Off Topic Recommend replacement for this SiC paper?

[At1Rest]

Hi there,
My father got this paper a very long time ago. I love how it works but it doesn't seem easy to get. Can someone recommend an easy replacement? I only have 4 sheets left.

What confuses me is the "Grit 1" reference. I'm used to grits being like 220, 320, 400, 1000 etc.

Thank you!

Writing on the back is:

Buehler LTD.
Apparatus for Microstructural Analysis
2120 Greenwood St. Evanston Illinois USA 60204

Special Emery
Grinding Paper
FOR METALLOGRAPHY
DRY ONLY

Grit 1
22Q5

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Might contact the company. Looks like they're still around in some form or another on the web.

https://www.buehler.com/contact-us.php

If they no longer make this particular paper, they might be able to offer an equivalent modern product, or give you some details about equivalent specs, like grit size & grit type (emery/Aluminum oxide, SiC, etc), and what finish the paper is supposed to leave on a given material. Their website shows offerings for metallography grinding/polishing (appears your paper was made for that), and it looks like most of those current offerings are in silicon carbide. 'Emery' is usually a reference to aluminum oxide by definition, but some so-called 'emery' products these days might also be in SiC.

Depending on what they can tell you about grit size & type, you might find consumer products like wet/dry sandpaper to be a decent substitute. Norton & 3M both make good papers like these.

 

[ToddS]

I've only ever seen that in disks, for mechanical polishing systems. Struers also sells it.

 

[At1Rest]

Might contact the company. Looks like they're still around in some form or another on the web.

https://www.buehler.com/contact-us.php

If they no longer make this particular paper, they might be able to offer an equivalent modern product, or give you some details about equivalent specs, like grit size & grit type (emery/Aluminum oxide, SiC, etc), and what finish the paper is supposed to leave on a given material. Their website shows offerings for metallography grinding/polishing (appears your paper was made for that), and it looks like most of those current offerings are in silicon carbide. 'Emery' is usually a reference to aluminum oxide by definition, but some so-called 'emery' products these days might also be in SiC.

Depending on what they can tell you about grit size & type, you might find consumer products like wet/dry sandpaper to be a decent substitute. Norton & 3M both make good papers like these.

I've only ever seen that in disks, for mechanical polishing systems. Struers also sells it.

Thanks guys.
Yea. I found their site but could only find discs.

Update: Just talked to them on the phone. Very nice but no luck.
"Grit 1" couldn't be decoded and they only do discs and other odd sizes.
He also said sending a sample would not be productive.
I guess I'll just have to carry a sample in my glove box and keep an eye out for something.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I think if it were me, I'd sort of assume I may not find anymore of the exact paper. If so, while some of the unused sheets are still at hand, I'd start shopping around for some of the more commonly available products like Norton or 3M wet/dry papers, and use your current stock of the old paper as a baseline for side-by-side comparison to the newer papers. That might buy you some time to figure out what will work as a replacement before your old 'good stuff' finally runs out.

In general terms, the given finish you're looking to duplicate will be good to know as a reference point in shopping for new products. If more polished is the goal, wet/dry paper in the 800-2000 (or higher) range is a good starting ballpark. If 'medium satin' is the target, then 320-600 is a good starting range, with around ~ 800 being sort of an overlap between 'satin' and 'near-polished'. Grits at ~ 1000 and above will start getting into mirrored territory (hazy mirror at the lower end). Anything at/below 320 or so will leave a fairly coarse satin finish on mainstream cutlery steels, closely emulating many factory blades' satin finishes.