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Got a new used delta 18x36 this weekend! Finally got it greased up and leveled and really pumped! I got a free roll of 60 grit
paper with it and dont really want to waste it, is it ok to use 60 grit for general sanding of the top, back and sides? What do you use?

I start with 60 then go to 80 and 120 as I approach the thickness I am after.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

I just use 80 to get close and then hand sand from there.

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http://coneryguitars.com

Kill your television!

I use 60 to get close on back and sides, 80 for rough sanding tops, 120 to finish to final thickness. FYI delta belts for these sanders are on sale quite cheap on Amazon.com.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

For any oily wood like BRW, African blackwood, coco, etc, I use 36 grit to get within about .5mm and then finish off with a #80 Record cabinet scraper. Not sure if 60 grit would clog quickly, but 80 sure does. Non-oily woods like spruce or mahogany go straight from 80 grit to a card scraper.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

same here, i´m too lazy to change the papers.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I use 80 for everything cause I don't like changing the papers. Once they're thicknessed then I use an ROS to clean them up. Oily woods just take longer - if you don't take a big bite they don't clog the paper but it takes quite a bit of patience. If I was trying to make money at this I'd probably change the paper.

I also use one of those big eraser-type cleaning blocks every 10 min or so while sanding.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I use 36 60 then 80 but I also have a belt sander makes changing easier. You will soon find the finer the grit the quicker the sandpaper loads up. What the feed rate and heat.
Finer grits need a higher feed rate and less cut.

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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 for all the feedback guys! what im hearing is I can probably get away using my 60 grit, just have to do more hand sanding to get rid of marks..... Ey?

Err on the side of too thick until you've learned how much wood you lose getting rid of the sanding marks.

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Mike Lindstrom

Right on, that was in the back of my head... haha

In my experience the scratches left by a drum sander for a given grit seem to be deeper than those left by most other types of sanders. 80 grit scratches will take longer to remove completely and take a little more wood, than if made by a beltsander, or so it seems to me.