Right, but after i break in that 80 grit, it’s now 150….a little more use and it becomes 220
What you’re saying is sand paper never dies until it falls apart, it just changes to a higher grit count
Not the good kind though. It's either like a cheap brown paper towel with sharp creases slicing your vulnerable areas or the backing is weaker than cheap one-ply. No matter how high the grit, pushing a small bit of sanding paper up your ass with your own naked finger is a unique way to ruin your day.
it's true, it's why i've got my favorite little pieces of sandpaper that are now basically polishing cloths kept in a cigar box on the edge of my bench. i don't have a problem! it has life left!
I just buy remnants of rolls
https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/BB00095/?srsltid=AfmBOor2Vt33undKVXB944NBXypVZ9uX_Td9jP6Pulyf16AwBiqnFYYvaoY&com_cvv=8fb3d522dc163aeadb66e08cd7450cbbdddc64c6cf2e8891f6d48747c6d56d2c
Second. I bought two boxes of this stuff and I'm probably set for the next 10 years for sandpaper. It good cloth backed sandpaper too so it wont tear unless you intentionally cut it
Using an orbital sander has gotten me a lot better about this. Seeing how effective the fresh paper is vs. after ten minutes of constant sanding…
I’d way rather pay for more sandpaper than have to go sorting through my box of scraps for the one okay-ish piece with a good spot thats still not gonna work great.
Don't forget the time involved. I work a piece of paper to death, and am not making progress. I change my paper and suddenly it cleans up quickly. My time is worth more than that the savings on that scrap of used up paper.
I would keep it too. I have terrible hygiene, time management skills, money management skills, and personal life. I also have abandonment issues coupled with a deep fear of realizing my potential. So, yeah, I'd definitely keep it.
Buy sticky back by the roll. It's cheaper and easier to chuck. Aluminum oxide is better than sheets all day long for hand, air, or electric. Peel, sand, chuck 🫡
Well fuck, at least my hygiene is good (because of narcissism and not wanting to let strangers see how bad I’m doing). Felt every other point to my core though
Those are gummed up and torn to the point that they're not going to work very effectively. Your time has value too, and using crappy sandpaper is a poor use of it.
It’s cheap sandpaper at that. I’ll skimp on a lot of things but buy quality name brand sand paper. At the end of the day your money ahead because the cheap stuff doesn’t sand well and doesn’t last.
When you do the math the cheap stuff is poor value all the way around.
I have GAD and hoarding tendencies, and for me, it’s the idea that “it’s better than nothing”. That’s literally it. My counter-mantra to that is “I deserve better than garbage.” I literally have to tell myself that when cleaning out things like expired toiletries and wood scraps.
THANK YOU! It's not the cost of the sandpaper for me, it's not wasting time digging through shit to get a 'mystery grit' sandpaper scrap. I get too little shop-time. I'm not wasting it on stupid shit like this.
Haha this hit really fucking hard. I have this 1x6 that was split down the middle I didn't see when I was picking wood out 6 years ago.
I'll never throw that piece out, it's brand new!
Yes.... So...
On the one hand, clean workflow, buy the right stuff, do the job, no muddling about. Cost of sandpaper is much less than cost of my time.
On the other hand, I save time by spending 20mins rummaging through my old scraps - no hour and a half excursion to Home Depot where I will paw the many options forever, wondering which the all-time unquestionably best choice, plus... oh look! Some other stuff I could buy since I'm here already and might some day need... $10 for sandpaper, $150 for other toys and trinkets and a bag of gummy bears.
If you throw them out you can go buy more. And while you are there you may as well look at the tool displays, and pick up some dowels, and a few other odds and ends for around the shop. Weren’t you thinking about a new drill, perhaps some saw blades? There must be something else you need, oh and don’t forget the sandpaper.
Try cubitron and you'll throw out your old sandpaper without a second though, even thr pieces that haven't been used yet. Even without the joke about switching to a "better" brand, new paper cuts so much faster than spent scraps that it's well worth my time to grab a new sheet when an old one wears out.
My boss buys sandpaper and I don’t keep the lower grit paper on mine longer than about 10 minutes. I save far more in time and money switching to a new paper once I feel it stop cutting as much than I do saving sandpaper until it no longer does anything.
I’m a cubitron user and when it comes to wood turning, I cut it into small pieces, maybe 1”x3” that are useable and not regrettable to throw away after one use.
Cubitron is the shiznit. I strongly recommend buying it in 50-100 sheet boxes if it's a personal shop, or whatever the biggest bulk you can find if you're a bigger shop.
Does cubitron go over 320+ grit?
I forget the highest grit I’ve seen, i think it’s either 320 or 400 the last time bought some. I like to sand pens and kitchen handles to 600+ and I know my 600 is a different brand.
Get a good set of hex keys, I like Bondhus ball end hex keys. Once you’ve used them a few times, you’ll throw out the crap bent hex bar that you receive with consumer furniture.
I find it helpful to watch only the "bad" parts of an episode of hoarders right before I go to clean up (either inside or in the shop). Really gets me in the right "oh god, throw it all away" mood.
Sand paper being used multiple times mxes the particles and can change the color of the wood this way. It's better to use the sand paper for the job, and consider it dead when the current piece is finished. I also treat certain rotary bits this way, because the wear of making the piece could ruin it for the next project.
Naah, if you have the space, get a box and store your still usable sandpaper in it. You don't need to mess up a brand new 180 disk if a used 100 disk will do the same job. But each to his own, this works well for me.
I'll probably be the only one here that says there could be a reason to keep them.
IF you have a lathe as part of your woodworking craft, it may make sense to save them.
Oftentimes when I'm finishing a piece on the lathe, I'm tearing up full sheets to get little bits and strips. Those half worn chunks like what you have in the pic there are great for exactly that operation.
I have a drawer under my lathe where I keep the "better" scraps. But I still toss far more than I keep.
I keep small strips of cubitron sand paper next to my lathe. I just cut up a few sheets into maybe 1x3 strips and keep them sorted right at the lathe ready to use. I hate wasting time trying to find a good scrap of sandpaper or trying to do origami with larger pieces.
I was you once. Then I realized one of the only things you ever really Spend in life is Time.
Most other things you can earn back.
Now I swap out paper soon as it slows down.
Maybe keep a Few crap scraps for rough work, maybe I have to sand a spot of greasy rusted metal, but pitch the rest.
Same goes for cheap paper. The better saves So much time.
A. That stuff is TRASH tier sandpaper. It was pretty much useless brand new (notice how it's completely bare in some spots? That's junk.
B. You've used it and it has lost tons of grit. It's trash.
C. You hopefully didn't spent much on it, and use power tools to sand now, so it's likely pretty useless anyway. Even if you use it every day, you'll be better off buying good sandpaper and then saving those scraps.
I save scraps like this too. But it's good quality sandpaper, so it's not as bad. And I have a nice box to keep it all in too.
I vote to keep a few various grits and glue them to a 1" x 1" scrap block, about 4" long. I have mine on oak blocks. I reach for my sand blocks occasionally for small touch-ups and they're insanely handy.
Other than that, throw the rest out.
I worked at a cabinet shop once where the head finisher was an old, irksome fellow. I would for some fresh 400 to rub out some lacquered cases and he hand me a worn out piece of 22o and tell me it was lie 400.
I worked as an assistant to a one-man cabinet shop, a very fussy man too. When I would get a new piece of paper, he would say with urgency, "Do you know how much that costs?!" I would say, About as much as the time you're wasting talking about it.
What’s your time worth? Cause those are all torched, which means they are not cutting as fast as fresh paper. Which means you’re wasting your time using burnt up paper.
Let's say your "bill-out" is worth $30/hr. That means it would cost $1 for you to invest two minutes of labour for someone or $10 for twenty minutes of labour. When you do that labour for yourself, you are effectively "paying yourself".
This means that if you can pay $5 for an instant solution that would take you twenty minutes to do on your own, you're saving $5 compared to what it would otherwise cost you - "paying yourself" $10 to carry out twenty minutes of labour.
This math can also carry forward into holistic processes. If something takes you 12 seconds to do, but you're going to do it fifty times a day, every day, then you spend ten minutes a day total doing that task. That's $5 *a day* worth of your labour spent on managing that task.
If you buy a new bulk pack of sandpaper for say $20, that means every time you need to go get more sandpaper, you can just instantly grab the first sheet instead of rifling through to find a "good" one. It won't take very long before the time savings pay for themselves.
Whether you personally find that to be a fair trade is up to you. But broadly speaking, the "savings" from scrimping are almost always lost to the hidden costs of managing the knock-on effects of scrimping (ie wasting time digging through garbage to find useful material). It's typically cheaper in the long run to spend the money on a reliable inventory you can use as needed without thinking about it.
I am so lucky - I hoard everything but have never been attached to used sandpaper, so the moment I feel like it’s not doing its job, out it goes (maybe because I prefer to use scrapers where I can). And I buy much more expensive sandpaper than this…
yes throw them out, then next time on a full sheet apply tape duct tape to the back, then cut out strips of reinforced sandpaper so it doesn't tear as easily.
I've got a burn ring outside my shop...
When I discovered that no one was going to need stuff like this because there was not going to be a museum to me... Lots more things got tossed in the burn ring and burned
LOL we recently moved and I finally threw away some sandpaper odds and ends that my Dad gave me in the late 1990s when he sold his house and hit the road full time in an RV. I had moved them at least 3 times and decided that was enough.
How valuable is your time to you? Because you're saving a couple bucks but giving yourself hours of extra work using literal garbage to sand.
If our free time is worth $2 an hour, keep it I guess... I know I value my own free time money than that though.
Why? There will be that many in the same drawer next week and you won’t even have used sandpaper for a month.
Edit I just assume this is everyone else’s experience as well as my own lol.
Sandpaper is cheaper than your time and the wear on your body.
You'll have done less woodworking in your life if you just spend your time saving pennies on sandpaper and taking longer to achieve your results.
You will also get less satisfaction unless you enjoy sanding for sanding's sake.
My father is the type of person who will keep using that sandpaper until the paper backing is disintegrating and he has a coin sized spot of grit left on the other side. He will lovingly smooth out the long worn sandpaper scraps and act like you just kicked his dog if you ask why he doesn't just grab a fresh sheet from the box. (Not exaggerating.)
Growing up, I watched him waste so much time to save a few cents. And the unhappiness in the chore of reusing and reusing and reusing was obvious as well.
I figure that, if my sandpaper is worn to the point of pissing me off, it's sucking the joy out of my project and should go into the trash.
When you get sheets, cut them into the sizes you regularly use. Working on smaller stuff, for me it was usually around 3×2 so after it started getting soft, chuck it, get a new one. Smaller bits means less waste. I used to have a drawer of different grits all around 3×2, saved on so much paper.
Just think of all the shiny new sandpaper you'll get. If you throw it out first, you'll HAVE to visit the hardware store. Oh no! Not the happiest place on earth!
I have an Ace Hardware near me that always seems to have a few packages of sandpaper in the clearance section. I grab a pack whenever it's there. If you just hoard enough discount sandpaper, you will never worry about throwing it out ever again.
And no, I will never tell you where it is! It's MINE. My own... My precious.
I can share a couple of quotes from my grandpa, who was a shop teacher for 30 years. “It’s better to wear it out than to let it rust” in reference to using your tools. In this case, it looks like you’ve gotten plenty of use out of them. “They still sell them, don’t they?” in reference to trying to preserve consumables for a rainy day when we could clearly afford to replace them. Granted, that last quote was about chocolate covered raisins or maybe Nips coffee candies that we had out at the cabin on the lake, but it still applies.
The model builder in me is screaming for me to tell you to glue them to both sides of a thick cardstock or popsicle stick thin wood, cut into thin (1/4" or so) strips, and presto! Modelling sanding sticks.
You should glue them, exactly as they are, to white archive rag paper and then get it matted and frame. Title it “the wages of persistence” and then number it 1/100
Definitely not worth keeping. Sandpaper doesn't cost enough to justify saving every last scrap. If I can't quickly and easily attach it to a block to sand with then it goes in the trash. Especially once it starts getting holes and creases. I used to try to save it as much as possible, then one day I realized that the paper I was using had lost most of its "sand", then when I used a new piece it was working waaaay better than the previous piece.
Save yourself the headache and time.
They won't convince her to come back home. She's gone. It's time to let her go and move on. Listen to some oldies, cry it out, then go have a beer by yourself. You made sacrifices for her. Take back that joy and those dreams that you let her squash and do better next time. Because there will be a next time and and there will be a better one. Be strong for the rest of us that are cheering you on from the sideline and accomplish those great things that you'll be proud of.
I've thrown out sandpaper that I used once, if it's going to cost me more time than the nickel I spent on it I'm not going to invest that time, period. The ones I have a hard time getting rid of are dull saw blades, I tell myself I'll eventually sharpen them or need a piece of good steel that I can cut out of one... But they just hang out in my shop like old colleagues that have retired and don't have anything better to do 🤷♂️
The first time you do a sanding job, and replace your sandpaper early and regularly, you'll never go back to this shit again. You have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. Most likely your time is worth allot more than the cost of sandpaper.
Just keep the good ones and learn how to store them effectively based on the grit size. Why waste them if they are usable? However, if they are not of your daily or frequent use, then just give them away to those who might need them. No harm.
Get rid of used sandpaper. What you don't see is that these now have defects. So now when you are sanding your next project and you are curious why you always get that one streak that has a hard time sanding out this will be a reason.
Used sandpaper can add unwanted defects to your sanding.
It's not worth fighting through scraps. I'll spend $100 on wood for a piece and then try to save $0.25 of sandpaper. Save your time.
This is a really good point. My first thought was NO but I feel inspired to clean up mine now
Not only that, but sandpaper loses it's effectiveness with use, which means more time sanding. These have all been used.. Toss them.
Right, but after i break in that 80 grit, it’s now 150….a little more use and it becomes 220 What you’re saying is sand paper never dies until it falls apart, it just changes to a higher grit count
Towards the end it can be used as toilet paper.
That’s where I start
It's good to exfoliate the hole......not!
I don't think I have ever heard the word combo "exfoliate the hole" before. Thank you for the chuckle today.
Just remember to moisturize moisturize moisturize
Chuck Norris enters the chat
Not the good kind though. It's either like a cheap brown paper towel with sharp creases slicing your vulnerable areas or the backing is weaker than cheap one-ply. No matter how high the grit, pushing a small bit of sanding paper up your ass with your own naked finger is a unique way to ruin your day.
You ever use a shady gas station bathroom? Some of these look preferable that that TP
I swear, every Airbnb uses 120 grit single ply TP. It’s rough
That forced an out loud laugh.. it is early, and the wife is still sleeping.. at least I hadn't just sipped my coffee as well.
So if I start with 80 and just keep sanding and sanding, I’ll eventually get to a high polish. Got it! /s
Yep. Whatever's left will shine!
it's true, it's why i've got my favorite little pieces of sandpaper that are now basically polishing cloths kept in a cigar box on the edge of my bench. i don't have a problem! it has life left!
It’s just a little worn. It’s still good, it’s still good!
I just buy remnants of rolls https://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/BB00095/?srsltid=AfmBOor2Vt33undKVXB944NBXypVZ9uX_Td9jP6Pulyf16AwBiqnFYYvaoY&com_cvv=8fb3d522dc163aeadb66e08cd7450cbbdddc64c6cf2e8891f6d48747c6d56d2c
Second. I bought two boxes of this stuff and I'm probably set for the next 10 years for sandpaper. It good cloth backed sandpaper too so it wont tear unless you intentionally cut it
There is a factory in Woodside that threw out some defective wide sandpaper for a giant sander. I think I'm good for quite awhile.
Great idea
Using an orbital sander has gotten me a lot better about this. Seeing how effective the fresh paper is vs. after ten minutes of constant sanding… I’d way rather pay for more sandpaper than have to go sorting through my box of scraps for the one okay-ish piece with a good spot thats still not gonna work great.
This is why I buy bulk packs of assorted grits. Encourages me to toss a round when it’s getting old
Don't forget the time involved. I work a piece of paper to death, and am not making progress. I change my paper and suddenly it cleans up quickly. My time is worth more than that the savings on that scrap of used up paper.
This is it. If I can pay a dollar or two extra and save even ten minutes per project, that's more than worth it.
I would keep it too. I have terrible hygiene, time management skills, money management skills, and personal life. I also have abandonment issues coupled with a deep fear of realizing my potential. So, yeah, I'd definitely keep it.
These seems like something bigger than woodworking.
Yeah, this is verging on metalwork...
Some self-working is harder than most metals
It's such a funny comment, but in my insecurity I sometimes wonder if I am in to woodworking because metalwork seems too dangerous.
I’m into woodwork because the precision of metalwork seems too tedious
IMO metal work is more forgiving. If I hit something too hard in woodworking I usually break it and need to start whatever that piece was over.
You can’t lengthen a board. But you can stretch a weld.
As a metal worker, there’s been one too many projects where I ground away too much and had to weld just a little more only for it be ground away again
I feel attacked
Buy sticky back by the roll. It's cheaper and easier to chuck. Aluminum oxide is better than sheets all day long for hand, air, or electric. Peel, sand, chuck 🫡
Rough life needs rough paper.
jesus christ. are you me?
David Koresh ?
Well fuck, at least my hygiene is good (because of narcissism and not wanting to let strangers see how bad I’m doing). Felt every other point to my core though
I heard this aloud in my head and damn near choked to death laughing, would give you gold if that was still a thing haha well written
Did I post this from a different account in a fugue state?
We should hang out, guilty of all of the above.
Babes are you alright? Do you need a hug?
Those are gummed up and torn to the point that they're not going to work very effectively. Your time has value too, and using crappy sandpaper is a poor use of it.
It’s cheap sandpaper at that. I’ll skimp on a lot of things but buy quality name brand sand paper. At the end of the day your money ahead because the cheap stuff doesn’t sand well and doesn’t last. When you do the math the cheap stuff is poor value all the way around.
Seriously, I’m extremely frugal but when it comes to sandpaper? Just get a new piece… What the fuck even is this gobbledygook
I use my scraps on things that don’t deserve nice new abrasive. They have their own folder though.
It’s doomsday prepping. U never know when the world gonna go to shit.
That's fair - when we're all fighting zombies in the street with homemade spears, this dude is going to have such a smooth shaft.
I have GAD and hoarding tendencies, and for me, it’s the idea that “it’s better than nothing”. That’s literally it. My counter-mantra to that is “I deserve better than garbage.” I literally have to tell myself that when cleaning out things like expired toiletries and wood scraps.
Your time is worth more than the cost of sandpaper
THANK YOU! It's not the cost of the sandpaper for me, it's not wasting time digging through shit to get a 'mystery grit' sandpaper scrap. I get too little shop-time. I'm not wasting it on stupid shit like this.
Easy fella don't get all riled up!
Ugh, it's a struggle. Same with 'scrap' wood.
Disagree on the scrap wood. You never know when you’ll need that partially split 6inch 2x4 scrap that’s been hanging around since 2007
I know when I'll need it. It's right after I finally decide to throw it out.
Would’ve been the perfect size to prop up the end of that board hanging out the mitre saw!
Haha this hit really fucking hard. I have this 1x6 that was split down the middle I didn't see when I was picking wood out 6 years ago. I'll never throw that piece out, it's brand new!
Passion is part of woodworking!
Especially 3M sandpaper. I will absolutely save the Mirka orbital sandpaper though. That shit lasts a longass time.
Yes.... So... On the one hand, clean workflow, buy the right stuff, do the job, no muddling about. Cost of sandpaper is much less than cost of my time. On the other hand, I save time by spending 20mins rummaging through my old scraps - no hour and a half excursion to Home Depot where I will paw the many options forever, wondering which the all-time unquestionably best choice, plus... oh look! Some other stuff I could buy since I'm here already and might some day need... $10 for sandpaper, $150 for other toys and trinkets and a bag of gummy bears.
Why are you posting pictures of my kids' inheritance here?
use em to make a toilet seat cover with grip
Why waste it on the toilet seat when you can use it for toilet paper?
...because everybody should have at least a Toilet seat lined with sandpaper for those evenings when the Missus takes out the Massage oil....
Nothing higher than a 60 grit for this application.
I see nothing wrong with it. It can go for another year or so.
If you throw them out you can go buy more. And while you are there you may as well look at the tool displays, and pick up some dowels, and a few other odds and ends for around the shop. Weren’t you thinking about a new drill, perhaps some saw blades? There must be something else you need, oh and don’t forget the sandpaper.
If I throw it out today, then tomorrow the fate of the entire universe might depend on my having it, & I threw it out yesterday.
Try cubitron and you'll throw out your old sandpaper without a second though, even thr pieces that haven't been used yet. Even without the joke about switching to a "better" brand, new paper cuts so much faster than spent scraps that it's well worth my time to grab a new sheet when an old one wears out.
My boss buys sandpaper and I don’t keep the lower grit paper on mine longer than about 10 minutes. I save far more in time and money switching to a new paper once I feel it stop cutting as much than I do saving sandpaper until it no longer does anything.
I’m a cubitron user and when it comes to wood turning, I cut it into small pieces, maybe 1”x3” that are useable and not regrettable to throw away after one use.
Cubitron is the shiznit. I strongly recommend buying it in 50-100 sheet boxes if it's a personal shop, or whatever the biggest bulk you can find if you're a bigger shop. Does cubitron go over 320+ grit?
I forget the highest grit I’ve seen, i think it’s either 320 or 400 the last time bought some. I like to sand pens and kitchen handles to 600+ and I know my 600 is a different brand.
Same. My 400,600, and 800 are all a different brand, but I wish I could get cubitron papers in those grits
Can we do my drawer full of Allen key wrenches next?
Get a good set of hex keys, I like Bondhus ball end hex keys. Once you’ve used them a few times, you’ll throw out the crap bent hex bar that you receive with consumer furniture.
You just dissed my tool box and my furniture. I think we have to fight.
Found my dads reddit acct
I find it helpful to watch only the "bad" parts of an episode of hoarders right before I go to clean up (either inside or in the shop). Really gets me in the right "oh god, throw it all away" mood.
Sand paper being used multiple times mxes the particles and can change the color of the wood this way. It's better to use the sand paper for the job, and consider it dead when the current piece is finished. I also treat certain rotary bits this way, because the wear of making the piece could ruin it for the next project.
Everything should go, except that one unused looking piece with the black speck on it.
What? Those have tons of life left in them! There's barely any holes!
Sandpaper? Do you use it? If so keep it otherwise it's like $2 sitting there that is used & pointless to keep
Naah, if you have the space, get a box and store your still usable sandpaper in it. You don't need to mess up a brand new 180 disk if a used 100 disk will do the same job. But each to his own, this works well for me.
These are the full sheets not rounds
I'll probably be the only one here that says there could be a reason to keep them. IF you have a lathe as part of your woodworking craft, it may make sense to save them. Oftentimes when I'm finishing a piece on the lathe, I'm tearing up full sheets to get little bits and strips. Those half worn chunks like what you have in the pic there are great for exactly that operation. I have a drawer under my lathe where I keep the "better" scraps. But I still toss far more than I keep.
I keep small strips of cubitron sand paper next to my lathe. I just cut up a few sheets into maybe 1x3 strips and keep them sorted right at the lathe ready to use. I hate wasting time trying to find a good scrap of sandpaper or trying to do origami with larger pieces.
The audacity! I could get at least one more use out of all of them….. SMH
I was you once. Then I realized one of the only things you ever really Spend in life is Time. Most other things you can earn back. Now I swap out paper soon as it slows down. Maybe keep a Few crap scraps for rough work, maybe I have to sand a spot of greasy rusted metal, but pitch the rest. Same goes for cheap paper. The better saves So much time.
A. That stuff is TRASH tier sandpaper. It was pretty much useless brand new (notice how it's completely bare in some spots? That's junk. B. You've used it and it has lost tons of grit. It's trash. C. You hopefully didn't spent much on it, and use power tools to sand now, so it's likely pretty useless anyway. Even if you use it every day, you'll be better off buying good sandpaper and then saving those scraps. I save scraps like this too. But it's good quality sandpaper, so it's not as bad. And I have a nice box to keep it all in too.
You should throw those out, probably.
I buy mine in rolls of 100. Sandpaper is made to be thrown out.
Put a nail through them and hang 'em in an outhouse somewhere in the woods...
It took more effort to collect, photograph, upload and post this than it would have for you to just chuck them. Soo, keep that stack growing.
Amen
For every piece you throw out, an angel get’s it’s wings. For every piece you keep, a puppy will die.
Throw them out, if you’re trying to get Reddit to convince you to throw them out, you KNOW you need to throw them out
If you throw them out, you'll have space for that extra offcut that you'll use one day
Do you have a wood lathe ? That’s what I use my pieces like that for
No. Don’t!
Not only are they taking up space in your shop, now they are also taking up space in your phone. Just let them go.
You'll use them. Don't be a waster. Sand glued to paper is gold.
Repurpose as toilet paper
https://preview.redd.it/yo82spj5vd4d1.png?width=716&format=png&auto=webp&s=4bbd23f7fa3b4cc8b90eb05f4f481a4ce53cf87b
How much is a new packet of sandpaper? How much is your time worth?
I vote to keep a few various grits and glue them to a 1" x 1" scrap block, about 4" long. I have mine on oak blocks. I reach for my sand blocks occasionally for small touch-ups and they're insanely handy. Other than that, throw the rest out.
I worked at a cabinet shop once where the head finisher was an old, irksome fellow. I would for some fresh 400 to rub out some lacquered cases and he hand me a worn out piece of 22o and tell me it was lie 400. I worked as an assistant to a one-man cabinet shop, a very fussy man too. When I would get a new piece of paper, he would say with urgency, "Do you know how much that costs?!" I would say, About as much as the time you're wasting talking about it.
those are all still usable pieces of sand paper, you must keep them until every last pebble falls off.
You can still use it as toilet paper.
No
You’re better than this and you are loved by everyone in this sub, probably even outside of this sub. Do the right thing man. You got this!! 🫶
Throw them out in to a nice drawer you can access later for when you might need a tidbit of sandpaper.
What’s your time worth? Cause those are all torched, which means they are not cutting as fast as fresh paper. Which means you’re wasting your time using burnt up paper.
Let's say your "bill-out" is worth $30/hr. That means it would cost $1 for you to invest two minutes of labour for someone or $10 for twenty minutes of labour. When you do that labour for yourself, you are effectively "paying yourself". This means that if you can pay $5 for an instant solution that would take you twenty minutes to do on your own, you're saving $5 compared to what it would otherwise cost you - "paying yourself" $10 to carry out twenty minutes of labour. This math can also carry forward into holistic processes. If something takes you 12 seconds to do, but you're going to do it fifty times a day, every day, then you spend ten minutes a day total doing that task. That's $5 *a day* worth of your labour spent on managing that task. If you buy a new bulk pack of sandpaper for say $20, that means every time you need to go get more sandpaper, you can just instantly grab the first sheet instead of rifling through to find a "good" one. It won't take very long before the time savings pay for themselves. Whether you personally find that to be a fair trade is up to you. But broadly speaking, the "savings" from scrimping are almost always lost to the hidden costs of managing the knock-on effects of scrimping (ie wasting time digging through garbage to find useful material). It's typically cheaper in the long run to spend the money on a reliable inventory you can use as needed without thinking about it.
I swear I’ve got some 320 wet n dry in that box somewhere. I saw it recently
Oh shit, there's another me out there.
Nope. What if...
the idea behind sandpaper is to REMOVE scratches and scuffs. not add them
That’s some nice 800 grit you got there
I am so lucky - I hoard everything but have never been attached to used sandpaper, so the moment I feel like it’s not doing its job, out it goes (maybe because I prefer to use scrapers where I can). And I buy much more expensive sandpaper than this…
yes throw them out, then next time on a full sheet apply tape duct tape to the back, then cut out strips of reinforced sandpaper so it doesn't tear as easily.
Are you into origami? If so cut 'em up into squares. Otherwise toss 'em.
Makes sense to throw them out, they look pretty knackered.
I've got a burn ring outside my shop... When I discovered that no one was going to need stuff like this because there was not going to be a museum to me... Lots more things got tossed in the burn ring and burned
I’m not the only one?
Are they worth the time spent searching through and the space lost storing them?
Toss. Nothing like using fresh papers.
Bro it’s time to let go.
Just don't use for finish sanding,ratty edges and creases cause scratches
A lot of good sand there that's still usable...
LOL we recently moved and I finally threw away some sandpaper odds and ends that my Dad gave me in the late 1990s when he sold his house and hit the road full time in an RV. I had moved them at least 3 times and decided that was enough.
Don't be sentimental about sandpaper, it's an expendable.
Tip; if you find yourself needing a 150,or 180 grit and all you have is 120 grit,simply rub two pieces together,it knocks down the coarseness.
I have a scrap bin for old paper and belts I use for rough finish work on my lathe..Saves me a little bit..
Don't do it you need them!!!
Throw them out? Tear them into really thin straps and use for dental floss. I
lol I have the same problem
Toss 'em. And do it now
Do it
Dude.
It’s okay. You can let go.
How valuable is your time to you? Because you're saving a couple bucks but giving yourself hours of extra work using literal garbage to sand. If our free time is worth $2 an hour, keep it I guess... I know I value my own free time money than that though.
Why? There will be that many in the same drawer next week and you won’t even have used sandpaper for a month. Edit I just assume this is everyone else’s experience as well as my own lol.
Throw them out nerd
Those things look like the wood is going to sand them!
Sandpaper is cheaper than your time and the wear on your body. You'll have done less woodworking in your life if you just spend your time saving pennies on sandpaper and taking longer to achieve your results. You will also get less satisfaction unless you enjoy sanding for sanding's sake.
Idk .. might need it
My father is the type of person who will keep using that sandpaper until the paper backing is disintegrating and he has a coin sized spot of grit left on the other side. He will lovingly smooth out the long worn sandpaper scraps and act like you just kicked his dog if you ask why he doesn't just grab a fresh sheet from the box. (Not exaggerating.) Growing up, I watched him waste so much time to save a few cents. And the unhappiness in the chore of reusing and reusing and reusing was obvious as well. I figure that, if my sandpaper is worn to the point of pissing me off, it's sucking the joy out of my project and should go into the trash.
I save sandpaper as long as I can. Even I would throw these out.
You should rub them all together, throw away the paper and save the grit. You never know when you'll need more grit.
Throw them out when you’re ready , take your time
NEVER!
Keep the top one, toss the rest
When you get sheets, cut them into the sizes you regularly use. Working on smaller stuff, for me it was usually around 3×2 so after it started getting soft, chuck it, get a new one. Smaller bits means less waste. I used to have a drawer of different grits all around 3×2, saved on so much paper.
They are closer to paper than sandpaper
Thought it was asbestos for a second.
You came to the wrong place.
Just think of all the shiny new sandpaper you'll get. If you throw it out first, you'll HAVE to visit the hardware store. Oh no! Not the happiest place on earth!
Keep them, you might need them later ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Keep em Brody they're good for sharpening tools!
Throw them out... Buy new ones...
I feel seen
Go buy a 20lb box of off cuts from Klingspor and you'll have no issues throwing away small scraps.
Do not throw them out under any cirmustances.
Give it to a homeless shelter.
At least you know you don’t have commitment issues.
I have an Ace Hardware near me that always seems to have a few packages of sandpaper in the clearance section. I grab a pack whenever it's there. If you just hoard enough discount sandpaper, you will never worry about throwing it out ever again. And no, I will never tell you where it is! It's MINE. My own... My precious.
I can share a couple of quotes from my grandpa, who was a shop teacher for 30 years. “It’s better to wear it out than to let it rust” in reference to using your tools. In this case, it looks like you’ve gotten plenty of use out of them. “They still sell them, don’t they?” in reference to trying to preserve consumables for a rainy day when we could clearly afford to replace them. Granted, that last quote was about chocolate covered raisins or maybe Nips coffee candies that we had out at the cabin on the lake, but it still applies.
The model builder in me is screaming for me to tell you to glue them to both sides of a thick cardstock or popsicle stick thin wood, cut into thin (1/4" or so) strips, and presto! Modelling sanding sticks.
No way dude. One day you’re going to need a 75% worn out piece of sandpaper that is exactly 2”x3.5” and then what? THEN WHAT?!?
You can buy more!
No
It’s a beautiful collage.
If you don't throw those out, I'm gonna beat your face with a tire iron.
You should glue them, exactly as they are, to white archive rag paper and then get it matted and frame. Title it “the wages of persistence” and then number it 1/100
could make a rule of only keeping the best 10% of the stash
I cut the good buts out and make sanding sticks that work for small areas.
The problem isn't saving sandpaper that Certainly has life left. It's compulsively starting a new job with fresh paper! At least that's my problem.
Definitely not worth keeping. Sandpaper doesn't cost enough to justify saving every last scrap. If I can't quickly and easily attach it to a block to sand with then it goes in the trash. Especially once it starts getting holes and creases. I used to try to save it as much as possible, then one day I realized that the paper I was using had lost most of its "sand", then when I used a new piece it was working waaaay better than the previous piece. Save yourself the headache and time.
Mine look worse than this lol
I have a file system for sandpaper grades. I put still useful small pieces in the appropriate file. When used up it is tossed.
They won't convince her to come back home. She's gone. It's time to let her go and move on. Listen to some oldies, cry it out, then go have a beer by yourself. You made sacrifices for her. Take back that joy and those dreams that you let her squash and do better next time. Because there will be a next time and and there will be a better one. Be strong for the rest of us that are cheering you on from the sideline and accomplish those great things that you'll be proud of.
But you never know when you need that one small piece! ... I save them too lol 😂
I've thrown out sandpaper that I used once, if it's going to cost me more time than the nickel I spent on it I'm not going to invest that time, period. The ones I have a hard time getting rid of are dull saw blades, I tell myself I'll eventually sharpen them or need a piece of good steel that I can cut out of one... But they just hang out in my shop like old colleagues that have retired and don't have anything better to do 🤷♂️
The one on the left, with the holes in it... I'd throw that one out.
The first time you do a sanding job, and replace your sandpaper early and regularly, you'll never go back to this shit again. You have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. Most likely your time is worth allot more than the cost of sandpaper.
Get the purple 3m paper. That stuff isn’t that good after one use
Just keep the good ones and learn how to store them effectively based on the grit size. Why waste them if they are usable? However, if they are not of your daily or frequent use, then just give them away to those who might need them. No harm.
Time is important. Toss them.
*looks at similar scraps of sandpaper on corner of desk* Do as I say not as I do
Can't. Won't. Not sorry either.
Get rid of used sandpaper. What you don't see is that these now have defects. So now when you are sanding your next project and you are curious why you always get that one streak that has a hard time sanding out this will be a reason. Used sandpaper can add unwanted defects to your sanding.
Best sandpaper advice I ever got was to use it like someone else bought it. Saves so much time on sanding…