Sandpaper

Sandpaper is a type of coated abrasive that consists of sheets of paper or cloth with abrasive material glued to one face. Despite the name, sandpaper is not manufactured from sand, but from glass particles, aluminium oxide, silicon carbide, garnet, or other specialist material.

History

The first recorded use of sandpaper was in 1st-century China when crushed shells, seeds, and sand were bonded to parchment using natural gum. Shark skin (placoid scales) has also been used as an abrasive and the rough scales of the living fossil, Coelacanth are used for the same purpose by the natives of Comoros. Boiled and dried, the rough horsetail plant is used in Japan as a traditional polishing material, finer than sandpaper.

Types and uses

Sandpaper is produced in a range of grit sizes and is used to remove material from surfaces, either 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).

Manufacturing

The manufacture of sandpaper involves the following steps: making the backing, applying the adhesive, and the abrasive, and creating the sandpaper itself.

See also

• Emery (rock)
• Flapwheel
• Glasspaper
• Grinding (abrasive cutting)
• Polishing (metalworking)

References

Sandpaper Resources
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