A Question of Grit

[IronBeltKen]

I just purchased a 4oz container of Bar Mills' No-Ox-Id anti-corrosive paste. But first I need to prep the track; the instructions say to "...use a mild abrasive such as fine sandpaper or a brite boy on all rails to remove any oxidation."

My question is: How fine does the sandpaper have to be? I picked up some 1500 grit at the hardware store, that was the finest grit they had. Is it gentle enough to use on track without scratching it?

 

[Old 97]

Hey Ken,

It's been many moons since I had to think about sandpaper grits, but your 1500 should work just fine as long as "metal" is listed under it's uses. Sandpaper for wood won't hold up well on metal. Try using it on a piece of test track with light pressure and maybe a pink eraser for backing.

Here's a couple of links on the topic at hand:

http://www.nscale.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-23913.html

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/archive/index.php/t-113791.html

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=67506

 

[IronBeltKen]

Thanks Mike. It appears that 1500 can be used if followed by burnishing with a washer. I just didn't want to have to hunt around for a store that sells anything finer than 1500 grit.

 

[RW&C]

If you ever do, ask an auto body shop where they get theirs (or try an auto parts place). They use much higher grits to polish auto paint.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Although, its not considered sandpaper as such, crocus cloth can be used as well. It will not scratch anything, and is usually used as a polishing media. It also lasts forever! I got one sheet about 40 years ago, and I still have almost 1/2 the sheet left. I used it to polish motor commutators, when I used to rebuild 5-7 pole open frame motors.

 

[jdetray]

I'll second the recommendation of crocus cloth. Great for polishing metal without scratching it -- or at least keeping the scratches to the truly microscopic level.

I've used it on the moving parts of telescopes, in addition to using it on model railroad track.

- Jeff