SELECTING AND USING STEEL WOOL
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- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 11 years ago by Jim Burcicki.
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Grade
Number
Common UsesCoarse
3
Paint and varnish removal; removing paint spots from resilient floors.Medium coarse
2
Removing scratches from brass; removing paint spots from ceramic tile; rubbing floors between finish coats.Medium
1
Rust removal; cleaning glazed tiles; removing marks from wood
floors; with paint and varnish remover, removing finishes.Medium fine
0
Brass finishing; cleaning tile; with paint and varnish remover, removing stubborn finishes.Fine
00
With linseed oil, satinizing high-gloss finishes.Extra fine
000
Removing paint spots or stains from wood; cleaning polished metals; rubbing between finish coats.Super fine
0000
Final rubbing of finish; stain removal.15 February 2013 at 12:26 pm #8004Ken, you forgot one! The 5×0. I once ordered the 4×0 and received the 5×0.
Btw: welcome back 🙂
This post reminding me of that Siafleece stuff. Does anyone use them? They look like those scourers you use for washing up. A friend lent me one for sanding an oak chair between coats of Danish Oil instead of using 0000 wire wood, because the iron will react with the tanning I guess. I don’t no whether the scourer pad sanding thing I used was a Siafleece. That’s just the only brand I could find on google. They come in many different grades.
http://www.sandingshed.co.uk/product/product&path=75&product_id=4362
15 February 2013 at 2:46 pm #8022Ken thanks Ken, that ‘s weird :). I have never seen 4×0. I think the package looks the same only there’s an 0 missing. I was hoping you knew the difference.
7 April 2013 at 6:23 pm #10589Does anyone use the synthetic steel wool or 3M pads (white)? The steel wool (0000) that I have been buying at the home center is junk! It falls apart very quickly and gets into all of the nooks and crannies of my project. I have to vacuum (hoover? for our british friends) it out. Please let me know of your experiences with actual or synthetic.
Thanks…
Hi Greg,
I haven’t used the pads or the synthetic steel wool, I use 0000 from Rakso which is quite pricy for 12 Euro/200 gramm. In the home centers I couldn’t find any finer than triple zero so I was happy to get it at the hardware store around the corner.
My experience is similar to yours. If the surface is very smooth and free of the smallest defects the wool works well and stays intact. Especially end grain has to be very smooth. So far I haven’t read the instruction on the packing, but now I did it and it says that the fibres of the wool should always be held at 90 degrees to the direction of abrasion.
25 April 2013 at 5:13 pm #11378Hey Everyone,
I know that this thread is a bit older from February 2013, but, I remembered reading a posting just a few days back about using steel wool. I looked around and couldn’t find it so I decided to use this thread.
I was online at Gramercy Tools and came across this Norton-Bear-Tex Nylon Hand Pad.
http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TFA/item/NO-BTPAD.XX/Norton_Bear-Tex_Nylon_Hand_Pads
I also came across the Liberon Oil Free Steel Wool both of which I am purchasing and will give a try.
http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/LB-0440.XX/Liberon_Oil_Free_Steel_Wool
In reading about the steel wool, a tip says that you should cut the steel wool with scissors and not tear it apart like I always do.
Funny, when preparing the vegatable lettuce, chefs recommend you tear the lettuce when I always cut it with a knife which is just the opposite of steel wool so I am doing both incorrectly! lol
Jim
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