Use Sandpaper
Sandpaper is an essential tool in woodworking and other crafts. Applying the proper technique will improve how a project feels and looks, especially if you plan to paint it. You must also learn to choose the right sandpaper for your project.
Contents
Steps
Select Sandpaper
- Use the right type of sandpaper for the job.
- Aluminum oxide is the most popular sandpaper for woodworking, and it also works well on metal and cured finishes.
- Garnet is often used on bare wood. It wears quickly, but costs less than other sandpapers.
- Silicon carbide is ideal for smoothing metals, plastics and joint compound. It is also used to sand between coats of paint or finish, although it is not ideal for wood.
- Ceramic sandpaper can be used on wood and is usually found on belt sanders.
- Select 3 grades of your sandpaper: coarse, medium and fine. A sandpaper's grade will be indicated on the product, measured in "grit."
- Coarse-grade sandpaper has grit of 40 to 80, medium-grade has 100 to 120, and fine-grade has 150 to 220.
- Coarse-grade paper is used to scratch away larger imperfections, and finer grades are used in the last stages of detail.
- Grit can be as high as 600, but extra-fine sandpaper is not always necessary.
- Choose a closed-coat sandpaper for soft woods and open-coat paper for metals and hardwoods. "Closed-coat" means that the paper is more densely covered in abrasive material than "open-coat" products.
Sand a Workpiece
- Wear goggles and a dust mask if the project is likely to kick up a lot of dust.
- Sand the workpiece by rubbing the coarse-grade sandpaper along it, using an equal amount of pressure throughout.
- Sand in a back and forth pattern with the grain.
- Whenever possible sand in one direction when sanding the end grain.
- Use a sanding block when working on flat pieces. You can buy one or just wrap the sandpaper around a piece of wood block.
- Clean sawdust off the workpiece, and repeat the sanding process with the medium-grade sandpaper.
- Clean the workpiece once more, and sand again with the fine-grade sandpaper.
- Sand all sections of the piece evenly by sanding in the direction of the grain. Problems such as scratches or unevenness will be magnified by not sanding with the grain, once you add finish to the workpiece.
- Sand the workpiece with finer paper if 3 Sands was not enough. If you are going to use a water-based stain on the piece, you should sand with up to 200-grit paper.
- Use a rubber cement block against the surface of your sandpaper. The blocks clean out dust clogs and extend the paper's life.
Warnings
- Do not sand with too much pressure. You should not feel heat when sanding.
- Do not over-sand a wood piece if you plan to add a finish, especially a dark finish. Sanding hardwoods with extra-fine paper can close the wood's pores, making it difficult for a stain to penetrate.
Things You'll Need
- Coarse, medium and fine sandpaper
- Sanding block
- Goggles
- Dust mask
- Rubber cement block
Related Articles
- Buy a Sander
- Make Sandpaper Last Longer
- Print a Design Onto a Shirt Using Sandpaper
- Sharpen a Knife With a Powerdrill and Sandpaper
Sources and Citations
- http://woodzone.com/Merchant2/articles/sandpaper/index.htm
- http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,352667,00.html
- http://www.woodworking-news.com/woodworking-tips/abrasives.shtml
- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_n4_v189/ai_12884221/
- http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Sandpaper_and_Abrasives&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
