Your favorite paper for hand-held sanding?

[Dick Mahany]

........ The area around my lathe is littered with pieces of "still good" sandpaper-- but unmarked as to grit, so I wast a lot of time trying to figure out which is finer.

Maybe the answer is to get Vince to package his blue paper in 2" rolls?

A few years back I saw an idea that helped me avoid a similar problem. The sand paper sheet received a light coat of spray paint on the back, different colors for different grits. The the sheet was then cut into 1.5" x 2.25" pieces. The pieces were stacked and clamped on one edge. A thin layer of yellow glue was applied to the clamped edge to make post-it type packs. It has worked great. It is easy to tear a single piece and the color coded backside clearly lets me know what the grit is when they are scattered all around. Over the years, the silicon carbide paper has remained flat but the typical sand paper has some curling.

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[Paul F Franklin]

It's a pet peeve of mine that sandpaper manufacturers don't mark the grit all over the back of the paper so no matter how you cut it, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1/8, whatever, at least one grit label will still be on the piece. I mean how hard would it be? They are already printing across the back and have a few grit labels scattered about. I've gotten in the habit of marking paper whenever I cut it, but what a waste of time when it would be so easy for the maker to mark it better. If someone would do this, it would certainly factor into my brand choice assuming quality was still there....

[David M Peters]

It's a pet peeve of mine that sandpaper manufacturers don't mark the grit all over the back of the paper so no matter how you cut it, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1/8, whatever, at least one grit label will still be on the piece. I mean how hard would it be? They are already printing across the back and have a few grit labels scattered about. I've gotten in the habit of marking paper whenever I cut it, but what a waste of time when it would be so easy for the maker to mark it better. If someone would do this, it would certainly factor into my brand choice assuming quality was still there....

Craft supplies carries rolls with varied color backings.

I use 1" Klingspor Gold rolls for hand sanding at the lathe. Because that line only goes up to 400, I have a roll of 600 grit of their "shop roll". Seems to be about as equally flexible so I might downgrade the next time I order.

[John K Jordan]

Something that comes in 2" strips where you can tear off what you need is really appealing from an organization point of view. The area around my lathe is littered with pieces of "still good" sandpaper-- but unmarked as to grit, so I wast a lot of time trying to figure out which is finer.

Roger, I agree that the labeling on sandpaper is horrible. I solve this with the rolls the old-fashioned way. When I tear off a piece I write the grit on the back with a sharpie. All grits get a number except for the one I use the most - 400 grit, I leave it blank. That way I know paper with no number is 400.

I do the same for the finer Rhinowet paper strips - after cutting up sheets in to usable strips I write the grit on the back of each piece. This does take a few minutes but saves a lot of speculation lather. The fine grit I use the most, 600, gets no label so I can instantly tell if it's 600.

When I use a piece of paper some but I judge it to still have some life, I toss it into a shallow plastic container, easily retrieved as needed.

This system works for me for hand sanding.

I recently bought some rubber stamps to label wood blanks. I think one to stamp grit number on strips would be helpful. It would be far more helpful if manufacturers would simply print the grit every inch or so on the back.

Edit: in an earlier post I got confused and said my finer Rhynowet papers started at 400 grit. My mistake, my coarsest fine paper is 600 grit. Sorry.

JKJ

[John King]

I've had excellent results with Klingspor Abrasives Stearate Aluminum Oxide, PS33, Paper-Backed, 9"x 11" Sheets. - John

[roger wiegand]

I too write on them with a sharpie -- and here's the kicker-- when I remember.

Something like a rolling rubber stamp that one could run over the whole length of a 10 yard roll to mark the grit at close intervals would be great. Just a different color sharpie stripe would also work, assuming I could keep track of the key.

[andy bessette]

Pro tip: An accountant's accordion-style paper filing folder works great for keeping different grits sorted.

[Prashun Patel]

I love Indasa Rhyno paper. I love it on the ROS. I love it for hand sanding sheets. I love the 2" sanding discs, and I love the Rhynosoft foam backed flexible sheets.

2Sand has them up to 600 and the flex up to 1200. I haven't tried all manner of sandpaper, but every now and then I get adventurous and am reminded how good this is. As a point of ref, people swear by Vince's blue discs, but I'd put these up against his any day. They last forever, and don't wear through to the backer - even if you're aggressive.

I have some 800 and 1000 abralon only because I need something for the 5" random orbit sander. It's good for burnishing

[roger wiegand]

Do you like the Rhynowet that John uses? (I don't typically wet sand) Or something else? My head started to spin as I read through the description of at least 40 different kinds of sandpaper and then discovered there was still a button for "see more products". Yikes, no wonder this seems confusing. Do you use the foam backed sheets for turning?

I love Indasa Rhyno paper. I love it on the ROS. I love it for hand sanding sheets. I love the 2" sanding discs, and I love the Rhynosoft foam backed flexible sheets.

2Sand has them up to 600 and the flex up to 1200. I haven't tried all manner of sandpaper, but every now and then I get adventurous and am reminded how good this is. As a point of ref, people swear by Vince's blue discs, but I'd put these up against his any day. They last forever, and don't wear through to the backer - even if you're aggressive.

I have some 800 and 1000 abralon only because I need something for the 5" random orbit sander. It's good for burnishing

[Brice Rogers]

I must be the luddite of this group. I've been using 3M sandpaper. Probably because I can buy it at Lowes and HD. It seems like of expensive but I don't use a whole lot of sand paper.

I use a marker to mark the grit on the back. I skip the zeroes, so I use numbering like 15, 18, 22, 3, 4, etc.

I pick up 2 and 3" sanding disks from the local wood turning club. They are velcro backed and off-white in color. So I use a felt tip and write the grit on the rough side/front side of the paper. The numbers last longer than the paper, and I can easily see the grit while it is still mounted on the round sanding pad.

[Melvin Feng]

For 1 inch strips, I've just been using those 5 packs from woodcraft and rockler. I have noticed that sometimes the backer is more stiff on some rolls. I've bought the full set of A&H abrasive strips from woodworker.com: https://woodworker.com/sandpaper-cad...su-174-476.asp

I haven't used every grit from the A&H set (I bought the entire range from 80-800), but I've been very happy with the ones I have used so far, the backing is more flexible and easier to contour for me.

I used to just cut a small strip and then throw it away. Now I typically cut a longer piece, and like many others here, write the grit, and save it until it is worn out. I find I don't waste as much, though I probably hold on to some a bit too long!

[Thomas Wilson80]

I've been using the Klingspor's gold (have on rolls similar to John Jordan) but am also continuously frustrated that the grits aren't labeled. I'm easily distracted/impatient/lazy....whatever you want to call it, and so I don't think writing on each piece I use would work but I've been thinking that I would get some different colors of permanent markers and color the edges of each roll in different colors, that way it would be a one-time time commitment and then I should be able to tell on torn off pieces forever....has anyone tried this? (I'm in the process of a cross-country move right now so it will be months before I have my shop up and running and can try this).

Tom

[Prashun Patel]

I get all these from 2 sand.

For Random Orbital Sander: Rhynogrip Hook and Loop Sanding Disks 50 pack (40 grit to 600)

For flexible pads: RhynoSoft Pads 4-1/2 x 5-1/2 White & Red Line 20 Pack

RhynoWet 9x11 Waterproof Sandpaper 50-Pack (1000-2000 grit)

For drill sanding on the lathe: 2 inch Sanding Discs White Rhyno 25/pk Aluminum Oxide (60-600 grit)

For hand sanding: Indasa Redline RhynoDry 9x11 Heavy Duty Aluminium Oxide Sheets 50-Pack (120-400g)

For jigs: Rhynogrip Red Line Hook & Loop 2-3/4 inch x 27-1/2 yds. These have to be spray adhered. But I buy smaller rolls of the white psa aox from philadelphia luthier supply

(the discs are also poorly labeled; I end up sharpie-ing them.

[roger wiegand]

I sent a note to Indasa last night asking for their recommendations, this morning I had a half hour call from their tech rep who expounded at length on the tradeoffs of their various products and their uses. Just based on customer service I'm going to order some of their products and give them a try. The interesting tradeoff seems to be between cutting speed and longevity. Their "lower" grade (white) apparently cuts much faster than the top like stuff (red), but lasts a much shorter period of time. For my use in sanding small turnings that might just be fine. He really pitched the foam backed material for lathe work. He apologized profusely (and then some) that with COVID they don't have anyone working on site who can put together sample packs.

[David M Peters]

Who knew a thread about sandpaper could be inspiring? I ran a stripe down the back of my sandpaper rolls with dollar store markers.





The worst part about it was getting the rolls wound back up!