My new sandpaper storage solution

Josh Dabney

Josh Dabney

Moderator
I've been keeping my sheet sandpaper in a drawer in my workbench for way too long. I had a bunch of issues with the drawer such as no protection from grinding dust contamination and just lack of organization. Previously I couldn't tell ya what I even had in the drawer and always seemed to be out of paper at inconvenient times. (is there a convenient time to be out of sandpaper ?)

I've been getting by thus far with Norton paper in low grits from Lowes and getting a few sheets from Tracy every now and again of the higher grit stuff. Since I finally made it a priority to order a bunch of Rhynowet paper I figured this would be the time to figure out a better storage solution while I was at it.

So picked this up today and organized it. A cheap hanging file box from Walmart $9.95 and a box of 20 hanging files $4.88 and now I feel a whole lot better about my entire sandpaper situation. This should keep everything clean and organized so taking inventory will be a snap.

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There's even a little storage compartment on the top to keep a few of my favorite sanding blocks in

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I feel so much better about this I'm wondering why I didn't do this 2 years ago ;)

Thought I'd share with my fellow dogs ! -Josh :biggrin:
 
I tried that Josh but I found that having the paper stand on edge made it curl up real bad. I hope you have better luck. Edited to add that you could probably turn it on its side and eliminate the curling. Let us know how it works out. I may have to buy one.
 
Josh what do you do with all your pieces that are smaller than a full sheet? Do they go back into the folders or ?? I have a scrap box for pieces, but then you gotta sift through them looking for a piece.

Larry
 
My scrap/Smaller pieces go back in the stack at the appropriate Grit.
I use scissors to cut. No Tearing!
The stack is Heavy grits on the bottom going lighter towards the top.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
Interesting idea...I too wondered about curling when I first saw it. But I would thing resting it on its side would help. I expect that humidity and temperature swings could effect the paper as well. ...just thinking out loud.
 
I have some thoughts on the curling issue. Here in Fl humidity is always an problem so if thats going to be an issue I'll have it :)

I noticed right away that curling will be a problem but, It only seems to be a problem in the folders that have alot of sheets in them.

The ones that have only 10 sheets seem to stay flat just from the pressure of the folder. So my thinking is to pick up another 20 pack of folders and have 4 folders for each grit of paper. This way I can order 50 packs of paper from Trugrit and have only 12 or 13 sheets in each folder. I think this alone may deal with the curling problem.

My other thought was to keep the file box space nearly full so the folders stay "compressed" for lack of a better term. I use manila folders alot for pattern making and had a 50pack of those stored in the workbench also so I took them out of their box and slipped them in behind the hanging files. This keeps those handy and clean and takes up most of the free space in the box. Once I add in 20 more hanging files and a pad of tranfer paper it should be pretty full.

I also added my Makers Mark stencils to this box.

Concerning small scraps of paper-

Something I didn't take into consideration when making my two favorite sanding blocks is making them correlate with the size of the sandpaper. As it currently stands I end up with a little bit of waste off a sheet when using the G10 blocks. Those two blocks do 95% or more of my sanding. One is just flat and the other is faced with cork gasket material.

My method for using these blocks goes like this-

-Cover the face of the block with Feathering Disk Adhesive and let it tack up.
-Stick the block to the paper oriented so the long part of the block is parallel with the long side of the paper.
-Trim around the block with scissors

This gives me two rows of block cut-outs from a sheet of paper with a roughly 1/2" strip of waste from the center of the sheet running perpendicular to the long side of the paper and an additional 1/4" from the long side of the paper where the block doesn't quite make it to the end of the sheet.

If I'm sanding a blade I typically cut up this scrap and use it for tight or small area sanding like the bottom of the ricaso and the spine. Or when working on handles I'll trim the scrap and use it for shoeshine paper. I actually end up with VERY little wasted paper this way and my paper ALWAYS fits my block exactly how I want it for the task at hand.

If a feller was smart he could make a couple sanding blocks size matched to the paper and have as near zero wasted paper as possible.

So my answer to Larry's question is basically this-

The first sheet in my folder will be used only for these two sanding blocks. The waste from these will either get used or go in the trash. The last sheet in the folder will be for any other odd sized piece needed for shoeshining, my hard rubber block, or the bronze tight area stick. Basically that last sheet will remain an oddly shaped sheet with various pieces cut off it. I'm not anticipating the need for a bunch of tiny scraps in the file box. Leather scraps are another story, LOL

Thats about all I got on the subject so far.

My future dream is to build a nice finishing bench with a set of shelves on it with a spot for each grit and a door that seals covering the entire sandpaper section. This would be the best way to store paper but for the time being I needed an alternate solution at least as a temporary fix.

My future future dream is to have a dedicated, large, proper knifeshop complete with a large dirty area, dedicated hot shop (with a press and power hammer), and a clean room with purpose specific benches.... Oh how fun to dream ;)

For now the file box is gonna have to do though.

Thanks for the feedback Fellas ! This is what the forums are all about !!

-Josh
 
I use up odd sized scrap for hand sanding and such.
There is always some contour work to be done by hand on my handles. You need not trow any away.
I never do. Sandpaper doesn't eat or expire really.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I've been keeping my sand paper in the exact same way for 2+ years, I don't understand what y'all are talking about it curling, I put the paper in just like you would if it was a file (the paper kind), I guess it would be length ways. I'll add that I came up with this idea when I made my first Rynowet Redline order and was verwhelmed with the huge stack of paper I now needed to protect! I also keep my spacer sheets in there as well as all of my equipment manuals and drawing paper, I don't use a lot of Micarta but I keep a sheet on hand and it goes in there as well, also drawings, notes, etc. This may be the reason my doesn't curl it is packed full, Hope this helps, Rex
 
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