Abrasive grit sizes

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Abrasive Grit Size Comparisons

A comparison of grit sizes of belts, wheels, stones and hones.

Of Note: Exact comparisons between all the different abrasives cannot be made. Different standards are used for abrasive sizing, the ranges of limits, and the distribution of sizes within those limits. 240 grit is the demarkation point for determining larger size by sieving, and smaller, by sedimentation. Both ANSI standards have a 240 grit. European "P" sizes are for coated abrasives; "F" sizes are for bonded abrasives.

Description

Belts and wheels CAMI (USA) 12 P12 FEPA (Europe)

Waterstones JIS (Japan) Average grit size in microns 1842 1764 1575

*American National Standards Institute B74.12.

12* 16 16* P20 20* 20 24* P24 24 30 P30 30* 36 P36 40 P40 50 P50 60 P60 P80 80 P100 P16

1322 1118 984 940 905 686 740 715 638 622 556 535 524 428 412 351 326 268 260 195 192 156

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Abrasive grit sizes

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Coarse Crystolon

100 P120 120

150

141 127 116 100

100 micron belt P150 Medium Crystolon, coarse India 80 Micron belt 180 3M 74 micron diamond stone P220 60 Micron belt, extra coarse diamond hone 220 P240 Medium India, fine Crystolon 240 F230, P280 280 P320 Coarse Diamond Fine India 3M 40 micron diamond stone & belt Medium diamond 35 Micron belt 325 280 "400" 320 P360 F280 P400 400 30 Micron belt Washita 360 P500 F320 P600 Fine Diamond 600 400 22 Micron belt Soft Arkansas, 20 Micron belt, 3M 20 micron stone 18 Micron belt "800", 500 P1000 F400 600 15 Micron belt, 15 micron SiC paper P1200 800 F360 P800 600 360 F240 320 240 P180 150

97 93 80 78 74 65 60 58 53 50 46 45 43 40 36 35 32 30 29 25.8 25 23 22 20 18 17 16 15

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Abrasive grit sizes

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Hard white Arkansas, extra fine diamond, and medium ceramic

700 P1500

1000

14 12.6 12

12 micron belt

800 1200

11 9-16

Queer Creek Blue Ohio Sandstone

600 - 1000 P2000

10.3 10

3M 10 micron diamond stone

"1800" 1000 F600 1500

9.2 9 9

Extra-fine diamond hone Hard black Arkansas, 9 micron belt

"1200" 1000 P2500 2000 1200 F800

8.4 7.5 6.5 6

6 Micron belt 5 micron SiC paper Extra fine white Ceramic, green chrome rouge, 3 Micron belt, Tormek compound* 1500 F1000 F1200 F1500 Japanese Waterstone 1 Micron belt, Linde C compound Chromium oxide polishing compound, 0.5 micron Chromium oxide paper There is another chart of fine abrasive equivalents at
http://www.gemsociety.org/info/chmesh.htm

5 4000 6000 8000 3 2 1.2 1 0.5

F2000 2000

Crystolon is Norton Abrasives tm for Silicon Carbide stones India is Norton Abrasives tm for Aluminum Oxide stones Raybrite and Linde compounds are aluminum oxide powders * Tormek compound contains a variety of grains of various size, the smallest down to 0.7 micron. The average effective size is 3 micron.

Scotch-Brite Abrasive Belt Equivalent Grits

3M is not consistent in their use of color for a particular grit. This chart is based on Scotch-Brite surface finishing belt data.

Grade

Equivalent abrasive grit

Color

Abrasive Material

Finish (micro-inches) Aluminum Stainless

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Abrasive grit sizes

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Steel Coarse 80 - 150 Brown Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Silicon Carbide 130 - 150 62 - 72

Medium

150 - 180

Maroon

80 - 100

32 - 40

Fine

180 - 220

Green?

50 - 70*

15 - 25*

Very fine

220 - 320

Blue

16 - 35

6 - 12

Super fine

320 - 600

Gray

8 - 12

4-6

*Estimated. Scotch-Brite is a tm of 3M Corp.

Scotch-Brite Hand Pads

Grit Designation Extra Coarse Coarse Medium Fine Very Fine Extra Fine Ultra Fine Color Brown Tan White, Gray or Maroon Light Gray or Green Maroon Gray White Equivalent Grit Abrasive Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Silicon Carbide Talc

150 - 180 220 - 280 320 - 400 600 - 800

BearTex (Norton) Hand Pads in Order of Aggressiveness

Grit Designation Very Fine Very Fine Very Fine Very Fine Ultra Fine Micro Fine Non-abrasive Color Maroon Maroon Green Gray Gray Gray White Abrasive Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide Silicon Carbide Silicon Carbide Silicon Carbide None Product code 777 747 796 851 635 748 456

3M Trizact Abrasive grades (This abrasive is arranged in pyramids, and they claim 2 to 4 times longer life.)
(Average mineral size in microns) 6 16 20 FEPA P-grade equivalents P2500 P1200

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Abrasive grit sizes

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30 40 45 60 65 80 90 100 110 160 P180 P120 P220 P280 P400

Chart adapted for use. Orignal work performed by Steve Bottorff at http://users.ameritech.net/knives/grits.htm#scotch Distribute freely with proper credit.
2008 evenfallstudios.com

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