Sandpaper Grits Problem

[brurobas]

Good evening,

This afternoon i was finishing sanding my first pipe.

I sanded it until grit 400 with 3M's sanding flexible pad and the surface of the pipe was very very smooth. The same happened with the stem. I sanded it with 3M's 220 and 400 grits and the surface was very very smooth.

I then started sanding with 500 grit wet and dry sandpaper and the moment i touched the stems surface lots of scratches appeared and i could see that i was removing more stem material than i expected. This also occured when applying the 500 grit sandpaper ( not 3M's sanding flexible pad ) to the pipe bowel. It started removing more briar than the 400 grit sanding flexible pad.

Is this normal? Am i applying it wrong?

This is the sanding flexible pad i am using:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/e ... erProducts

Thank you in advance.

Regards

[Ocelot55]

Don't ask me how it makes sense, but I have had the same problems with sanding pads. It seems to me that the paper is more aggressive than the pad. Since I learned that (pretty early in my pipemaking career) I have switched exclusively to sandpaper and ditched the pads. I do however use the pads to restore old cheap estate pipes. They work well at removing old lacquer and finish without leaving awful sanding marks.

In other words, my advice is to use either one or the other but not both. Hope that helps.

[brurobas]

It sure helps Ocelot.

Thank you very much.

[KurtHuhn]

The abrasive used on flexible pads is very different from the stuff used on regular dry paper. Flexible pads use silicon carbide abrasive which has a cubic grain structure and acts like a bunch of very small scrapers. The dry paper is typically aluminum oxide which has a much more angular structure and acts like a bunch of small gouges.

If you use regular sandpaper, use it as your first grits. Using it after flexible pads of any type is almost always going to be a step backwards in finish quality.

[baweaverpipes]

Good evening,This also occured when applying the 500 grit sandpaper ( not 3M's sanding flexible pad ) to the pipe bowel.

Regards

This would more than likely cause irritable bowel syndrome or constipation.
This question should be directed to the elderly pipe maker, Rod Davies. I'm certain he is well versed in this area.
To steal the line of said wise and gifted pipe maker: "Hope this helps".