sandpaper

sandpaper, abrasive originally made by gluing grains of sand to heavy paper sheets. Today sandpaper is made primarily with quartz, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide grains, and is graded according to the size of the grains. It is used for smoothing and polishing, for removing old paint or varnish, and for otherwise preparing wood surfaces for refinishing or other treatment.

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sandpaper

1. (formerly) a strong paper coated with sand for smoothing and polishing

2. a common name for glasspaper

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sandpaper [′san‚pā·pər]

(materials)

Paper with abrasive glued to the surface.

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sandpaper

A tough paper which is coated with an abrasive material such as silica, garnet, silicon carbide, or aluminum oxide; used for smoothing and polishing; graded by a grit numbering system according to which the highest grit numbers (360 to 600) are used for fine polishing, and the lowest grit numbers (16 to 40) are used for coarse smoothing. Alternatively, sandpaper may be designated by the “0 grade” system, according to which “very fine” includes grades from 10/0 to 6/0, “fine” from 5/0 to 3/0, “medium” 2/0, 1/0, ½ “coarse” 1, 1½, and 2, “very coarse” 2½, 3, 3½, and 4.