decent sheet sandpaper

[BTL-A4]

I need more sandpaper sheets for general use. I need every common grit between 80 and 800. I like to wet-sand metal, dry sand wood and use sandpaper to...sand. The big box stores sell it in manageable quantities for what seems a high price: about $1.25 per 9" x 11" sheet. Lehigh Valley and Online Industrial Supply sell it way cheaper per sheet but I gotta buy 50 sheets. McMaster-Carr isn't much cheaper than the big box stores, but I suspect it's better quality. 3M comes up as a good brand (the pro level stuff), as does Rhynolox and Mirka.

Where can I get decent 9" x 11" sandpaper sheets in 5 or 10 packs relatively inexpensively?

I thought of getting rolls, but sometimes I need a bigger sheet, or I don't need the adhesive backing.

 

[Dagny]

3m the rest ****

 

[MBfreak]

Thanks to Dagny.
Absolutely true.
Building guitar with a clearcoated curly maple neck taught me that.
All other brands contaminated the maple , the loose grit contaminated the maple,
Another $ 75 for a new piece of curly maple.

Ola

 

[ZRX61]

3M for wet & dry & sandpaper (rolls & discs) for blocking bondo & spray primer/filler etc.
I've been using Indasa Rynolox Plus for wood etc for years. I buy the 50ct sleeves.
I also have SunMight wet dry in #2000, #2500, #3000
Norton #80 in 8in discs for stripping cars to bare metal.
Diablo discs & belts on the powertools

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Years ago i bought a variety of grits and quantities of Norton sandpaper. I’m running low now but at the time Norton impressed me. Don’t know what the quality is like today.

 

[four.cycle]

don't mess around. buy the stuff by the sleeve:

Econaway Abrasive Belts
econaway.com
616 846 2550

** when I spoke with him on the phone he said he'd be more than happy to make up some 3" x 27" belts for my 1939 Porter Cable belt sander.

hell of a nice guy to deal with.

** remember that sandpaper has a shelf life be sure to store in cool dry place! **

YMMV

 

[RTM]

I like Klingspor for sanding stuff, can get stuff for multiple machines there.

Their sandpaper comes from a German mfg. never looked for wet dry from them.

Klingspor's Woodworking Shop

Klingspor's Woodworking Shop is full line distributor of woodworking tools and supplies from respected companies like Klingspor Abrasives.

www.woodworkingshop.com

Website isn’t working well on my iPad.

 

[Wamsutta]

The purple colored 3M. I won't use anything else.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

There are a lot of good alternatives to 3M out there. Sunmight is what I've switched over most of my paper to. Being in the autobody/paint business I use a lot of paper and I'm really pleased with Sunmight. Very high quality(as good or better than 3M) and around half the price. I also like Eagle (Japanese) for several different types of paper.


Link to their catalogs.

Sunmight | Media - Catalog

 

[Dave455]

I sympathise with the O.P. on this.

There seems to be more variation in the quality of sandpaper than almost any other consumable.

I’m in the U.K. so my available brands might be slightly different to yours, but for sheets I find 3M consistently good.

I hardly buy sheets any more, I pretty much buy it exclusively by the roll. This isn’t adhesive backed (unless you want that) so if I’m sanding by hand I just cut a square piece. If I want a piece for my “half sheet” sander it’s already the correct width, so I just cut the length I need.

I’ve tried a few makes but like Mirka. It retains it’s performance well, and it’s readily available locally in 5, 10, or 50 metre rolls.


With regard to long term storage, it all depends on the quality. I’ve had cheaper papers become useless after a few years, but I’ve got a large roll of coarse Mirka that my Dad bought, and it’s fine after probably 20+ years. If I buy 10m rolls I tend to store them in zip lock bags though.

Someone above mentioned Klingspoor, and that their paper comes from a German manufacturer. That would be Klingspoor themselves - they are probably Germany’s biggest abrasive maker. I generally prefer Mirka or 3M, but I have a linishing machine that I use Klingspoor belts on, and they are very durable, no question!

I have to admit, that for power sanding I’m using predominantly velcro backed paper now. Yes, it costs more, but I don’t particularly like sanding, I do too much of it, and being able to swiftly switch grades is a real timesaver.

 

[dnschmidt]

There are several choices but several of them are hard to come by unless your in business: 3M (the King), Norton, Mirka and Klingspor. Sunmight and DeerFos from South Korea are good. DeerFos in particular is very good. Most of the other stuff is ****. I use Starcke from Abrasive Resource which is German and it's very good as is VSM also German. Other than these you're taking too big of a chance. Sandpaper is cheap, what you're sanding typically isn't.

 

[Steve_P]

For wet/dry automotive type paper, all I've ever used is 3M. It is excellent, but it's just crazy expensive. Even 20+ years ago it was a dollar a sheet when just buying a few at the paint supply. When the internet sales thing happened and paint supply shops started selling online, I bought a bunch of the 50 packs, for probably half of the local cost, and I haven't needed any since.

I've had great luck with Norton and Mirka for other types of paper, but I've never used them for wet/dry sheets. It sounds like Sunmight is a safe bet and if I was buying now, I'd give that a try. There are so many companies making very high-quality abrasives now, and they cost a fraction of what 3M does.

 

[BTL-A4]

Thanks for the info. It looks like sandpaper is just really expensive. It is cheaper is large quantities and I do use sandpaper quite a bit, but I don't need 50 sheets of each grit.

I went to use some sandpaper the other day and all I had was 40 and 2000. Everything in between was gone. I don't need it at the moment, but know I will at some point. When I looked at the store I thought it was really expensive, but figured I could get it online or from an industrial or woodworking supplier cheaper, hence my post. They seem to only sell it in larger quantities, though. I'll have to decide if buying a lifetime's worth is the way to go, or just pay more and buy what I need.

 

[Steve_P]

Thanks for the info. It looks like sandpaper is just really expensive. It is cheaper is large quantities and I do use sandpaper quite a bit, but I don't need 50 sheets of each grit.

I went to use some sandpaper the other day and all I had was 40 and 2000. Everything in between was gone. I don't need it at the moment, but know I will at some point. When I looked at the store I thought it was really expensive, but figured I could get it online or from an industrial or woodworking supplier cheaper, hence my post. They seem to only sell it in larger quantities, though. I'll have to decide if buying a lifetime's worth is the way to go, or just pay more and buy what I need.

I think that part of the problem, until recently with the explosion of online shopping, is that 3M has essentially had a monopoly on this for so long and were able to raise prices every year, no matter what, at rates far above the inflation rate. If you didn't have a body shop where a supplier would offer you a choice, you were left with the local supplier- and everyone near me only carried 3M. I haven't bought automotive paint in several years, but the same black paint used to go up ~12% a year, when inflation was 3%.

I looked at the price for a 50 pack of the Sunmight and it was ~$27 shipped for the grit I picked. After paying $1 a sheet for 3M decades ago, I consider this a bargain . I don't want to say the wet and dry sheets (no adhesive) will last forever, but I know some of mine is 20 years old and is fine; I store it in a 50-80F room.

 

[legenddc]

I like Klingspor for sanding stuff, can get stuff for multiple machines there.

Their sandpaper comes from a German mfg. never looked for wet dry from them.

Klingspor's Woodworking Shop

Klingspor's Woodworking Shop is full line distributor of woodworking tools and supplies from respected companies like Klingspor Abrasives.

www.woodworkingshop.com

Website isn’t working well on my iPad.

I second Klingspor. I haven't bought sheets from them but I've used loads of the discs for my random orbital sander and I have a set of their belts for my spindle sander.

 

[BTL-A4]

I may go with the rolls. I thought about it and I rarely use a full sheet. My sanders are all H&L. I just want some sheets I can tear a piece off of when I need to sand something. I have a bunch of sanding blocks that are 2-3/4" wide and I can also use small bocks of various material as a sanding block when the other ones are too big. May as well go for the big box packages, since they are about the same price as the smaller qty's found online. The smaller packages have lasted me about 3-5 years.

 

[Joemctag]

I need more sandpaper sheets for general use. I need every common grit between 80 and 800. I like to wet-sand metal, dry sand wood and use sandpaper to...sand. The big box stores sell it in manageable quantities for what seems a high price: about $1.25 per 9" x 11" sheet. Lehigh Valley and Online Industrial Supply sell it way cheaper per sheet but I gotta buy 50 sheets. McMaster-Carr isn't much cheaper than the big box stores, but I suspect it's better quality. 3M comes up as a good brand (the pro level stuff), as does Rhynolox and Mirka.

Where can I get decent 9" x 11" sandpaper sheets in 5 or 10 packs relatively inexpensively?

I thought of getting rolls, but sometimes I need a bigger sheet, or I don't need the adhesive backing.

I use sanding belts, 3 & 4” wide, and cut or bend and tear them. You can also clamp and glue them around wood blocks. I don’t use sandpaper unless I have to.

 

[66HertzClone]

I prefer the 3M brand, for what it is worth I use one of these to store the sheets, I have labeled the tabs with the grit and have separated the metal finishing paper from the other type.