Right sandpaper makes it faster!

[Zeroice]

I've learned from experience that good sandpaper can cut your sanding time in half. last summer when i was glassing and finishing my weekender I started off with regular sand paper and a 1/3 sheet orbital sander (great basic sander from black and decker only $16). This paper kept getting filled up, and ripped apart after just 5 or 10 min. of sanding.

Then I heard about this 3X sandpaper (sometimes called sandblaster paper) from a friend doing some home renovation. So I tried it out. I thought it was expensive because in a pack you only get 3 sheets! What I came to learn was the 3 sheets in the pack out lasted 20 or more sheets of regular paper. It was great stuff! I will no longer work with any thing else, this stuff even is good for shaping with just this basic vibrating sander.

It saves time in a few ways:

1. Sands anything down much faster. (bondo, fiberglass,wood)

2. It doesn't fill up with material (even residual fiberglass resin is tough to gum it up)

3. Much time is saved in, not having to change out the paper very often.

4. Not as much time cleaning up sandpaper scraps from the work area.

All in all I highly recommend it!

Has anyone found this to be the case for them?

[Greg Luckett]

This sounds very interesting. Where did you find it? Who makes it?

[capt jake]

I have heard of it, never tried it. Guess I should buy some and try it out.

[Greg Luckett]

I found Norton 3X brand at Rockler, but only in sheets. Does is come in 5 inch sizes and sticky backed for orbital sanders? What about for the Fein sanders?

Thanks,

Greg.

[Frank Hagan]

When I was sanding Aslan, I don't think the 3X paper was available. I did find that aluminum oxide sandpaper was much better than the garnet sandpaper.

[Guest]

Good Tri mite brand, white in nature, closed and open coats sandpaper is the best for initial work and shaping wood and sanding the initial coats of finishes in these type work enviromnets that we experience here. There are many grades of paper and is rated by numbers and letters such as A to E weights when buying it online and from commercial vendors. This makes a difference in the backing thinckness of the paper, This keeps it from tearing in mechanical use equipment. A is the lightest and on up.

Some gold grade e weights stick-it disc in rolls come as a diamond cut paper, and works well applied to small blocks of wood for hard to get into areas. I also use airfile stick-it pads, cut with scissors or tin snips to fit my blocks or pvc pipes for fillets sanding, purchased at your autobody and auto paint stores and repair supply stores

Keep in mind some better grades of paper leaves a residue on your rough finish from the glues that hold on the grits. This can be cleaned before doing your topcoats with the appropiate thinners. You will notice some changes in your topcoats when not addressed. Buying full sheets of flat paper and cutting it into four squares can save you big bucks from buying those precut packages labeled with your favorite tool name and hung up in your local hardware store.

[Greg Luckett]

Good information Oyster. Thanks.

I remember covering these topics when taking shop many years ago in High School, but that is all I remember... . Certainly, many things have changed since then anyway.

My favorite sanders are the 5 inch Porter-Cabel orbital, the 3-1/2 wide Bosch belt, and the Fein. The first and the last need PSA types (sticky backed). This pretty much excludes any need by me of sheet or flat papers. I do have a square vibrating sander still. Maybe I will buy some 3X and try it on that one.

Good day,

Greg.

[Guest]

Buy rolls of stickit discs online and place it on the pads and crease the edges over and go on about your business. We also will glue linoleum on the bigger 6 and 8 inch pads to use the stickit discs on them also. All else fails buy the 3 m disc adhesive in the tubes or spray on types and cut your own pieces and have at it. One piece of full sheet makes four pieces of palm sander paper for less than one peice of premade papers. Be careful on the bigger sanders that have speeds more than around 3000 rpm as the pads will become airborne and dangerous to the surrounding people when the glue heats up and removes the pads.

[Greg Luckett]

"rolls of stickit disc"? I may know what you mean, but am not sure. Could you elaborate a bit more.

Thanks for the advice and help. Sanding is not my favorite thing to do and anything that makes it easier for me is very, very much welcome.

Greg.

[Guest]

Quick search finds the 3m site is down but I found this site as a general education course on sanding products. Your local auto supply stores that sells auto paints and supplies may have some of these same products. Norton paper is acutal a shade bit better in most of their heavy work sanding products. If you have a palm sander that has the blue vinyl pad on it, most of the stickits will work on them. Keep the pads covered with a disc, even when not in use so to keep dust from sitcking to the residue. Also in the bigger 6 and 8 inche disc, if you use the sitckit glues, just run the disc flat on a hard surface to heat the glue up and remove the old pad, without tearing any part of it off. Then you can use the new one. The velcro or hookit pads are great but also keep dirt from the loops. We use the square edge sandpaper in rolls for any longboarding of fairing compounds. For heavy work purchase floor surfaceing paper, and cut since the backing is very substantial for heavy duty pushing.

http://www.divineimages.com/prod/it10/20796/CENTER/MOUNT/SANDING/DISC/KIT/PAD/DISCS.htm

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/eserv/eclipse.ecl?PROCID=WEBPROC.WOE.AUTH&AUTOLOG=YES&ID_1=4&CLEV=MORE&TRACKNO=0

More specific.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/eserv/eclipse.ecl?PROCID=WEBDISP.WOEB.MAIN&ID_1=4&ID_2=2557&CLEV=MORE&TRACKNO=J1931863626

[Zeroice]

My experience was with 3m's 3X and Norton's 3X papers. They both seemed equal in performance in the areas I mentioned above. The sanding I did was all either hand or electric orbital with these papers. Belt sanding was done with rioby belts, but these were just standard and not 3X.