Sandpaper

[Joe Delfino]

If this isn't the right place to post this feel free to move it to the appropriate spot.

Where do you source your sandpaper these days?

I've been away from any woodworking for more than five years but recently started getting my shop back together in a much smaller space then I previously had. And I'm starting to get back in the groove.

Anyhow, as I'm using up my old supply of sandpaper I started looking around and realized prices have gone up on something that was never really cheap to begin with. So where is a good source to by this stuff. I generally liked buying 50 sheet packs and always bought either Norton or Klingspor.

Did I mention, boy this stuff seems like it got expensive It's been over five years since I last stocked up and glad I did it then. Retirement is in the very near future, so money is more a factor than before.

So where are you buying these days?

[Richard Coers]

If money is going to be a big issue when you retire for buying sandpaper, I suggest you have somebody else evaluate your finances and you should keep working. The price of sandpaper has never influenced any decision of mine to do woodworking. What does it add to a project? $20 per project? How much does the wood cost? Priced a gallon of poly? You don't mention if you work with hardwoods, plywood, or softwoods. You don't mention if you also need to get random orbit sander paper. You don't mention if you need this for projects that have lots of plywood. If your work is smaller, you can skimp a little on sandpaper. Build a set of book cases and you want to get a premium grade material to reduce the amount of sanding time.

[Joe Delfino]

If money is going to be a big issue when you retire for buying sandpaper, I suggest you have somebody else evaluate your finances and you should keep working. The price of sandpaper has never influenced any decision of mine to do woodworking. What does it add to a project? $20 per project? How much does the wood cost? Priced a gallon of poly? You don't mention if you work with hardwoods, plywood, or softwoods. You don't mention if you also need to get random orbit sander paper. You don't mention if you need this for projects that have lots of plywood. If your work is smaller, you can skimp a little on sandpaper. Build a set of book cases and you want to get a premium grade material to reduce the amount of sanding time.

Having not been on this forum for some time I'll refrain from a detailed reply except to say thanks for looking.

[Johannes Becker]

I saw your question and looked up the 3M Cubitron II sandpaper i have stocked. Price sure went up over the past years. I used to buy them at Menard's and now understand why Menard's doesn't stock the paper any longer. I have had good experiences with supergrit.com for buying Mirka paper and other abrasives in the past. I think I have tried AA abrasives as well.

[Joe Delfino]

Thank you! Looking now.

In the meantime, I've also found a link I used years ago to Hartville Hardware. They carry the Norton packs I have now. I always found Klingspor worked well for me also. From what I remember Hartville were good people to deal with.

I'll post back later, maybe someone else will find the info useful.

[Patty Hann]

If money is going to be a big issue when you retire for buying sandpaper, I suggest you have somebody else evaluate your finances and you should keep working. The price of sandpaper has never influenced any decision of mine to do woodworking. What does it add to a project? $20 per project? How much does the wood cost? Priced a gallon of poly? You don't mention if you work with hardwoods, plywood, or softwoods. You don't mention if you also need to get random orbit sander paper. You don't mention if you need this for projects that have lots of plywood. If your work is smaller, you can skimp a little on sandpaper. Build a set of book cases and you want to get a premium grade material to reduce the amount of sanding time.

To have budget for woodworking is no different than having to budget when house hunting or buying a car.
You don't just budget for the house or car, per se .
For a house you have to consider the taxes, insurance, utilities, even furnishings.
For a car tires,gas, routine maintenance, taxes insurance.
In both cases these expenses vary by the type/brand of item and the one's location.

No one would discourage a would be house hunter or car buyer from a purchase merely because the person inquired/ commented about the high price of insurance.
The customer wants the info to help with his budgeting for his house (or car).

So, a woodworker who lacks the proverbial money-tree in the back yard (some people do have one and God bless 'em) is smart to inquire about the cost of all the related things that go with a woodworking hobby.
Folks here seek (and brag) about getting a discount or killer price on a $20000 CNC machine.

Why is asking about pricing on sandpaper any different?

[Mike Congiusti]

Having not been on this forum for some time I'll refrain from a detailed reply except to say thanks for looking.

Joe, you are a better man that me. I think Richard's comments were a bit snarky and not helpful. I bought these from a recommendation and they work well. I purchased the 5" 8 hole for my random sander. Welcome back to woodworking.

Here are two places. I bought mine from Industrial Abrasives.

https://2sand.com/all-items/indasa-s...xoCJzgQAvD_BwE

or

https://www.industrialabrasives.com/...ii4k6bhq23hmo3



PS, I'm retired and watch the $$.

[Jay Norton]

I haven’t really compared their prices to anywhere else, but I like their Rhynogrip hook & loop discs

https://www.industrialabrasives.com/

[Richard Coers]

I've never once made sandpaper a line item during the quoting process since it's such a small percentage of the overall cost of the project. It takes a money tree to buy sandpaper? How much are you folks spending on sandpaper? I must have been doing this all wrong for the past 50 years. I guess I got on the wrong track. I wondered about what retirement had to do with choosing a sandpaper supplier? My fault. so sorry to disrupt the discussion.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Joe, you are a better man that me. I think Richard's comments were a bit snarky and not helpful. I bought these from a recommendation and they work well. I purchased the 5" 8 hole for my random sander. Welcome back to woodworking.

Here are two places. I bought mine from Industrial Abrasives.

https://2sand.com/all-items/indasa-s...xoCJzgQAvD_BwE

or

https://www.industrialabrasives.com/...ii4k6bhq23hmo3



PS, I'm retired and watch the $$.

Thanks for the link, Mike. Have you tried the Indasa paper? Is the grit consistent? I find a lot of cheap brands have inconsistent grit, which leads to stray swirl marks. I have been looking for a better source for sandpaper.

Grizzly has a pretty good price on Diablo sandpaper. They also have a good price on rolls of sandpaper for hand sanding. For some reason the 180 grit is a lot more expensive than the 150 and 220. I see that Home Depot stopped carrying 180 grit, and few people are carrying 6” discs locally. I really prefer a 6” sander for bigger stuff, but it has been hard to find discs locally. I’m going to check out the ones in the link.

[Cary Falk]

Sheet sandpaper comes from Home Depot.
Sanding disks come from Amazon.
Drum sander paper comes from Industrial Abrasive.

[Derek Kessler]

I feel your pain on the sandpaper prices. I've been getting mine from Home Depot for sheets, but when it comes to online options, supergrit.com is my go-to.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I use Indasa 220 and 400 grit paper for hand sanding, and use their Rhynogrip discs for ROS. They seem to me to be good quality.

Supergrit has "bargain boxes" where you get 10 pounds of assorted sanding stuff for $20 plus shipping. I haven't bought one because I only hand sand at the finer grits, mostly, but they might be worth looking into for someone who wants an assortment.

[George Yetka]

I dont have any continual purchase history any one place. I google around when im looking at a product and the best price changes. For discs I started with the festool stuff and it was pricey. Switched to the mirka abranet and it was a little cheaper and lasted much longer. Just loaded up on a couple hundred 3m cubitron II xtracts, havent used enough of it to know if it will stay. I still have 150 or so abranet discs.

A good source is facebook marketplace
Just recently got 302 5" granat discs for $69 shipped
"Lot of Festool Granat Sanding discs, 6inch, 150mm 120 grit-qty 44 150 grit-qty 74 180 grit-qty 92 220 grit-qty 92 Perfect condition in original boxes."

[Rob Luter]

Being a frugal hobbyist I've also been put off by the increased cost of sandpaper. As some have opined, if the cost of sandpaper is a show stopper consider a different hobby. That said, here's what I do to stretch my sandpaper dollar:

1) Buy quality. I buy boxes of 3M Gold sandpaper. Amazon has proven to be a good source. My local Borg has a deal on some too. I'm sure there are other brands with equal performance but that's what is available near me. The grit stays put on the backing, it cuts well and lasts long.I find it lasts 2-3 times as long as cheap (relatively speaking) generic home center paper.

2) Use a proper sanding block. I picked up a couple of "Preppin' Weapon" sanding blocks on sale. They use a 1/4 sheet of paper and assure even pressure and even wear. It grips the very ends of the paper so it all gets used.

3) When the paper gets loaded up you can brush the impacted dust out of the grit and get back to work. More life extension.

4) Consider a different approach for fine grits. I caught a sale on ScotchBrite pads on Amazon. I got a box of each in Maroon (fine) Grey (Extra Fine) and White (Super Fine). They leave a silky finish with no discernable scratch pattern. Not cheap, but they really last.

And if I ever really get worked up over the cost of sandpaper, I look at the Lie Nielsen hand planes in my kit and remind myself that good tools might cost more than I want, but they usually deliver the value I need.