Hand Sanding Abrasives
Why is Hand Sanding Necessary?
You might think that these tools can achieve perfect smoothness, considering you can mount power sanders with the finest grit. However, virtually all power finish sanders work by moving the pad in some form of orbital or oscillating motion, and this motion has the effect of scraping the abrasives across the grain of the wood—not parallel to the grain, as hand sanding does. Although they may not be seen at first, tiny scratches are the inevitable result of sanding wood with power tools, and these scratches will trap stain and muddy the surface of the wood once the finish coats are applied.
There are many types of sandpaper and abrasive materials available, but for finish sanding by hand, the most common choices are:
- Aluminum oxide: This sandpaper uses manmade particles as the abrasive material bonded to the flexible paper or fabric backing. Aluminum oxide sandpaper has a familiar brown or yellow-brown color. The abrasives fracture during use, exposing fresh cutting surfaces as work progresses. Aluminum oxide paper is relatively long-lasting when compared to other sandpapers. Most woodworkers keep a good stock of 120-, 150-, 180-, and 220-grit aluminum oxide sandpaper on hand for the final sanding of bare wood. For smoothing topcoat finishes between coats, 360- or 400-grit papers are used.
- Garnet: This is natural sandpaper, using genuine mineral particles as the abrasives. Garnet sandpaper is typically reddish or reddish-brown in color. It is effective sandpaper, since the aggregate particles break during use, exposing fresh cutting edges as work progresses. The particles do not adhere particularly well to the backing, however, and garnet sandpapers don't last as long as aluminum oxide. Garnet sandpaper is, however, less expensive than aluminum oxide sandpaper. Garnet paper is commonly used for sanding bare wood, but it doesn't work particularly well for sanding between coats of varnish or paint.
- Silicon carbide: This is another manmade abrasive, this one with a characteristic dark gray or blue-black color. It is often marketed as wet-dry sandpaper since the backing is a waterproof fabric. Silicon carbide sandpaper is rarely used for sanding bare wood, but it is often used to dry-sand between coats of top finish, and it can be used to wet-sand the final top coat for a very smooth high-gloss finish. Use 320- or 400-grit paper for this work.
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SurfPrep Hand Sanding Abrasives
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