Using Sandpaper For Sharpening

J

Jmurman

Joined
Dec 16, 2006
Messages
53
I use the DMT X-Coarse for reprofiling then I go to X-Fine and then to my leather strop with compound.

One of the fellows here suggested that I do an intermediate step as thX-Fine to strop is a big jump....makes sense to me.

Today I picked up some 3M 1500 grit wet/dry paper from work to use as an intermediate.

My questions are; how long does this 1500 last? I intend to cut it down and attach it to a board of about 3-4" in width. Should I use this wet (water) or dry?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
Jmurman said:
I use the DMT X-Coarse for reprofiling then I go to X-Fine and then to my leather strop with compound.

One of the fellows here suggested that I do an intermediate step as thX-Fine to strop is a big jump....makes sense to me.

Today I picked up some 3M 1500 grit wet/dry paper from work to use as an intermediate.

My questions are; how long does this 1500 last? I intend to cut it down and attach it to a board of about 3-4" in width. Should I use this wet (water) or dry?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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It will last a bit longer and give you a finer finish if used wet , CRC is good
 
Use it wet to prevent clogging and get a better finish. As far as longevity goes, I find that sandpaper (the highest grit I use is 1000) can go for quite a while without becoming significantly clogged. I usually lose the stuff between sharpenings before I get more than three sessions on one piece :D
 
One of the fellows here suggested that I do an intermediate step as thX-Fine to strop is a big jump....makes sense to me.
Click to expand...

I think that was me. Sorry, I totally forgot to check that thread again, otherwise I would have responded. I've just recently been using sandpaper, so I'm no expert, but one thing I've found is the tremendous difference in stated grits vs. finish. For example, the 3M micro finishing film I got seems allot finer for its stated grit than the stuff I got from handamerican. And when you figure in the grits of diamond, water (witch is a different grading system), and other stones, it can be very confusing. This makes it really difficult to suggest grit, unless one is familiar with the particular product you’re using. What I'm currently using as far as grits for paper are as follows;

Note: all grits are US, followed by approximate micron (m)

100(141m)

320(45m), about where you are with the coarse diamond

800((22m), a bit finer than where you are with the fine diamond, more like X-Fine diamond

1200(6.5m)

2000(1m), close to a 8000 grit Japanese waterstone

60,000?(.5), the strop treatment, although I’m not sure it’s actually 60,000 grit as handamerican states, because 2000 is supposed to be 1 micron.

So the 1500 your currently using seems like a good choice between the diamond and strop, but since sandpaper is cheep it might be fun to get few more and play around with them. I really like the micro finishing film from TFWW, fast shipping too. As I may have stated earlier, having magnification (hand loupe) has helped me tremendously, and I’m really grateful to the people here who suggested it. It’s useful Not only for seeing flaws in sharpening technique, but also in seeing when the scratches from a particular grit are gone. In this way you can figure out what grits you need by trial and error, you can even see the scratches from the stropping compound.
 
so I tried the 1500 grit 3M paper today and I'm pretty impressed!

The edge of my BM 710 is much smoother than when I previously went from the X-Fine DMT to strop and compound. I havenb't had the chance to try it on newspaper for a push test, but I think that it will be better.

On my skin I shaved not only the hair, but took off a small amount of skin as well.
 
I use water. Oil is too messy and, although it will carry the slurry better, I don;t think it's necessary...at least not for the messy tradeoff.
 
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