Typical Emery cloth grits for lathe work?

[calgaryguy]

I needed to polish .0005 to .001 off a shaft I made on the weekend to get a bearing slip-fit. I ended up using some 120 grit plumbers emery cloth that seemed to do teh trick. I wanted to pick up a couple of rolls of emery cloth (I hate spending money for those teeny rolls at Home depot, etc) and was wondering what typical grits do you work with and what grits work best with common materials you are turning?

 

[Tom Kitta]

I use 120 for semi rough and then 320 to finish it off. If I really want to go overboard I use 600 for mirror finish. I have some 80/60 for rough cuts.

 

[RobinHood]

120/240 for material removal; 320/+ for finishing.

 

[PeterT]

Sadly a lot of the hardware store emery & sandpaper is complete crap. The good brands like 3M are much better, but more expensive. Repurposed belts can be but the backing can be stiff for lathe work. Actually I find that good quality wet-dry (silicon carbide) is a decent compromise. The abrasion particles are reasonably hard enough & the adhesion is better than junk grade emery. It also allows cutting/wetting lubricant if it helps & the grit won't fall off. Most autobody supplies will sell sheets in onsey-twosey so you can try. Amazon is a bit of crap shoot because a lot of offshore mystery stuff, but coincidentally I bough this a while back. Not as good as premium paper but not bad for the price.

https://www.amazon.ca/Sandpaper-Assortment-Automotive-Furniture-Finishing/dp/B01K22Q9R8

Its also important for shafts & bearing fits to have the paper bonded to a backing board because its taking off the micro hill tops from turning with some degree of control. I'm not really a fan of holding a foot of emery belt & oscillating back & forth. I use 3M spray to bond the paper to backing boards, easily removed with solvent. I prefer milled flats of aluminum but they are a bit more dangerous if things go awry. Blocks of 1/4 or 3/8 MDF are good for general work & you can easily different shapes easily. They can swell & degrade under presence of liquids.

Possibly you are referring to ground drill rod shaft? if so, the thing to realize is the material is typically harder. And stock is typically a bit oversized which is good in that it provides wiggle room to fit accurate bearings. But its also typically eccentric in section, maybe as much as 0.001" in one axis vs another. So the fine print average may be +/- 0.0005". Reason I mention is that 'sanding' something like this in rotating environment will not correct geometry, the egg section typically just gets slightly peripherally smaller. For geometry conformance, making it circular and of target diameter, lapping is required. But that's a different topic & probably outside the scope. Rob Renzetti has some good vids. (Time consuming & messy but sometimes that's what it takes)

 

[Brent H]

I have a roll of 250 and a roll of 400. Use a file of various cut if I am that far off a measure. I typically try to cut to the 0.001 When possible or over shoot and adapt with Loctite - hahaha

This stuff seems to work great and last. Add some thin oil to the mix to keep it flushed and it lasts very long. You can get various grits and it works great on the lathe - very flexible.

 

[calgaryguy]

Great info people, thanks!

 

[Susquatch]

I have a roll of 250 and a roll of 400. Use a file of various cut if I am that far off a measure. I typically try to cut to the 0.001 When possible or over shoot and adapt with Loctite - hahaha

View attachment 21769

This stuff seems to work great and last. Add some thin oil to the mix to keep it flushed and it lasts very long. You can get various grits and it works great on the lathe - very flexible.

Great info @Brent.

I've been unhappily buying from Crappy Tire. Gunna order a few rolls in different grades of this stuff!

Thanks from me too!

 

[Former Member]

KBCTOOLS.com

 

[PeterT]

Simpleton Sticks lol. Once I spray a half sheet of paper I just press on some MDF/hardboard sticks, trim flush to edge. I don't have pics of my flycut aluminum but same principle.
I've tried pretty much every version of self adhesive paper intended for woodworking or auto work like Rhyno 3M Stickit. Mostly they don't stand up very well & the good stuff cost $$.

Good place but USA

Finishing Focus

Finishing Focus offers quality abrasives, adhesives, buff pads, compounds, polishes, wax, epoxy, paint supplies, sandpaper, tapes and safety equipment

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[PeterT]

KBCTOOLS.com

The KBC dot ca store is probably where Canucks go. Beware the new 25$ shipping dinger fee. One of the 1" rolls I bought there was so-so & the other was better. I'll try & dig up the brands.

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