others that might not have that paper or your fine guidance of technique;)

So Pal, since you get such impeccable results, could you share your technique rather than just stating your's is better?;)
 
I have shared my techniques for sanding light colored handle materials several times in the past... I dare say a person searching for said information could find it rather easily.

It's just that I get tired of typing the same stuff every year or two. Just thought I'd drop in to mention that it can be done quite handily with Rhynowet for those who were curious about that specific thing. You know, so they wouldn't have to buy yet another abrasive to try to solve problems.

My apologies if you felt contradicted...
 
Salem Straub said:
I have shared my techniques for sanding light colored handle materials several times in the past... I dare say a person searching for said information could find it rather easily.

It's just that I get tired of typing the same stuff every year or two. Just thought I'd drop in to mention that it can be done quite handily with Rhynowet for those who were curious about that specific thing. You know, so they wouldn't have to buy yet another abrasive to try to solve problems.

My apologies if you felt contradicted...
Click to expand...

Apologies cheerfully accepted, though not necessary and I also apologize if my post was strong worded.

One thing I do try to remind myself everyday is to remain teachable. I don't claim to be the know all and end all of knife making in any way and it will personally be a sad day when I think there is no room for improvement in my technique or choice of products.

Everyone has a great Sunday!
 
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