Consumables

Sandpaper Sheets

Four grits, coarse to fine. Each one has to remove the scratches the last one left, which is why skipping grits costs more time than it saves.
Four grits, coarse to fine. Each one has to remove the scratches the last one left, which is why skipping grits costs more time than it saves.
Simon Eugster – Simon / ?! 12:43, 14 May 2008 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sandpaper sheets are flat abrasive paper, sold in standard sizes (9"x11" full sheets, cut down into quarters or thirds for hand use) rather than the round, hook-and-loop discs made for orbital and random-orbital sanding discs chuck into a power sander. Wrapped around a sanding block or simply folded and held by hand, sheets are the standard choice for hand sanding, detail work, and anywhere a power sander's disc shape or aggressive stock removal isn't wanted.

Grit numbering works the same as on discs -- lower numbers are coarser, higher numbers finer -- and the same progression logic applies: skipping too many grit steps between passes leaves the coarser grit's scratch pattern visible under a finish that a smoother final grit should have removed.

Images

Four grits, coarse to fine. Each one has to remove the scratches the last one left, which is why skipping grits costs more time than it saves.

Product: Four grits, coarse to fine. Each one has to remove the scratches the last one left, which is why skipping grits costs more time than it saves. — Simon Eugster – Simon / ?! 12:43, 14 May 2008 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons