# Self Adhesive Sandpaper Sharpening Hangup



## jreebel (Aug 14, 2018)

I was convinced after reading a Woodsmith article that sandpaper sharpening would probably be the best method for me. The one thing bugging me is when I remove an old piece of self adhesive sandpaper from the glass it leaves a lot of residue. I've tried several solvents with little success. Anybody found something that works well?


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

What have you tried? Acetone pretty much removes any adhesive but it's hazardous to handle so use gloves. There's also Goof Off and Goo Gone available from any hardware store. Rather than expensive self stick paper you can use regular wet-dry and Elmer's spray adhesive.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I never use adhesive. Just masking tape at one end.
The slightest pressure from any tool edge pushes the sand papers flat to the polished granite slab.
Lots of the fine (800/1,000/1,500) sand papers curl but that has no effect at all.

For crooked knives, I use rod and pipe mandrels. For carving adzes, I use a tennis ball.


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## The Colonel (Aug 6, 2018)

you might be actually be etching the glass if you are using water during the process. No cure for that. If it really IS residue...try WD40. I KNOW...I KNOW... it's supposed to be a lubricant... but I have found it to be one Hell of a good cleaner as well.
Jon


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you used sharpening stones you wouldn't have a problem with sandpaper.


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## Saw Dust Rules (Jul 21, 2018)

When it’s time to sharpen tools I tape sheets of sandpaper in progressive order by grit size. With a little oil I can touch up all the chisels and blades in short order.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

If wet, then the sandpaper sticks well enough for my needs. If dry, then I use blue tape down the sides. Works for me.

I have diamond stones for smaller blades. Sometimes you need something larger than a diamond stone. It is challenging to flatten a 22 inch jointer plane iron on a small diamond stone.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

3m #77 spray used sparingly works well as recommended by John Gunterman. Scrape off residue with razor knife when finished.

http://sawdustmaking.com/Chisels/scarysharp.html


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## jreebel (Aug 14, 2018)

*Thanks*

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have already tried all the solvents mentioned except the 3M product. All still involved considerable scraping. I'm thinking now I'll try tape instead as some of you mentioned.


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## gmercer_48083 (Apr 9, 2016)

When I use to use sandpaper for sharpening I was concerned about adhesives. I used 2000 grit wet/dry from the auto parts and a flat 12" x 12" marble floor tile. the tile was glued with mastic to plywood that could be clamped to the bench as needed. I found no adhesive was necessary. I just misted water onto the marble, then laid the wet/dry paper on it and that was good enough for the paper to stay. I could then wet the grit side and hone, and the paper would stay. I have since changed my methods and now use diamonds and 5000grit stones, and finish with strops.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Gravity is your friend. Any load at all on the dry paper and it must lie down on the flat support.

For crooked knives, I use dowels or pieces of plastic/metal tubing. 
I wrap the sandpaper on them and use tape at both ends to keep the whole business from unravelling.
My strop is an office filing card. Wrap and tape that on the pipe. Scribble chrome green all over it = perfect. Effective. Cheap.


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

You can use any method to get your tools "scary sharp" as they say and I have read a lot about them. One thing I have read that pops up all the time is that using sandpaper is the most expensive. It's only more expensive if you use sandpaper over a period of time. They all cost a fair amount of money. I use diamond stones and like them. I have also used water stones.

Here are the diamond I use.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/DMT-8-Dia-Sharp-Diamond-Kit-P405.aspx


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## JohnTC (Mar 1, 2018)

Used sand paper for a while, and it was a pain. Makes me rethink those who recommended it. Bought a cheap diamond plate for $20 (it's $23 now) and am very happy with it. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BWHBV8D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

If all you use is straight edges such as planes and spoke shaves, monocrystalline diamond plates are unmatched in this day and time.
I intend to buy some for sharpening ceramic kitchen knives. Apparently, 600 grit leaves a good kitchen "tooth."

Work with edges that have sweeps such as wood carving tools and flat abrasives don't work at all.
Fine grained, very smooth, elongate oval river stones are entirely adequate and you can't beat the price.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Sharpening with sandpaper has two advantages:

* Even though I use diamond stones, I recommend sandpaper for people on tight budgets who want to get started in woodworking. They need a way to sharpen their tools, and sandpaper does not require a significant investment at the beginning. I warn them that it is more costly in the long run, and remind them that they will probably want to move on to something more durable and economical in the future, such as diamond stones.

* It is the only solution that I have found for flattening large surfaces, such as the iron on a #7 jointer hand plane, as I mentioned above.

If you want to use sandpaper for sharpening, one good source for quality sandpaper at a reasonable price is to buy a box of random sandpaper from Klingspor. I mistakenly bought a box of lathe sandpaper from them rather than the regular sandpaper that I thought I was buying, but it has worked out well for me. See my posts here:

Thread: 
https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/sources-sandpaper-186777/

My Post #7 in that thread, which gives a detailed report of what came in the box: https://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/sources-sandpaper-186777/#post1830458


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