Primarily, there are two kinds of sandpaper. One is the commercial grade and the other is the industrial grade. The differences between them are based on the type of material used in the grit, the backing material or paper and the glue used to hold the grit together.
A bit of knowledge regarding sanding and preparing wood before you begin staining will help your next staining project go much faster and easier. Some types of sandpaper ideal for woodwork projects.
Silicon carbide sandpaper removes material more quickly than aluminum oxide but doesn't last as long. Use it on metal, coated wood, plastic and for tasks, such as rough sanding, paint or rust removal and sanding between coats when finishing.
Lubricating the surface of sandpaper with plain water or water mixed with a little dish soap is a great way to ensure a glossy, polished finish to vehicle paint jobs, wood projects and many other surfaces.
Companies involved in sanding, polishing, buffing and the use of abrasives on belt sanders, time savers and bench grinders have to deal with the buildup of significant amounts of airborne dust. Frequently, the best way of eliminating finishing dust is to try and capture it at source.
When we look at packages of sandpaper we’ll see words like coarse, medium, and fine. We’ll also see numbers like 80, 100, 150, and 220. What do these words and numbers mean?
Sandpaper is graded by how coarse it is. In other words how aggressively or quickly it removes material. A “coarse” grit sandpaper removes a lot of material quickly but leaves the surface rough. A “medium” grit sandpaper removes less material more slowly and leaves the surface smoother.
When sanding, start with rough grit sandpaper, then move toward fine grit sandpaper. The larger the number is, the finer the grit paper. How fine the grit depends on the project – 220-grit paper is about as fine as needed...
