Sandpaper

Shop sandpaper at West Marine.

Sandpaper is the generic name for abrasive-coated materials that roughen, smooth, abrade and prepare surfaces for other projects.

Is all sandpaper alike?

No! There are a wide variety of coated abrasive sheets for a wide variety of applications. How should you evaluate these products to make the correct choice for your application? Here are five criteria to consider:

Grit: This is the primary selection criteria. Measured with numbers that range from 24 to 2,000, the grit of the sandpaper indicates how rough it is, how much material will be removed, and how smooth it will leave the surface. 24–50 grit paper is aggressive, for removing lots of paint, wood, or corrosion. 80–220 grit paper is used to roughen surfaces for painting, and to smooth imperfections so that the next coat of paint does not have to go over bumps and defects. 230–2,000 grit paper polishes and smoothes surfaces, to the point where it leaves a practically glass-like shine.

Method of Attachment: Sandpaper attaches to the “sander” in a variety of ways. The simplest is the traditional paper sheet. This works for hand sanding and clamp-style electrical hand sanders. With some tools, the attachment means is incorporated into the abrasive sheet. For example, Stikit sheets have a sticky adhesive, Hookit discs have hook and loop fasteners, Roloc discs have a threaded back that screws onto a grinder, and Grinding Discs have a hole in the center which enables attachment with a bolt to grinding pads.

Abrasive Material: The type of abrasive material that coats a sheet of sandpaper or sanding disc can make a big difference in terms of how quickly it cuts, how fast it wears away and the applications for which they work best. Abrasive materials include silicon carbide, aluminum oxide and ceramic aluminum oxide.

Shape and Size of the Abrasive Sheet: Apart from 9” x 11” sandpaper sheets with which most of us are familiar, other shapes include Long and Skinny Abrasive Sheets, sandpaper rolls and various diameters of sanding discs. Each works well for specific applications.

Paper Weight: Sandpaper sheets and discs derive their stiffness from the backing material or paper weight. A weight is very light, while E and F weight paper is heavy. Variations of this are Film Stikits and Fibre Discs.