Mesh Number and Usage Suggestions of Various Abrasive Papers

Abrasive paper is divided into ordinary abrasive paper and water-resistant abrasive paper. Ordinary abrasive paper is only suitable for dry grinding, while water-resistant abrasive paper is wet grinding, also known as water grinding.

1. Basis weight of abrasive paper

The unit weight of the abrasive paper (for example, AW is 65g/cm²) affects the flexibility, toughness and mechanical resistance of the abrasive paper. From light to heavy, they are AW (A basis weight), CW, DW, EW, FW, etc.

AW is the lightest paper for manual sanding, CW is the second, abrasive paper is suitable for manual sanding and light mechanical sanding (portable vibrating sander), above DW is mechanical sanding paper, EW, FW are heavy sanding paper.

2. Abrasive paper raw materials

The general abrasive materials are mainly artificial materials, mainly alumina and silicon carbide. Alumina (dark iron red to light iron red, marked AA or A) is usually made as regular abrasive paper for dry sanding, while silicon carbide (black, marked CC) is usually made into water resistant abrasive paper.

3. The number of abrasive paper

Refers to the number of meshes per square inch. For example, 100# silicon carbide abrasive paper is distributed with 100*100 abrasive particles in the "1*1" area.

There are two types of sizes: American size and European size (with P word added). Both have the same particle size at 180# and 500#, but the particle size of the American sandpaper is only 600#, which is about finer than P1200, and the European sandpaper is as fine as P3000 mesh. Now there are 4000 mesh and 5000 mesh.

4. Emery cloth

It is the same as abrasive paper, except that the backing material is different from abrasive paper. As for the choice of abrasive paper or abrasive cloth, it depends on personal preference, but there is a trend of abrasive paper replacing abrasive cloth.

For DIY abrasive paper, it is enough to prepare 40#, 60#, 100#, 150#, 180#, 240#, 320#, 360#.

If the material used is wood core board and veneer, it can be sanded with abrasive paper starting from 150#. When fine surface treatment is required, additional 400, 600, 800, 1000 meshes can be purchased.

Now, many people like antique furniture. In order to meet our aesthetic needs, we can make antique furniture ourselves. First, use iron nails or screws, etc., to naturally hit the wood surface to create a shape similar to moth-eaten holes to achieve an antique effect.

Then use a file to remove the scars on the table, and then use coarse grain sandpaper to roughen the four corners of the table and the top of the table legs to achieve the effect of natural wear; you can also use tools such as screw caps and bolts to tap on the surface of the furniture slightly to cause bumps and depressions; groove marks or scratches can also be carved with a steel carving knife to achieve a moth-eaten effect.

In this way, a piece of furniture with an antique beauty is formed, and maybe your guests will ask you which dynasty this furniture is from! In this process, abrasive paper played a big role. Only by doing a good job of natural wear and tear, can we achieve the best antique effect, otherwise it will be a modern woodware destroyed by children's naughty.