Sand Paper

[Guy Mueller]

What brand/type of sand paper do you use

[Rick Bailey]

Here you go.
http://vinceswoodnwonders.com/

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

There are many cheaper papers available but I prefer to use 3M & Norton. Sand paper is a tool & I'd rather pay a little more up front than wish I had later. The Sanding Glove is a good supplier for both 3M & Norton.

[John Keeton]

For discs, Vince has the best I have found. For sheets I have used these for years- http://www.onlineindustrialsupply.co...er-sheets.html AO up thru 320 and silicon carbide on up.

[Brian Kent]

I agree with Vince for discs.

I just got some aluminum oxide cloth sheets from Industrial Abrasives and I am very happy with them.

[Reed Gray]

I have been buying discs from Vince for a long time. He keeps coming up with different discs, but I always seem to go back to the blue ones. Best value out there as in price is good, and they cut longer than any other disc I have tried. The Norton Dry Ice discs cut about the same, but last time I bought some, they were twice the price. For hand sanding, I have been using the Norton 3X, but I think they have 'new and improved' it and it has a different name now.

robo hippy

[Aaron Craven]

I really like Abranet by Mirka Abrasives, though it's a little expensive. I tend to use cheaper stuff when doing heavy sanding with coarse grits (I swear one day I'll develop enough tool control that I don't need so much 80-grit as I currently do!). Broken sander belts can be good for this, though the backing isn't very flexible. I haven't found Abranet above 600, so for 800 and 1000 I use some foam-backed stuff (various brands) sold by my favorite tool store in $0.50 4x4 squares. I keep intending to locate some micro-mesh to see whether it makes a difference, but I'm getting pretty good results sanding to 1000 and then burnishing with shavings, so I'm not sure I'll go for the expense.

On a lark, I picked up some really cheap paper at the dollar store -- I figured for a dollar it was worth a try. The end result was that I wasted a dollar and learned a lesson. :-/

[Hilel Salomon]

Ditto on Vince. He is also an excellent source of sanding wisdom and has invariably been patient in answering my questions.

[ALAN HOLLAR]

Klingspor PS33 paper and LS309 cloth discs in 2, 3, 3.5, and 5" discs. I buy them direct from the Klingspor facility, not through the Sanding Catalog.

[Pat Scott]

For discs, Vince has the best I have found. For sheets I have used these for years- http://www.onlineindustrialsupply.co...er-sheets.html AO up thru 320 and silicon carbide on up.

John I'm curious why you switch at 320 grit to silicon carbide.

[John Keeton]

Actually at 400. My sandpaper days go back to flatwork days and I normally stopped sanding the bare wood at 320 and used the 400 to wet sand the finish in order to flatten it.

With turning, I mostly wet sand above 320, but often start even at 220. However, the AO paper seems to hold up very well to wet sanding. I am not sure the finer grits of AO would hold up well with wet sanding, but, I have never tried.

[Paul Williams]

John and others, do you use water, Mineral spirits, or BLO for wet sanding?

[John Keeton]

Hate to get off topic too much, but it depends on the circumstances. I rarely use water, but will if I intend to use water based dye. I use BLO often if the wood has the type of color or figure I want to highlight and/or darken. I use mineral spirits to sand and level WOP finish prior to buffing or between coats. I will often use WOP when sanding to fill pores, such as in walnut. The slurry should be wiped off gently with a dry paper towel fairly quickly.

[John K Jordan]

What brand/type of sand paper do you use

It depends. You forgot to mention the type of turning you do - power sanding bowls or for sanding with the hand?

I do very little power sanding (I get a better surface on bowls and platters using curved cabinet scrapers then usually 400 or 320 paper by hand) and I don't like clouds of dust. I do most of my sanding by hand and much with the lathe turned off.

When turning boxes, goblets, spindles, etc. I use two types of paper. One is the Klingspor Gold rolls and the other is Rhynowet sheets.

The Klingspor Gold is very good grit with a tough cloth backing. I made a dispenser for the wall behind the lathe and keep 2" and 1" rolls and tear off pieces as I need them. I recently removed some of the coarser papers since I only used them on break drums and rusty metal!

sandpaper2.jpg

For finer grits, again for hand use, NOT power sanding, I have found nothing better than Rhynowet:
http://www.supergrit.com/products/RedlineRedFlexSheets

This is wet/dry paper but holds up so much better than the black stuff and will not crack if bent and folded. The backing is flexible and tough and not too thin - just the right stiffness for me to get into tight places. I've been using this paper since I first found it in Highland Hardware (Woodworking) in Atlanta about 12 years ago.

I cut this into pieces about 1"x3" and put in small plastic bins under the rolls. I keep 600, 800, 1000, and 1200. By far, for spindle turning in good wood with sharp tools I go through more 600 Rhynowet paper than anything else. Occasionally I start with 400 paper but rarely anything coarser.

BTW, for occasional power sanding I banished my right-angle drill to the automotive part of my shop. On the advice of turner Rudy Lopez (http://www.rudolphlopez.com/index.html) I bought a Grex air-powered random orbital sander that will take 2", optional 1" or 3" pads and extensions are available. This thing is amazing - very light weight, variable speed, it will work quite gently if needed, and no chance of oversanding as possible with a spinning disk and not clouds of dust. It does need air (2.2 cfm at 90 psi) but I plummed air from a remote compressor.
http://www.amazon.com/AOS368-2-Inch-105-Degree-Random-Orbital/dp/B000HFPDJQ
grex_ROS.jpg

JKJ

[Justin Stephen]

Vinces blue and now green discs for power sanding, mostly Industrial Abrasives sandpaper for hand work.