help with sanding

[xander]

hi im making a knife handle and the wood i have (no idea what it is) seems to eat sand paper and i have been through 5 a4 sized pieces and not even got the back flush with the tang
is there anyone with in a 40 mile radius of bedford that has a table mounted sander i could come and use id pay for the sanding discs and i would be extremely grateful
hope some one can help

xan

 

[swright81076]

Why not start with a file, then go down the grits?
Problem with power sanders is that you can take too much off too easily.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[dwardo]

Yup rasp or file first. Also decent quality sandpaper helps no end.

 

[sasquatch]

Yup rasp or file first. Also decent quality sandpaper helps no end.

+1 to that. I do all mine by hand.

 

[dwardo]

+1 to that. I do all mine by hand.

Gotta love the stuff from the pound shop, smells like vomit, thin as tracing paper and the grits range from "broken bottle" to "spot the sand", only with 1 other grade in the middle....

The more expensive emery paper or good quality material backed paper is far beteter value for money. Once a rough grade wears down a little just call it a grade finer than it was

 

[mountainm]

+1

Coping saw, Rasp, then file, then go down the grits. Use a kitchen foam pad behind the coarser grits to help keep smoother shapers. FInish with micromesh.

 

[sasquatch]

Yup, I've been buying rolls of green 120 grit. Cut it into strips and put knives into a vice and sand them like you're buffing shoes to a shine with a cloth. Works a treat but it's as cheap as I'll go. Pound shop sandpaper is hopeless as the few bits of sand jump off the paper when you try to use it. I've got a few ali/oxide stones that worked great in the past though.

 

[SiWhite]

You can get sanding mesh now which is a fine mesh covered with carbide grit of various grades. The advantage is that it won't clog with sawdust, and that a 5m roll is about six quid from eBay.

 

[Simon H]

Coping saw, rasp, file then decent quality wet and dry with a strip of gaffa tape across the back to reinforce it, then like Chad says and buff it like shoes with the knife in a vice.

 

[VANDEEN]

Using cheap sandpaper on a block instead of the constant flexing caused when just holding it in your hand will preserve the life of the sand somewhat;
if you've gone and got yourself stuck with a packet or two of it hope it helps.

 

[mrcharly]

Get the stuff that is on cloth rather than paper. Lasts 20 times as long, cuts better (even the stuff from the market).

 

[brancho]

As has been said coping saw rasp file and then 80 grit decent quality paper/cloth is best for shaping. I use a belt sander but had tools work just as well but are slower.

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do?fh_search=sand+paper

Any sand paper that says coarse medium or fine is not worth buying show us the wood and paper so we may help more some wood clog paper badly however good it is.

 

[sasquatch]

I'm not too far away, if you can get to Northampton when I'm free I can help you if you want.

 

[Thetillerman71]

I use a belt mounted sander, they are relatively cheap about 75 pounds from machine mart. But just a word of caution they will happily take off too much material and there is no going back