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I try to keep a pretty diverse assortment of sandpaper for wetsanding finishes. I've known about the difference between CAMI & FEPA for some time but I still get confused every now and then.

After referencing a sandpaper equivalency chart recently, I've noticed a large gap after 600. According to the charts I've viewed, the next grit I have available is 1000. However I see quite a few grits in between such as P1200, P1500, & P2000. If I wanted to stick with CAMI I could use 800 which seems to fall in the same general area of the chart. I just can't find it anywhere. It seems like all of the stores I shop at (home stores, auto parts) make this same jump in grits. They all go straight from P800, which is very close to Imperial 400, to 1000.

Is it because they don't know/care or is it because the the missing grits are too close together to even be concerned with? I'm thinking the former but I'm just wondering what some of the people on this forum think. Also wondering where would be a good one-stop-shop for these sandpaper grits.

Thanks,
-Aaron


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

I can't answer your specific question but I can tell you what works for me. I use 3M Imperial brand P800 from Home Depot to wet sand nitro, followed by P1000 Eagle brand from Stewmac. I buff on a power buffer using course, medium, and fine compound. The result is a scratch-free glass-like finish that needs very little hand polishing to complete.

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It will probably be alright.

This is purely speculation, but I think availability of those," in between grits"has to do with the switch from dry sanding to wet.

People typically don't dry sand in the finer grits do to corning and cloging and when they shift to wet sanding, it's so much more aggressive, you don't need the grits immediately preceding the first wet sanding ones.


There may be some recent developments, but 3M imperial paper has been something of a wet sanding bench mark for a long time. The auto body finish industry tends to be where you find the good stuff.

I use a buffing wheel as well. I can find P800 but for some odd reason I can't find P1000 locally. I wonder if some of these places even realize what a large discrepancy there is between P800 (FEPA) and 1000 (CAMI).


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

I can't either. That's why I get the P1000 from SM.

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It will probably be alright.

An autobody supply shop should have those finer grits of wet and dry. P1000, P1200, P1500, P2000, and P2500. If they don't have them in stock I'm sure they could order them for. That's where I get mine. Places like the borg aren't specialized enough.
Hope this helps.

Cal

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Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!

I go 800 , then 1200 which is available at auto shops in KC locally, assilex/bufflex (japanese)make excellent papers google amazon there 400 is more like a 600 , and gets a higher grit as it wears,and cuts cleaner than either 320 or 400 wet /dry. I also use there 3000 grit as well

Micromesh had all kinds of very fine grits. I was no good using them, burning through with even very fine ones.

In Alabama, "missing grits" means someone stole your breakfast.:>)

I have been using Abralon foam pads and have been very happy with the results. I wet sand, using the hook and loop style, with the 1/4" foam backing, on my PC ROS. The grits I have are 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000. I then use Trizact 5000 grit, since I didn't have anything finer than 4000 in the Abralon. The "missing grits" have not been a problem so far.

I have been starting with P800, then following with 600. After that the next grit I seem to have available is 1000. I think the issue is that I'm not getting the 600 grit scratches out with 1000 because it's too fine. I guess I'll just have to find some 800 or P1200, P1500, etc. online. With stuff like this I try to find it locally because the shipping ends up being as much as the item itself.

So, the answer to my original question would be... Those grits ARE necessary but they are hard to find locally. I kinda figured but I thought a sandpaper guru out there would chime in and explain to me something I didn't realize.


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."

So… Just as I suspected, I found a place in town that had these "missing grits". And it was an auto body refinishing supplies store. They have a very organized sandpaper section with grits all the way from P100 to P2500. And nestled in with the P1200 was a stack of imperial 1200 sandpaper. Same for the P1500 and the P2000 grits. This is a real-deal autobody supply store for people "in the know". Even they didn't realize there was a difference. Once again, it had me second-guessing myself so I touched a piece of each and could clearly feel that one was finer than the other. Unreal.


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"I'm not going to say that perfection has never been achieved. However, if it has, it probably went unnoticed due to it's lack of character."