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Non Stearated sandpaper recommendations

E

Ed_McDonnell

Joined
Jul 18, 2006
Messages
643
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Location
Central Florida
I've been happily using Norton 3x sandpaper for most of my hand sanding needs. I'm getting ready to try some water based lacquer finishes and want to switch to non-stearated sandpaper to eliminate one more potential problem as I experiment with the new finish. Norton says their stearates are water based, but I don't think that would make them compatible with a water based lacquer.

Anyone have good experiences with non-stearated sandpaper (sheets and disks) that they would recommend.

Ed
 
Doesn't seem to make a difference. The stearate material probably never makes it into the wood. Imagine the greater surface area of warm dust over colder substrate may be the reason. If it goes anyplace after release from the paper, it goes there. A worrying type could always give a mineral spirit wipe.

Klingspor is my place for paper, and I use both stearated and non, paper and cloth backed. It's always been great, and the bargain box for turners is one of the best deals out there.
 
I was reading Andy Charron's book on water based finishes and that's what got me concerned about the stearates. He pretty strongly advises against using anything with stearates when spraying water based lacquer. He also recommends against using mineral spirits to wipe down.

I've already got a couple challenges to deal with considering the summer climate here in South Florida and the more potential problems I can eliminate the better.

I'll register one vote for klinspor non-stearated.

Thanks,

Ed
 
Ed_McDonnell said:
I've already got a couple challenges to deal with considering the summer climate here in South Florida and the more potential problems I can eliminate the better.
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Since stearated paper is really designed to keep gunk from clinging to the paper when sanding between coats it would be easy to do without. Use the other technique of a hard-bristle toothbrush or brass flux brush to clear the abrasive surface if required.

Check out the abrasive sponges they offer. They can be cleaned by dipping in water (or mineral spirits, when using oils) and squeezing out, and they conform better to close contours than even that soft-backed gold stuff they sell at Klingspor.

Remember that Klingspor is all European system, not CAMI. Took me a while to figure out why P400 didn't improve a CAMI 320 surface.😕
 
Steve Worcester said:
I have used a few different water based lacquers and have used the same stearated sandpaper all the time. No issues. Check the lacquer manufacturers recommendation.
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Steve - What water based lacquers have you tried?

I initially planned on going with some M.L. Campbell products, but it was only available in 5 gallon size in my area. That's too much for me.

Oxford USL (Target Coatings) looked good, but I couldn't find a local distributor. I came across lots of warnings about not being able to ship it during the winter months because of potential freezing issues. Winter time is the best time of year down here for woodworking.

I ended up getting some Crystalac. I was able to get a quart of the Premium (acrylic type resins) and Super Premium (urethane type resins) to play around with. They do warn about stearates in their promotional material.

Are any of the sanding disks you sell non-stearated?

Ed
 
I used Klingspor steareated paper for years with minwax wipe on poly. No problems. I have not tried a spraying poly. I now use the Blue discs from Vince's wood-n-wonders which don't have steareate .
 
Hi John - I've never had any problems with oil type finishes when using stearated paper. It's my planned switch to water based finishes that is causing me some concern. Stearate particles left on the turning can lead to fish eye and maybe even delamination of the finish. (That statement is based solely on book reading at this point. I have no experience spraying water based lacquer yet.)

I've been itching to give it a try, but my weather has been really wet and rainy the last couple of weeks so I haven't been able to use my spray room (aka my backyard). Looks like I'm finally going to get a sunny day between hurricanes when I can get some time to spray some test pieces.

Ed
 
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