oooo Steelwool=What grit sandpaper?

[Tommy Emmons]

Is there an equivalent sandpaper to use in lieu of steel wool?

[Judy Kingery]

Tommy, not sure about an exact grit conversion, but I like the nylon abrasive dish pads over 0004 steel wool, and sometimes I'll use like this 1,000 grit sand paper, but most times finish with about 600-800. Hope that helps and someone chimes in with more exact information for you. Jude

[Leigh Betsch]

Try this link to Jeff Jewit's site. He has a conversion chart from 3M. http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/gritchart.htm

[Howard Acheson]

In general 4/0 steel wood is somewhere between 400 and 600 grit (CAMI) sandpaper.

That said there are some negatives with using steel wool. Primarily, it will rust and as you use it, it leaves little shards of metal in the finish. As no finish it totally water vapor resistant, the shards can rust over time. So it best not to use steel wood even on oil based, shellac or lacquer finishes. If you want to use a flexibe abrasive use a non-woven abrasive like Scotchbrite. The gray Scotchbrite is equivilent to about 400-600 grit sandpaper.