Abrasive Paper Polishing Techniques and Craft Introduction

Abrasive paper is commonly known as sand skin. It is a material used for grinding. It is used to make the surface of metal, wood, etc. smooth and shiny. It is usually made by adhering various abrasive grains to the original paper. Depending on the different abrasive materials, there are various types such as emery paper, artificial emery paper, glass paper, etc. Dry abrasive paper (wood abrasive paper) is used to polish the surface of wood and bamboo products. Waterproof abrasive paper is used to polish the surface of metal or non-metal workpieces in water or oil. The base paper is made of unbleached sulfate wood pulp. The paper is strong, wear-resistant, fold-resistant, and has outstanding water resistance. The grinding material such as glass sand is glued to the base paper with glue and dried.

Abrasive paper polishing techniques

Coarse sponge abrasive paper with a grit of less than 300 is used for depilation and shaping. Then, use 600-grit abrasive paper to polish the depilated surface. Generally, when polishing high-quality amber, after using 600-grit abrasive paper, the rough shape can be seen. When polishing, use a cross-grinding method, first horizontally, then vertically. Now let me talk about the use of old abrasive paper. Use an old 600-grit abrasive paper to slightly apply pressure on the surface of the amber and polish it in circles. This will help with the subsequent polishing of the amber. Old abrasive paper is better than new abrasive paper in terms of particle fineness and softness, making it more suitable for polishing. The direction of grinding should be perpendicular to each other, which makes it easy to see whether the marks of the previous abrasive paper are completely removed. For example, if 100-grit was polished vertically, then 400-grit should be polished horizontally, and 1000-grit should return to vertical. Always change to the next grit of abrasive paper, and the direction of friction is perpendicular to the current one. It is also recommended to hold the abrasive paper in your hand instead of placing it on a table unless you want to grind a flat surface. For grinding curved surfaces, it is still better to hold it in your hand. At the beginning of using each grit of abrasive paper, apply slightly more force, and gradually reduce the force when it is about to change to the next grit.

In the polishing process, in order to prevent scratching and burning the surface of the workpiece, it is usually necessary to be extra careful when using #1200 and #1500 abrasive paper for polishing. When polishing with different types of abrasive paper horizontally and vertically, it is necessary to use two different directions and different perspectives for polishing. This is to prevent scratching and burning during the polishing process.

Abrasive paper polishing process requirements

When using abrasive paper for manual polishing, generally cut the entire sheet of abrasive paper into quarters, fold each piece in half, hold both ends with the thumb and little finger, and flatten the abrasive paper with the other three fingers, and grind back and forth on the surface of the object. Depending on the object being polished, change flexibly and use the empty space between fingers and the flexibility of fingers to polish in concave and convex areas and corners.

When polishing a large area, the principle of "taking the highest point as the reference" should be mastered. Use the palm to rotate the abrasive paper, or use a slightly harder lining such as a sponge or cork block, hold the left and right ends tightly with the thumb and forefinger, and flatten it for polishing.

To ensure the quality of polishing, it is necessary to train, assess, and manage the polishing workers. It is very important to maintain the stability of the polishing workforce. The view that "polishing work is the easiest, does not require teaching or management" or "anyone can do polishing" is absolutely wrong.