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Sandpaper

Hey guys, I make my living as a piano cabinet technician. That is essentially a furniture technician who specializes in working on the furniture and cosmetic aspects of pianos. A very major part of my work involves sandpaper and all of my sanding is by hand. I normally use everything between 150 to 2000 grit and also use micro mesh frequently. I have used every sandpaper available and there are many good brands, but I have found that Norton 3X is the best and most durable paper I have used.

I'm really talking about the dry papers, although I do really like their 2000 grit wet/dry as well. Their coarse grades are very aggressive and really last and make my work easier. When I cut a scarf joint for a neck I can true it up for gluing using a wood sanding block and 100 grit Norton 3X reasonably fast. I could make it faster with 60 or 80 grit but I'm satisfied with being a little bit slower. Anyway, give this stuff a try if you haven't already. It's a really great sandpaper and sandpapers are not all created equal.

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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Henry on January 19, 2012 at 8:11am

I look at stains as being one of two types, either pigmented or dye stains. Pigmented stains are basically opaque and dye stains are transparent. While you can still see the wood grain if you are using a pigmented stain, it tends to hide blemishes in the wood. Dye stains color the wood but will enhance grain. Most of my work with stain involves polyester finish repairs and for that I use Mohawk brand penetrating stain which is a dye stain. Aniline stains are typically dyes and my personal preference in aniline stains is oil soluble and the oil is mineral spirits. I find it more forgiving and less streaky than the alcohol or water soluble anilines. One of my favorite stains is called asphaltem and it is a home made stain. Take a piece of roofing shingle and put it in a bucket and pour turpentine, or any other solvent over it and let it stand for several days and it will dissolve the tar in the shingle and makes a walnut stain with little or no red tones.

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Permalink Reply by swampapple slim on January 20, 2012 at 10:39pm

good to know all i find box store chineese shit some is even good lable gargage

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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Henry on January 21, 2012 at 5:21am

Just fyi, yesterday I shaped a neck. Besides using my rasp I used 2 pieces of sandpaper. 1 piece of 80 grit and one piece of 220. I don't mean one sheet of each, one piece of each. I used a strip of each for the shoe shine and the same paper for used with a felt covered sanding block. I backed the paper with masking tape and the paper is good for another neck.