Super versatile and timeless, sandpaper sheets are an essential part of every workshop!
Abrasive Sandpaper Sheets
Sandpaper is one of the original abrasive products used by anyone from professional metalworkers and woodworkers to DIY hobbyists and knifemakers to shipbuilders. It’s a versatile consumable product that you’ll find in most toolboxes around the world.
What is Sandpaper
Modern day sandpaper isn’t actually made of sand, nor does it always use paper. Sandpaper is a coated abrasive made by adhering similar grit size abrasive grains to one side of a thick paper or cloth material with a resin bond or glue-like adhesive.
Sandpaper Grit
The number that you see associated with sandpapers’ grit depicts the size of the grains coating the paper. Besides the abrasive material, sand paper grit sizes are one of the most important features to consider when buying sandpaper. Each grit number is useful for different tasks and on different surfaces.
A high number grit means a finer textured sandpaper with smaller abrasive particles, and a lower grit number is a rougher/coarser sandpaper with larger abrasive grains.
Simple Sandpaper Grit Chart
The finest sandpaper can be found in a 2,500 grit and the coarsest sandpaper goes down to a 12 grit. The extremes of these numbers are rarely used, but below is a sandpaper grit chart with some of the most used sizes and their common applications:
Wood Sanding Grit Chart
|
Grit Size |
Grit Rating |
Commonly used for |
|
36 / 40 |
Extra Coarse |
Removing stubborn paint and varnish |
|
60 / 80 |
Medium Coarse |
Paint stripping and shaping wood |
|
100 / 120 |
Fine |
Sanding bare surfaces and removal of planing marks |
|
150 / 180 / 220 |
Very Fine |
Prepping wood for paint |
|
240 / 320 |
Very Fine (Microgrit) |
Furniture work and dulling glossy paint |
|
400 / 500 / 600 |
Extra Fine |
Smoothing painted surfaces |
|
800 / 1,000 / 1,200 / 1,500 / 2,000 |
Super/Ultra Fine |
Wet sanding |
Metal Sanding Grit Chart
|
Grit Range |
Common Applications |
Example Projects |
|
36-40 (Extra Coarse) |
Heavy-duty material removal, shaping thick metal |
Removing heavy rust, shaping welded joints, shaping cast iron |
|
50-60 (Coarse) |
Aggressive material removal, prepping for paint or welding |
Removing paint, rust, sanding welds, prepping steel for welding |
|
80-120 (Medium) |
Smoothing surfaces, removing imperfections, prepping for finer sanding |
Smoothing uneven surfaces, prepping aluminum for paint, removing scratches from stainless steel |
|
150-220 (Fine) |
Smoothing surfaces, prepping for polish or finer sanding |
Finishing welds, prepping for clear coat, smoothing scratches before polishing |
|
320-400 (Very Fine) |
Final sanding before finer grades, light scratch removal |
Smoothing surfaces before polishing chrome, prepping soft metals for paint |
|
600-800 (Super Fine) |
High-gloss polishing, removing minor imperfections |
Polishing brass to a shine, removing sanding marks from silver |
|
1000-1200 (Ultra Fine) |
Mirror finish polishing, removing polishing haze |
Finishing jewelry, polishing soft metals to a flawless shine |
|
1500-2000 (Super Ultra Fine) |
Flawless finishes, removing micro-scratches |
Polishing delicate metals like gold, achieving a mirror finish on soft metals |
Different Sandpaper Abrasives
Today you can find sandpaper in a wide variety of abrasive types which can be used for different types of surfaces and different kinds of jobs. Empire Abrasives carries three of the most useful types of sandpaper with 2 different abrasive grain options: silicon carbide and aluminum oxide.
Aluminum Oxide Sandpaper
Aluminum oxide grains are an incredible strong man-made material that measures about 9 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. That’s the same scale that rates diamonds as 10 for being the hardest. Aluminum oxide sandpaper is an incredibly versatile abrasive that can be used for hand sanding most materials from wood and plastic to drywall and ferrous/non-ferrous metals.
Silicon Carbide Sandpaper
The silicon carbide grains are an even harder grain than aluminum oxide, measuring about 9.5 on the Mohs scale. The hardness of silicon carbide makes it one of the preferred sandpapers for marble and glass sanding and polishing, though it can be used for metal and wood surfaces as well. Empire Abrasives carries two variations of this sandpaper:
- Non-loading silicon carbide sandpaper - With heavy use, this type of sandpaper is prone to heating up and/or loading (gumming up). Our non-loading sandpaper is made with a special zinc stearate coating that acts as a lubricant to prevent this from happening.
- Wet/Dry Silicon Carbide Sandpaper - This type of sandpaper gives you the option of wet or dry sanding thanks to it’s waterproof latex-backed paper. It is also available in some of the finest grit sandpapers available, going up to 2,000 grits.
Emery Cloth Sandpaper
Emery cloth sandpaper embeds natural emery grains to a cloth backing. The cloth backing is stronger and more durable than paper backing you’ll find in traditional sandpaper sheets. Emery abrasive grains are close to aluminum oxide in hardness, making it great for hand sanding, deburring, and smoothing out metal surfaces. It can be used to sand down most metals, but should not be used for sanding wood.