Favorite Sandpaper

[pmace]

I'm finding a great variation in the performance of different sandpapers when sanding a steel practice plate. The best performer so far for me is a generic "shop roll" emery cloth from Amazon. What is even better is a 3M diamond hand hone which is a piece of diamond coated foil attached to a foam block. I use them in my enamel work and they work great to level the glass out. They cut steel well and don't leave too many odd scratches behind. Is there a particular type or brand that you pros use on guns and stuff?

 

[monk]

I'm finding a great variation in the performance of different sandpapers when sanding a steel practice plate. The best performer so far for me is a generic "shop roll" emery cloth from Amazon. What is even better is a 3M diamond hand hone which is a piece of diamond coated foil attached to a foam block. I use them in my enamel work and they work great to level the glass out. They cut steel well and don't leave too many odd scratches behind. Is there a particular type or brand that you pros use on guns and stuff?

i use a lot of wet/dry. when it loses efficiency, i still use it in the next step of sanding. i do enamelling on pendants and such. why would you sand the glass surface ? at least what i do comes out very smooth and needs no levelling.

 

[Leland Davis]

This is my opinion but 3M wet dry is the best but use the professional type. Some hardware stores sell a 3M wet dry with a yellow back stay away from that use the type with a brown back it is more durable. Again my opinion.
Leland

 

[pmace]

i use a lot of wet/dry. when it loses efficiency, i still use it in the next step of sanding. i do enamelling on pendants and such. why would you sand the glass surface ? at least what i do comes out very smooth and needs no levelling.

For cloisonne and champleve vitreous enamel you need to overfill the cells then grind everything back down smooth. The final fire polish then needs no grinding. Otherwise you wind up with voids in the cells and a lumpy surface.

How good of a finish can you get with cross-filing then draw filing? I wind up having to go all the way down to 100 grit to get rid of the filing scratches and it takes forever to work my way back up to 400 or 600. Should I be spending more time doing a better job of filing? Dunno, never done this before.

 

[pmace]

This is my opinion but 3M wet dry is the best but use the professional type. Some hardware stores sell a 3M wet dry with a yellow back stay away from that use the type with a brown back it is more durable. Again my opinion.
Leland

I may have shot myself in the foot by using emery cloth. It cuts great and doesn’t clog up but it gives a totally different finish. I wind up chasing too many scratches. I’ll try some wet/dry. Thanks.

 

[Dave London]

I use 3m micro graded plastic backed, rio grand is a supplier. Lasts longer and doesn’t fall apart

 

[pmace]

I use 3m micro graded plastic backed, rio grand is a supplier. Lasts longer and doesn’t fall apart

Thanks Dave. I have some in my Rio cart. Been meaning to try that stuff. I also have some decent files in the cart too. I think my hardware store may be just a bit too aggressive. I'm coming to realize that each step has to be done correctly before going on to the next. You can't fix a bastard file scratch with 400 grit sandpaper.

 

[Dave London]

To prep practice plates I buy cold roll steel 3/16 inch thick from speedy metals. Much lest slag, then I use a palm wood work sander with 220 grit stick on disc’s, then move up to 400 grit and stop. MTC YMMV

 

[pmace]

To prep practice plates I buy cold roll steel 3/16 inch thick from speedy metals. Much lest slag, then I use a palm wood work sander with 220 grit stick on disc’s, then move up to 400 grit and stop. MTC YMMV

2x4x3/8 CRS from Speedy. I have a cheap benchtop belt sander from Home Despot. Takes longer to change belts than to sand the plates. I just wanted to try and recycle one by hand because I don’t think I’d want to attack something important with a belt sander. Much easier said than done! Down the rabbit hole of metal finishing I go.

 

[papart1]

automotive (brown) backed wt/dry

 

[tdelewis]

I like 3M from Texas Knife Makers Supply. They are in different color sheets and go as fine as 6000 grit, I think. I use mostly 320 or 400. It is not really paper but some kind of fiber reinforced sheet. They last a long time and can be used wet or dry. I use them dry and they don't seem to load up. If I remember correctly GRS puts them in the packet you get when you take a class there.

 

[AllenClapp]

I have a small belt sander that is mounted upside down in a wood clamp with a 400 grit wet/dry belt. I put a little baby oil or WD-40 on the belt when cleaning up practice plates. I hold them with either a positionable magnet (the kind with the on-off rotating switch) that I got from Woodcraft or a rubber cupped stick (a valve grinder) I got from AutoZone. If you don't put on too much oil, it does not make a mess.

 

[dogcatcher]

Auto paint supply houses almost always have the best wet dry sandpaper. You can buy it by the sheet.

 

[farmer57]

For cloisonne and champleve vitreous enamel you need to overfill the cells then grind everything back down smooth. The final fire polish then needs no grinding. Otherwise you wind up with voids in the cells and a lumpy surface.

How good of a finish can you get with cross-filing then draw filing? I wind up having to go all the way down to 100 grit to get rid of the filing scratches and it takes forever to work my way back up to 400 or 600. Should I be spending more time doing a better job of filing? Dunno, never done this before.

Don't know about guns etc but for enamel work (I do mostly traditional champleve) - my preference is also diamond coated sanding media. For small items, JoolTool's glass sending kit has been a 'godsend' - I can go from rough to final in few minutes - and into the final firing.
There is one good quality sand paper I found and use for metal (and sometimes enamel on large pieces) - wet and dry silicone carbide (waterproof) 30% Sienna Latex made by Del Rey Tools. It comes in range from 120 grit to 2000 grit. Rio Grande carries entire range.
For me, this is the best and longest lasting sand paper I found to date. Grit is very consistent, the coarsest I use is 240 and even that leaves surface relatively even. Good stuff.

 

[pmace]

Don't know about guns etc but for enamel work (I do mostly traditional champleve) - my preference is also diamond coated sanding media. For small items, JoolTool's glass sending kit has been a 'godsend' - I can go from rough to final in few minutes - and into the final firing.
There is one good quality sand paper I found and use for metal (and sometimes enamel on large pieces) - wet and dry silicone carbide (waterproof) 30% Sienna Latex made by Del Rey Tools. It comes in range from 120 grit to 2000 grit. Rio Grande carries entire range.
For me, this is the best and longest lasting sand paper I found to date. Grit is very consistent, the coarsest I use is 240 and even that leaves surface relatively even. Good stuff.

Any difference between the blue, brown and sienna grades? They don't explain it at all that I see. Do you do champleve work in the style of Phil Barnes?

 

[farmer57]

Del Ray Siena is what works for me. I ordered brown some time ago but it did not last as long as Siena - but I could not tell what is the actual difference aside from that. 240 and 400 are good starters for enamel if I don't want to use JoolTool. Just have to watch sanding direction to not contaminate enamel.
Yes, Phil Barnes has been an inspiration to me and I try to do similar stuff but on smaller scale. I like the traditional style with cells voided by hand and then engraved for textures. I will do cloisonne wires on occasion, if details are just too tiny or tedious to engrave - it is the deep removal of very fine spaces that 'kills' me - I am sure you know all about this.

 

[pmace]

Del Ray Siena is what works for me. I ordered brown some time ago but it did not last as long as Siena - but I could not tell what is the actual difference aside from that. 240 and 400 are good starters for enamel if I don't want to use JoolTool. Just have to watch sanding direction to not contaminate enamel.
Yes, Phil Barnes has been an inspiration to me and I try to do similar stuff but on smaller scale. I like the traditional style with cells voided by hand and then engraved for textures. I will do cloisonne wires on occasion, if details are just too tiny or tedious to engrave - it is the deep removal of very fine spaces that 'kills' me - I am sure you know all about this.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to give 3M micro film, 3M wet/dry, 3M emery cloth and Del Rey a side-by-side comparison just for the fun of it.
Yes, excavating for champleve is a challenge, especially if you are aiming for a nice surface to use with transparents. Acute inside angles are so much fun.

 

[Dave London]

I forgot to mention you can use the 3M with oil or water. I use stoning oil. Good luck

 

[mdengraver]

i use a lot of wet/dry. when it loses efficiency, i still use it in the next step of sanding. i do enamelling on pendants and such. why would you sand the glass surface ? at least what i do comes out very smooth and needs no levelling.

Monk as the last step in sanding enamels to clean out the left over glass dust on the piece we place in the ultrasonic before the last flash firing in the kiln to keep the enamels clean so the contamination doesn't get mixed into the final firing.

 

[hdvoyager]

This is a very old thread. However, I see some faults information above. Suggestions for better/faster sanding: Start with a courser grade of Wet/Dry and apply WD-40 oil to the sandpaper. The oil will float the debris out of the grit which will make the piece of sandpaper last much. longer. Use the piece until the grinding noise softens down. The sharp edges of the grit have been worn off, it is scrap. The next piece should be a finer grit and applied 90 degrees to the initial grit. Sand until all the scratches from the first grit are removed. Repeat with finer grits until the desired surface has been obtained. WD-40 works better than water to float the debris out of the grit. When a piece of sandpaper slows cutting action, throw it away! Go the fresh sandpaper with a finer grit. This saves time and effort. 3M makes very good wet/dry long lasting sandpaper. Grit progression 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1,000, 1200, 1500, ------and up.