Sandpaper

[Justin]

The Chambers family's instructions for my kit say to do final sanding with 240 grit garnet paper through 360 silicon carbide paper.

Looking at this handy chart I found here:
http://www.jamarco.com/91b_Technical/sandpaper/Making%20Sense%20of%20Sandpaper%20-%20Page%202%20-%20Fine%20Woodworking.htm

It seems the gradual stepping of grits would be 240, 280, 320, 360.

The problem is I can't seem to find 240, 280, or 360 grits unless I buy packages of 100 sheets or disc sander sheets. Does anyone know where I could find this scale of grits? I already have paper that is close but only 220, 320, and 400. Would that be fine? I'd be inclined to start with 320 though so that makes me think I should get the grains mentioned by Chambers...

[Mike Brooks]

You'll want to start with somethin like 100- 120-150 then go to 220 I don't go past 220 anymore. Fist take any rasp gouges out with a fine file or a scraper.

[3 swans]

Try Supergrit, Red Hill Corp. with web site, tel. # 717-337-3038, email--- custserv@supergrit.com., They have every sand paper know to man and will make belts of any kind also. Call and tell them what you want and the staff will help you. They ship worldwide.

[SingleMalt]

If you're sanding a show car for prep and paint, you'll need all of those grits.  For a longrifle, I start with 150, then 220, then 320, and finish with 400.  Anything more is overkill.  After whiskering the stock, a worn piece of either 320 or 400 to remove the whiskers.

[Mr. Bubbles]

When you go too fine with the paper, you can wind up actually burnishing the wood, and just pushing the sanding dust in to the pores,  You're going to be wetting it and de-whiskering it anyway.  Most people don't advocate going much finer than that (220-320) or that phase.  It's going to be covered with some kind of a finish as well.  If you want a silky smooth perfect finish (like on a Best Quality London-made gun, like a Holland and Holland Royal) , THAT is the time to go super fine with the sandpaper, or finishing compounds.  Those guys go down t about 2000 grit or use rottenstone   then. That sort of a finish isn't really appropriate for a "period" American gun though.

[dogcatcher]

Buy the best sandpaper you can afford, and use it like someone else is paying for it.  The best finish starts with a great sanding job.  These are 2 statements that a shop teacher drilled into me in 1962.  I have followed that advice for all of these years.  Klingspor is a better brand, the sales place is Klingspor Woodworking Shop  http://www.woodworkingshop.com/  Spend a lot, their shipping is reasonable so you might as well stock up, or you will be buying more sandpaper and paying shipping twice. 

They also have bargain boxes of roll ends etc., these are a steal, you may not need ever some of the higher or low end grits, but a 20 pound box for $32 of sandpaper goes a long way.  One of these boxes is always added to my order at least once a year.   http://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/bb00001/ 

They also sell carving supplies, and lots of other goodies that you might want to look at. 

[Tim Crosby]

 You mean my practice of starting with 80 and using it until it is like 320 is not the way to go?
Just kidding, well... Buy good paper, 3M Aluminum oxide paper has served me well and is tough paper. Also learn to use a backing with it, cut it to fit sticks that will get into tight spaces.
 This is kind of a neat read on Sand paper in Colonial America:

 http://www.flintriflesmith.com/WritingandResearch/Research/sandpaper.htm

  Tim C.

[Mark Elliott]

All those grits is why I scrape.   You go right to the finished surface with a scraper.    I both final shape and finish with scrapers.    However,  scraping and sanding are very different approaches.    You have to have backers with sanding, and with scraping, you have to have a lot of different shaped scrapers.   Also,  you have to sharpen scrapers.   You don't have to sharpen sandpaper, but you do have to replace it. 

A utility knife blade (the kind with two pointed ends) flattened on a stone makes a mighty fine scraper that will handle 80% of your surfaces.   You should try it.   I think you will like it.   You do need to scrape with the grain holding the blade diagonal to the curl.  When you do it right, the curl just pops once the scraper passes. 

[oldtravler61]

  Jack Duprey showed me his technic on stock scraping. Only finish I like anymore...imho

[Mauser06]

Like Mark and oldtravler said, look into scraping.

I won't go back to sand paper. 

I thought it'd be harder to do...but with a little practice, you'll have it figured out.

I actually probably went overboard and bought a Veritas variable scraper burnisher and some of their scrapers. The scrapers are big and not as useful for stock work..but I use them on the bigger areas and for shaping some. The variable burnisher is nice. Sets the edge perfectly..higher degree will remove a fair bit of wood.

It's much faster to scrape a stock opposed to sand through the grits.

Also as was said, sandpaper will clog the grain of the wood..some get fantastic results from sanding. I always end up with a muddy finish that doesn't show the grain and figure as well as scraped wood. Scraping essentially cleanly cuts off the surface leaving a fresh clean wood surface.


Something to consider.  Sandpaper gets expensive..like was said, use it like someone else paid for it for best results...just added time and costs to finishing IMO.