Sandpaper Recommendations?

[Don Silsbe]

I'm about to enter the dreaded sanding stage of my BRS15 project. I need to buy a bunch of 80 grit sanding discs for my 5" random orbital. What is your experience with this? Do I just buy whatever they have at Lowe's, or do I want to buy only 3M, or…?

[Alan Stewart]

I've had good luck with sanding disks from home depot. The diablo brand you can get in packs of 50 for 20 bucks near me. They are bright red and have a universal type hole pattern to fit different orbital sanders. They worked well and I thought they were a good deal at 40 cents per pad. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FI6TZNE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1434446676&sr=8-1π=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=diablo+sanding+80+grit+universal+50+pack

[PAR]

A number of manufactures are now making ceramic papers and these are far superior to much more common aluminum oxide grits. The ceramic papers (disk, belts, etc.) will easily last 4 or 5 time longer, so though they cost a fair bit more (usually twice as much) as similar grit aluminum oxide, they out perform them quickly.

 

Norton is offering a Zirconia grit (as are others I would think), that is also pretty good, especially compaired to the usual aluminum oxide stuff. It's not as long lasting as the ceramic stuff, but it's cheaper and more commonly available too.

 

Lastly be careful with some of these products, as they may have a anti clog agent on them. This isn't so bad if they work, but the cheaper products you anamial and other organic fats to keep the grit clean, which can contaminate the surface your sanding. I had to redo a whole cockpit a few years ago, while learning this lesson about "FreCut" paper (a 3M product!). The paint peeled off in huge sheets with the slightest touch, really pissing me off, as the stuff cost a lot per gallon. This is when I started to take a hard look at papers, how they're made, what they do to make them non-clogging, etc. The good papers, will cost more, but you'll get more time with them, before they wear out and you don't have to worry about smearing animal guts all over your work in a microscopic layer.

[Hirilonde]

I buy all my sandpaper on-line. I buy  sanding discs and sandpaper rolls to use for longboards and simple hand sanding.  For hand sanding I simply tear off a piece twice the length I want to use and fold it in half so it sticks to itself.  Far better IMO than production paper.  It can also be stuck to a dowel, shaped wooden block or whatever creates the best shape for the task.

[JPower210]

I have had good luck with Norton and Mirka-  I learned, not as early on as I probably should have, that spending a bit extra on sandpaper, as folks above have mentioned, is well worth it.

[mcdermitt]

I have used some sanding disk called autonet. made by mirka  they are a open net type made in Germany I used them when we were painting at a power plant.  They far outlasted 3-M and all the others we were sanding and priming the side of a gas fired boiler.  When they loaded up just pull them off shake them put them back on and go. they are 6 inch rather pricey about $50.00 for a box of 50   We got them from a auto paint supply company that supplied the PPG paint we used  80 grit really cuts the rust and it will cut your boat if not carefull.   I used 320 when I got ready to do the paint on the bottom

[ecgossett]

I really like the rolls of 3M sticky sandpaper to put on the foam backed hand sanders.. For rotary at the boatshop I've found the the multi red stuff with small homes from home depot on some materials seems to clog the holes easily. So if using rotary I usually try to match amount of holes.

 

Lowes has a Gorilla sandpaper that is amazing, and they have a pack of 50 that is very affordable when you consider the price for a pack of 4.