sandpaper storage?

I use the plastic drawers from Wal-Mart just like Corey (quint) linked to.

IMHO, there is NO BETTER way to store the stuff. The biggest reason? I am cheap. Even though Rhynowet is my go to paper and costs about 45 cents a sheet, I want to get the most out of every sheet I can!

When I slap a 9X11 sheet on my 9" disc and cut off the excess, I put the cut-offs in the drawers along with the full packs. I can't tell you how many blades I have completely hand sanded just by using those funky cut-offs. :D

If you are sanding something and finish with 1/2 a strip of paper still good? Most guys trash it. With an equal amount of effort, I throw it in the drawer with the same grit and use it on the next blade. :)

I tried lots of ways to store the scraps + sheets over the years, but the plastic drawers work so well. They keep the sand paper neat/tidy, clean, and super organized with almost zero effort.... and they are very inexpensive! :cool:


These pictures were taken at the old shop, but show my sandpaper storage pretty clearly. :)

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Taking the plastic drawer a little farther (ok this is not exactly like the drawers Nick showed but same thing could be done to them). I used some gorilla glue to add dividers in there. The glue expands a bit when drying and gave me a nice seal between the divisions so no cross-contamination of the grits. I precut a bunch of strips at a time. Of course this is because space is at a premium in my shop. If you do have the room, Nick's way gives you the added option of storing your full sheets and oddly shaped scraps.

 
I always take out the drawer and use the smalles pieces that get the job done.
You'll find 1/4"x1/8" pieces in there :D
 
I searched for a solution and couldn't find one that I liked, so I built my own with scraps. The actual shelves are excess laminate flooring. I put the lower grits on the bottom to help avoid cross contamination and it hasn't been a problem. This is an old photo taken right after it was built, it's aged a bit now but works really well for my needs.

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