Sandpaper

Sheets of sandpaper with different grit sizes (40 (coarse), 80, 150, 240, 600 (fine)).

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cloth with an abrasive substance glued to one face.[1] In the modern manufacture of these products, sand and glass have been replaced by other abrasives such as aluminium oxide or silicon carbide.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.

  1. ^ Hill, Ray (July 1977), "PS guide to sandpaper and other coated abrasives", Popular Science, 211 (1): 106, ISSN 0161-7370.