Official Luthiers Forum!

Well being Christmas and all seems like it would be a good time to share......... some stuff. For the last year few years I have been using 3M No Load Sandpaper for sanding finishes in between coats. It is by far the best (that I have found) for this task. I do a bit of cabinet work and generally finish with nitro. lots of flat sanding. I find a 1/4 sheet piece would last about 3 - 4 times longer than any other type of finishing sandpaper I have used. In this case, usually 220. Not only does it last longer but if you do get a little build up of the finish you can give it a quick brush off with your hand. You don't need to use a blade or such. I find scraping finish off paper with a blade dulls the paper much more quickly. On the last couple of guitars, (nitro finish), I use this sandpaper, usually 400 grit, for all sanding in between coats to get to your final coats with 3 or 4 weeks to kick off. After its had its time to kick, to level, I have been using 600 to level the final finish, dry. The big benefit of levelling dry is you can see whats going on. All you do is sand till any shiny spots are gone and it's really easy to see when you're there. It is a little quicker than wet sand levelling but the nice thing is it's very easy to see when you are level so your chances of over sanding, sanding through are greatly diminished. It makes the whole process go a fair bit quicker. A quick rub with 1000, 1500 and 2000 wet after that and your off to the buffer.

This http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.a ... at=1,42500 is the product and if you live in Canada, Crappy Tire also sell it packaged. I have never seen it in anything finer than 400 grit in my part of the world.

If you haven't tried this paper it will make your life easier and you will use far less paper. 1/4 sheet will level a guitar.

Cheers, Happy Heineken, and all the best for the New Years.
Danny

Danny, if you have a Lordco in Powel River (which google says you do) you can buy it there, cheaper than Lee Valley and they have it up to 800 grit.

Also, it's not as messy as wet sanding...

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Yep, great stuff indeed.

EDIT: Well probably great stuff. I came down to the shop and checked and I'm using 3M Open-Coat Fre-Cut which I like a lot. I'll have to look into the no load but it will be a while before I run out.

EDIT #2: Had to go look up the specs for the Fre-Cut -- " Production™ Resinite™ Fre-Cut™ Gold Sheets
9" x 11" Coated Abrasive Paper. An aluminum oxide sheet constructed on D-weight paper backing with 3M Fre-Cut™, a stearate coating that resists loading when working on wood, plastic or fiberglass. Use for shaping plastic filler, removing paint around damaged areas, and scratch refinement of bare metal. These sheets utilize a premium aluminum oxide mineral and an improved paper backing that results in an improved rate of cut, increased flexibility, increased abrasive life and uniform, consistent finish."

So it is a stearate coated paper and it's the best I've ever used. Not sure if it is the same the OP is talking about. I get 50-sheet sleeves from Amazon at about $40 per sleeve.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

In the states you can get no loading paper at industrial abrasives in Reading pa. I get all my sandpaper needs there from sheet stock to wide belts. They have a great selection of paper.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Thanks Danny, I've not tried the 3M no load yet. Here is a no load paper that I have been using at a fairly good price without buying 100 sheets.http://www.restockit.com/showmanufactur ... 2&Ne=30000

Chuck

_________________
_________________

How are you Rod?! Good to see you hanging out again. Thanks for that. I have a friend working at Lordco and he always gives me max discount which can be very good.

Best of the Season Buddy!

Good stuff. Thanks guys!

_________________
George :-)

Specifically which 3M papers are you all talking about?

On the back of the sheets should be a number besides the grit.

e.g. I've been using the purple stuff which is 225U.

Thanks,
Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

This 3M sandpaper is in the 2500 series paper. The 600 grit is 2537...

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

OK, that clears that up. You can also look for 3M Production™ Resinite™ Fre-Cut™ Gold Sheets. Those are 2500 series products. P150 is 02546, P220 is 02544, and like Rod said, P600 is 02537. I don't have full sleeves of the other sizes and the series numbers are not on the single sheets. For a little bit I thought we were talking about a new product. As I said earlier, I get mine at Amazon.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Home Depot replaced their Norton paper with 3M.
The 3M stuff they sell is horrible. The paper backing is thin and the paper quickly wears out.
I love the 3M Sikit stuff. Best paper ever.

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

They still sell the Norton paper at Home Depot up here, and it is junk as well. They replaced the decent quality 3M paper with the Norton years ago. It's OK for sanding drywall, but thats about it.

Alex

_________________
"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker