sandpaper

legato1

legato1

Joined
Sep 8, 2006
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what is a good wet dry paper? im starting to remove the belt grinder marks and useing 400 grit 3M and harbor freight wet/dry. they both seem to wear very fast. is there a better paper i can use thats more up to the task or is this just something to be expected?
 
legato1 said:
what is a good wet dry paper? im starting to remove the belt grinder marks and useing 400 grit 3M and harbor freight wet/dry. they both seem to wear very fast. is there a better paper i can use thats more up to the task or is this just something to be expected?
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If you are removing belt grinder marks, 400 is maybe a bit to fine a paper.
I wrap 120 grit Aluminum oxide around a 1 1/4 inch wide by 14 inch long by 1/4 thick metal bar; put the blade in a vise so you can work on it laying flat and clean up the grinder marks with a draw filing motion.
This is one approach.

Good luck, Fred
 
Brands are no good from me in Australia. However it depends on what grit the belt sander is that you have.
I some times use 36 grit or 60 grit belts to start. 400 wet and dry is too fine for something like that. You would be better with some cloth backed emery
240 grit , I also use a fair bit of 320. it is a learning curve. Also if you have some cloth handy wipe the sand paper on it from time to time to clean the dust out. I also line the back of the paper with making tape and cut it into 1 inch wide strips and put it on a flat stick metal ruller or similar. The tape is more usefull if your doing the shoe shine metod on handle to stop it tearing.

I hope that is some help.

Edited to add if your doing a lot of hand sanding keep it up you will have arms like a mud crab in no time.
 
thanks, im tired of this harbor freight crap, mabey its not so bad im just useing too fin a grit for the jop im doing cleaning marks made by 50 grit belt grinder...
 
different brands of sand paper are better than others for sure.
The frustration of 50 to 400 would kill a saint. Definatly work the grits down in stages.
 
went and put a flat piece of wooden trim into one of my 120 grit belts for the belt grinder and took out the 50 grit scratches, is it an appropriate time to move to 500? (thats all i have now) or should i save myself some effort wait until tomorrow and get some other grits?
 
well i have a piece of 400 but its alot smoother than it used to be and the next best thing i have now is 500.
 
I personally would be inclined to wait. It can be done but your working way to hard.

I started off the other way I went through too many grits. It depends on what is available. I may go 120 (240or 320) 600 1200.
60 180 or220 360 600

A 600 grit bill create a nice satin finish or you can buff it on a cloth buff to a mirror shine.

The trick is with the grits when you first start you are just knocking the tops of the scratches and they go down quick but the further you go down the more surface area is being sanded. You will notice a deep scratch is very hard to get down to the bottom of with fine grits because so much metal around it has to be polished away.

Its a bit like the army guy being asked to sweep the parade ground with a tooth brush.

The lower grits don't need to be wet and dry. Good luck you will pick it up with practice and time.
 
remember to keep your high grit paper wet it makes lots of differnce. I learned the hard way Jim
 
I am currently using norton black ice it works better than anything I have tried thus far. If I were you I would start with 220 and then go to 320 then 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and finish with 2500 or 3000. Depending on the finish I want I may stop anywhere after 800 grit.
 
I'm similar to the others. I start at 80 grit, then 150, 240, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1500. I sometimes stop at 600 for a satin finish.

For wet sanding I use glass cleaner. I spray just a dab on the blade and go at it. When the grit starts to gum up, I just hit the paper with a dab of glass cleaner and continue. This cleans out the grit and gets it back to cutting nicely.

The glass cleaner seems to add lubricity that water doesn't add and helps keep your fingers cleaner too.
 
you don't use 2000?????
I picked mine up at automotive stores, and then I move to liquid metal polish/paint polish.



Of course you wouldn't be able to tell.
 
I draw file off the grinder to skip to 200 and really flatten the blade. Gotta be carful, though...if you gouge with the file, the scratches can be absurdly deep.
 
went to homedepot today and got some norton 320, 400 and 600 so now i have the nortons i listed and harbor freight 500, 1000, and 1500. ima give these a shot tonight and see where they get me. thanks
 
320, is little better than 400. You need a couple of intermediate grits before the 320. The way you are attacking the issue, the faster you go, the behinder you get. Always change the sanding angle with grit change, or you will never get all the previous marks out. You are are in too much of a hurry.
 
i guess i am going a little fast, im just alittle to excited and want to see it shine.... i skipped from 120 to 320 and it seems to be working ok taking out the big scratches.
 
online industrial supply . the course grits from 120 to 600 are very good . 360 is wonderful. the backing is thin but very strong. the higher grits 3m has better quality.
 
for a helper make sure to sand at different angles or "scratch" that way you can see when you have got all the "last gritt" off the blade
 
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