Pour some water and coarse grit of silicon carbide powder onto the glass. Stir the mix together with a finger. Keep in mind, if you can cut the glass down to size or replace it so you can start with a smaller piece, it’s best to explore those options first before sanding glass. For context, it can take hours to sand down tiny amounts of glass, whereas local hardware stores can cut glass in a few minutes. Can You Sandpaper Glass? Will It Cause Scratches? With the Dremel turned on, gently place the side of the bit to the glass surface you’re working on. Work slowly towards the center until you achieve your rounded edge. Fine; used to roughen surfaces for painting or as a first passthrough for later sanding with ultra-fine grits. As we mentioned above, you can go to coarser grits where necessary or even smoother options when necessary. When dealing with severe scratches and other similar scenarios, it makes sense to go to as high as 7,000 grit sandpaper (source: Red Bluff Daily).

Line a portion of the work surface with foam rubber and place a float glass over it. You can use any piece of glassware you don’t need as the float glass. You’ll grind the edge you’d like to work on against the float glass, while the foam rubber is useful for keeping the glass in place. Move the glass in a circular motion for five minutes over the sandpaper to get the edge smooth. Maintain downward pressure while working to push the edge into the sandpaper. Rotate the piece regularly to ensure uniform sanding. Keep the sandpaper wet throughout the process. In general, it’s best to start with a coarser grit and then work your way up to a finer grit to finish. For example, if you start with 120-grit, progress to 240-grit, and round off with 400-700 grit. How To Sand Down Glass Edges Sand the area you’ve outlined with the marker, using short strokes. Avoid leaving any spots untouched. Remove all the clear areas within the section you’ve outlined, and don’t use the tool on the masked parts. The tape will only offer some protection, but it won’t hold up well against persistent bumps. You need a diamond sand pad of medium to fine grit when sanding glass. You also have to use it wet. This means that your conventional power sander will not work. In many cases, a piece of 320-600 grit sand pad is all you need.It's often thought that the grit number refers to the number of grit particles per square inch. Not so. Rather, the number scale refers to the number of holes per square inch in the screens that are used when sieving the abrasive grains during the sandpaper's manufacture. For example, in 60-grit sandpaper, the abrasive particles used in the paper were sieved through a screen that had 60 holes per square inch. How Sandpaper Grit Works Work from one end to the other. Don’t leave the tool running on the surface, as is the case when using a power sander. Unwrap the tape and wipe away any remaining tracing lines to get a frosted look on the glass surface. You can sand glass, but instead of standard sandpaper, you’ll need to use a diamond sand pad. The necessary grit type will vary from 80-3000 depending on the project. However, sanding glass is not always the best solution; you may wish to consider cutting the glass or finding a smaller piece. You can sand glass to make it smaller. It is a lot of work, but you can do it (source: WoodWorking Talk). Some people go straight to cutting off part of the glass to save time and energy, but there are some scenarios where sanding the glass will deliver a better finish overall.

Work in a circular motion, adding some downward pressure where necessary. Maintain even pressure during sanding to ensure uniform sanding. Wipe off the surface from time to time to see the progress you’ve made. Switch to a finer grit when you’re satisfied to complete the sanding process. What Type of Sandpaper Is Best for Glass? Set the tool to a medium speed level. The exact level that qualifies as medium will vary from one model to another.

Attach a medium-grit sanding bit to a Dremel or power drill. The sanding bit should be large enough, with grit size between 60 and 100. Larger bits have more edge to work with, smoothing more surfaces at once. However, you need to ensure you don’t go too large that it won’t fit anymore.

During the process, you’ll also need to keep the sandpaper wet to avoid getting a lot of glass dust in the air. Additionally, you’ll require a dust mask, safety glasses, and a pair of gloves for personal protection. Trizact Performance Sandpaper combines a fast cut and extremely consistent, refined finish for your auto body projects. It features our Trizact structured abrasive - its microscopic three-dimensional mineral structures resemble pyramids. This patterned, precise surface on a lightweight foam removes very fine sand scratches and leaves metal and painted metal surfaces ready for polishing. Some people keep the surface and sanding pad wet by working under running water (source: Glass Etching Secrets).The rough edges around freshly cut glass have to be sanded down for the piece to be useful. Here are a few ways to get the job done: Using Sandpaper With the Dremel turned off, mount the glass sanding bit on the tapered side of it. The bits come in different grit sizes covering extra-fine, fine, medium, and coarse. When sanding and polishing glass, you have to start with a medium grit sanding bit on the glass and use an extra-fine grit to achieve the final polish. Turn On the Machine