sanding fiberglass repair

[QuickMick]

Ive been reparing some fiberglass (laying new mats), and am wondering if anyone has suggestions on the best type of sandpaper and grit to use to finish it. My buddy has some stick and sand glasiers disks but they are very abrasive.

thanks gang

[deniseO30]

Mick if you using epoxy you will need the hardest grits you can find.. that stuff is tough!

[tommays]

Norton

grit depends on the tool and what stage your at

I have used a BUNCH of disks Bosch, Festool, ect and found Norton to be the best so far

The Festool may have better but the stuff my DIS offered had issues with the backing failing at the outer edges were the Norton backing would hold up until the paper was really worn out

[bljones]

Ditto on Norton 3X sandpaper. Start at 80 grit to hit the high spots and rapidly knock down the finish, then go to 220 grit, 320 grit, and so on, depending upon finish.
But first, make sure you have enough epoxy laid on to sand out! make sure that the weave is fully saturated, no low spots, and is smooth to the touch. There is nothing worse than sanding through the glass simply because you stopped one coat short when you wetted out the cloth.

[sailingdog]

80 grit is about the most aggressive you want to use typically. I'd agree with Tommays and bljones about Norton being a bit betterr to use. Don't forget to rinse off the amine blush before starting sanding.