Sandpaper suggestions, please

coyote711

coyote711

Joined
Sep 19, 2009
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Winter's almost here and I'm getting a little bored - need a new "project". ;) I want to try sharpening with sandpaper, but I'm not sure what grits or what type of sandpaper to buy. Should I get a piece of glass to use under the sandpaper, or will a piece of hardwood be OK? I'll be sharpening mostly "everyday" steels: GEC 1095 & 440C, Case CV & SS, Queen D2, Buck 420HC, Opinel Carbone, etc.

Any other pointers or tips regarding this new foray into sandpaper sharpening will also be appreciated! Thanks!
 
Hey, I actually really enjoy sharpening with sandpaper on my bigger knives or on my scandi grinds. I use Norton dry/wet sandpaper with p600 and p1200, p1200 is enough to start polishing and p600 gets a nice toothy edge. If I need to I use my whetstone for re-profiling. Many likes to use a mousepad to get a more convex edge, but wood should serve you just fine. If you want to get a mirror polished edge you need to progress slower with the grits and clean the knife between each grit so you don't have any residue to scratch up your blade and grits over p1200 can be a tad more difficult to come by.

This is a Video that got me into sharpening with sandpaper:
[video=youtube_share;bRmaTw05rTs]http://youtu.be/bRmaTw05rTs[/video]
 
coyote711 said:
Winter's almost here and I'm getting a little bored - need a new "project". ;) I want to try sharpening with sandpaper, but I'm not sure what grits or what type of sandpaper to buy. (...)
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Most common, and likely most popular, is the wet/dry type of sandpaper. 3M and Norton are popular brands. Almost always silicon carbide, though some individual brands/grits may also include aluminum oxide abrasives. All will be very dark in color, either dark grey or black. Any grits in the 220-2000+ range can be useful; 220 - 400 usually works well for grinding new edge profiles; and with some stropping afterwards, they can also create great working edges on some steels. Grits from 400 - 800 will usually leave a very attractive 'satin' finish on most steels, and will more closely approximate the factory edges left on many (but not all) production knives. Grits above 800 will start to mirror-polish most steels, with 2000+ grit getting very close to mirror (by the naked eye).

There are also some 'dry' sandpapers (not to be used wet) in pretty coarse synthetic aluminum oxide. These will be various lighter colors, in brown/light grey and others. I've played with a few of these, and have found them to be very aggressive for chores like re-bevelling or quickly thinning a blade profile. Grits will often be below 220 (maybe 60 - 180 range).


(...) Should I get a piece of glass to use under the sandpaper, or will a piece of hardwood be OK? (...)
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Simple answer: YES. :D

In other words, if you get the chance, try both. You may find reasons to like both. The harder glass will make the sandpaper work more aggressively, much like a bench stone in the same abrasive. Glass will also likely be better, the finer you go in edge finish. As the edge becomes more refined, it becomes more critical to minimize the amount of 'give' in the backing under the paper, so edges won't get rounded off. All the more important when polishing, though this can also be done in experienced hands on wood with slurries of stropping compound (another topic).

On the other hand, a simple piece of plywood with some coarse/medium-grit sandpaper stuck to it (with some temporary adhesive or contact cement) can work very, very well for putting very aggressive edges on simpler steels like 1095 or low-alloy stainless like 420HC. Followed by stropping with any or all of black/white/green compounds, this is a great way to finish these steels.


(...) I'll be sharpening mostly "everyday" steels: GEC 1095 & 440C, Case CV & SS, Queen D2, Buck 420HC, Opinel Carbone, etc.

Any other pointers or tips regarding this new foray into sandpaper sharpening will also be appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...

These steels are all in same wheelhouse as what I've been using and maintaining with sandpaper. I don't see any problems there. 440C and D2 steels are more wear-resistant, so you'll likely see them go a bit slower, and will tend to polish more for a given grit (because the abrasive won't cut as deeply).


David
 
I've done quite a few knives with my main shop sandpaper - Rhynowet Redline. It comes in grits from 80-2500, which gives you a good range of grits to establish your progression.

TedP
 
I swear by using an eraser or similar to stop and clean the paper off frequently. You can substantially increase the longevity of your paper and keep it grinding fast and clean. In my experience it can make a big difference.
 
Thanks for the replies! I had to run into town earlier today so I grabbed a pack of 3M 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper - that seemed like a pretty good grit to start off with. Next time I'll probably grab some coarser and finer grits to have on hand also.

I hadn't even thought about this prior to watching the clip secte posted - I just assumed I'd use edge leading strokes. I guess I'll experiment and play around, but is edge trailing the preferred (or only) way to go when using sandpaper? :confused:

Thanks for the tip regarding the eraser, HH. Just a plain old pink eraser like I used back in grade school (about 55 years ago and haven't used since)??? Seems like they also make (made?) darker colored erasers that may have been more dense than the pink ones - maybe ink erasers? Does it matter what type eraser?

David, I'll grab a couple different size pieces of tempered glass from the local glass shop and give that a try also.

Thanks for the hints & help so far, guys! :thumbup:
 
coyote711 said:
Thanks for the replies! I had to run into town earlier today so I grabbed a pack of 3M 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper - that seemed like a pretty good grit to start off with. Next time I'll probably grab some coarser and finer grits to have on hand also.

I hadn't even thought about this prior to watching the clip secte posted - I just assumed I'd use edge leading strokes. I guess I'll experiment and play around, but is edge trailing the preferred (or only) way to go when using sandpaper? :confused:

Thanks for the tip regarding the eraser, HH. Just a plain old pink eraser like I used back in grade school (about 55 years ago and haven't used since)??? Seems like they also make (made?) darker colored erasers that may have been more dense than the pink ones - maybe ink erasers? Does it matter what type eraser?

David, I'll grab a couple different size pieces of tempered glass from the local glass shop and give that a try also.

Thanks for the hints & help so far, guys! :thumbup:
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Just a plain old pink eraser will work fine. If you have a chunk of crepe rubber for cleaning sanding belts, that will work fine. You can go edge leading, or use trailing, or use a scrubbing method, just have to be a bit more precise with your movements and have the sandpaper nice and tight around whatever your base is. Here's a video that might help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdzCV-JkMc
 
I prefer edge-trailing with the sandpaper, just mainly based on less risk of catching and/or cutting the paper. As HH mentions, edge-leading or circular or other techniques can be used as well; just have to be more careful with it. The more I've done it though, the more convinced I am there are other clear advantages to trailing techniques. I used to harp about burrs & wires all the time; about how they were my #1 pet peeve. Since going to and refining my habits with trailing technique, those issues have largely been rendered moot. Much less pressure is directly laterally into the apex with trailing-edge strokes; pressure is what creates burrs and also tends to make them bigger. As with any sharpening technique, there will always be burrs created; but I've found them much easier to minimize and clean up with a stropping stroke (and cleaning up burrs is what we strop for in the first place; it seems to make perfect sense, in retrospect).


David
 
HH and David, thanks again - I appreciate it! I'm going to gather some more supplies tomorrow, and then I can't think of a better way to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving than embarking upon a new sharpening adventure. ;)
 
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