what sandpaper to flatten 1000 grit shapton?

[DavidL41]

I ordered a 1000 shapton, looking for a temporary flattening method. What grit of sandpaper would work okay for 1000 shapton?

 

[Jason B.]

It will chew up the sandpaper faster than you will flatten the stone. Some 80 grit silicon carbide powder on glass or another stone would be one of the only other methods that would really work. I tested out some 220 wet/dry on my Shapton Pro 1k the other day for S&G but in the end all I had was really smooth sandpaper.

 

[bgentry]

What about drywall screen/sandpaper ? That stuff doesn't seem like it would break down at all. I guess the question would be, is the screen hard enough to scratch the Shapton.

I sorta like Heavy Handed's idea of using the side of a stone cutting blade/wheel to flatten stones also. Nice big surface area, and it's designed for cutting stone. I haven't tried it myself just yet.

Brian.

 

[fsatsil]

Drywall screen does work but it's a pain in the butt to use because it doesn't stick to the glass like wet/dry sandpaper so you need to glue it down. SiC lapping grit on glass or granite is a better option if you don't want to spend the money on a diamond lapping plate. I could never bring myself to spend $100+ for an Atoma or DMT plate and I was afraid of ruining my DuoSharps so I've always used SiC lapping grit on a glass or granite plate to flatten the Shapton Pros. A quick tip if you decide to use a glass plate is to put a bead of silicone or caulk around the edge so that the water and grit doesn't run off and make a mess.

 

[DavidL41]

thanks for the tips.

I will try wallpaper sandpaper.

 

[fsatsil]

The stuff you want is called 3m drywall screen and it usually comes in coarse, medium, and fine grit.

 

[Jason B.]

While I won't doubt drywall screen as I have not tried it myself, I would expect it's lifespan to be short making it rather expensive to use. I also feel it would be slow, it can be a workout to lap a Shapton ( with a diamond plate) that has been forgot about for a knife or two and I don't see the screen as something you could bear down on without issue.

You can get 5lb of SiC powder for $15 and it would probably last you a lifetime considering only about a teaspoon is needed to lap a stone.

 

[HeavyHanded]

While I won't doubt drywall screen as I have not tried it myself, I would expect it's lifespan to be short making it rather expensive to use. I also feel it would be slow, it can be a workout to lap a Shapton ( with a diamond plate) that has been forgot about for a knife or two and I don't see the screen as something you could bear down on without issue.

You can get 5lb of SiC powder for $15 and it would probably last you a lifetime considering only about a teaspoon is needed to lap a stone.

And the loose SiC grit can be used to lap stones of all compositions, Arkansas stones, reel mowers, very handy to have around.

Using the unlabeled side of a larger cut off wheel works well too, but only for waterstones. It does not hold up very well on SiC stones.

 

[fsatsil]

I normally use SiC grit and I agree that the drywall screen is much more expensive. The main reason I mentioned it was that the OP asked for a temporary solution and drywall screen is easy to find at most hardware stores.