History and Development of Sandpaper
– Sandpaper was first used in 13th-century China, made by bonding crushed shells, seeds, and sand to parchment with natural gum.
– Shark skin and rough scales of the Coelacanth have also been used as abrasives.
– Glass paper was manufactured in London in 1833 by John Oakey, using new adhesive techniques for mass production.
– Cheap sandpaper was often passed off as glass paper in the past.
– In 1921, 3M invented wet and dry sandpaper with silicon carbide grit and a waterproof adhesive, initially used in automotive paint refinishing.
– Sandpaper production became mechanized in the 19th century, leading to increased availability and affordability.
– Today, sandpaper is made using synthetic materials like aluminum oxide and silicon carbide.
Coated Abrasives
– Coated abrasives are abrasive grains bonded to flexible substrates using adhesives.
– Common substrates include paper, cloth, vulcanized fiber, and plastic films.
– Coated abrasives come in a range of grit sizes, from very coarse to ultrafine.
– Sandpaper and emery cloth are examples of coated abrasives for hand use.
– Other forms of coated abrasives include sanding cords, pads, belts, and discs, used with power tools.
Mounting Systems
– Quick change systems are commonly used with disc-type coated abrasives.
– A plastic or metal hub is bonded to one face of the disc, which is threaded.
– The disc can be quickly replaced when needed.
– Quick change discs come in various sizes, ranging from 50 millimeters to no upper limit.
– They can be used with sanders, grinders, or drills.
Backing Materials
– Sandpaper backing materials include paper, cloth, PET film, fiber, and rubber.
– Cloth backing is used for sandpaper discs and belts, while mylar is used for extremely fine grits.
– Fibre or vulcanized fibre is a strong backing material consisting of polymer impregnated paper layers.
– The weight of the backing is designated by letters, ranging from A (lightest) to F (heaviest) for paper backings.
– Cloth backings use a different rating system, with J, X, Y, T, and M indicating the weight from lightest to heaviest.
Types of Abrasives
– Types of abrasive materials include glass, flint, garnet, emery, aluminium oxide, silicon carbide, alumina-zirconia, chromium(III) oxide, diamond, and ceramic aluminium oxide.
– Glass and flint are no longer commonly used.
– Garnet is commonly used in woodworking.
– Aluminium oxide is the most common abrasive in modern use, suitable for metal and wood.
– Silicon carbide is available in a wide range of grits and is commonly used in wet applications. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coated_abrasive
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2023) |
Sandpaper, also known as glasspaper or as coated abrasive, is a type of material that consists of sheets of paper or cloth with an abrasive substance glued to one face. In the modern manufacture of these products, sand and glass have been replaced by other abrasives such as aluminium oxide or silicon carbide. It is common to use the name of the abrasive when describing the paper, e.g. "aluminium oxide paper", or "silicon carbide paper".
There are many varieties of sandpaper, with variations in the paper or backing, the material used for the grit, grit size, and the bond.
Sandpaper is produced in a range of grit sizes and is used to remove material from surfaces, whether to make them smoother (for example, in painting and wood finishing), to remove a layer of material (such as old paint), or sometimes to make the surface rougher (for example, as a preparation for gluing). The grit size of sandpaper is usually stated as a number that is inversely related to the particle size. A small number such as 20 or 40 indicates a coarse grit, while a large number such as 1500 indicates a fine grit.
