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Where do you all get your extra fine grit sandpaper?  The finest I can find at Woodcrafters and Home Depot is 600 grit, and I'd like to get a couple of finer grits for sharpening purposes.  (Claude Freaner)

Go to a Pep Boys or other automotive parts store and look in the paint department I have found 1500 grit there.  (Larry Puckett)

Automotive paint stores.  (Darryl Hayashida)

Try an auto parts dealer.  They usually have 1000 - 2000 grit for  polishing auto finishes.  (Ed Berg)

How about Pop’s Knives & Supplies?  (Mike Maero)

I'll second the suggestion for auto body supply places. Although I use waterstones to sharpen all my tools ( I learned that way and find it gives me a better edge on plane irons and carving knives and also a 6000 or 8000  stone gives you an absolute mirror finish) I keep a supply of 1000 and 2000 grit around for other stuff.  (Joe Behar)

Try Penn Industries.  (Dave Henney)

I got my 2000 at Walmart.  (Tony Spezio)

Try an auto parts store where wet/dry papers of 800 and 1200 grit are often found.  (Steve Culen)

Woodsmith has to 2000, auto paint stores go pretty fine also.  (Dewey Hildebrand)

Try Lee Valley tools.  They sell 3M Micro abrasive papers.

Enter item # 54K93.01 to get to description.

The finer papers are a lot finer than 2000 grit and I use them to polish ferrules.

The PSA papers make great gouge sharpening tools or added to tongue depressors for general sharpening.   (Don Anderson)

I use a 3M spray adhesive (T-55?  I thinks?)  And mount regular paper like PSA for cheap.  Only spray one side rather than 2 as per instructions   on   the  can.    I've also  used  spray-mount  (NOT Spray-ment which is tenacious) with good results!  (Brian Creek)

Try car parts stores. I've got 'em down to 1500 grit.  (Hank Woolman)

Forget the wet/dry, go to Japan Woodworker and get Imperial Micron sanding sheets, it outlasts the black junk about 100-1.  I only use wet/dry for sanding varnish, the plastic backing on the micron paper is too stiff to sand a varnished rod between coats, but it works great for taking the enamel off before final planing and sanding the glue off blanks, junk brush it clean with a wire brush when it gets loaded and won't cut any more.  (John Channer)

You can get finer grits at most Auto Parts stores.  (Tom Peters)

There are quite a few online  sandpaper retailers,  but be cautious - I just did a rather substantial order, and realized too late that their abrasive scales were European rather than American. The 1000 grit stuff I ordered turned out to be equivalent to 600 grit, the 2000 grit was about a 1200. I now have a lifetime supply of odd grits.

Don't even think about it ...  (Jeff Schaeffer)

There is an industrial abrasives place that sells a lot on eBay.  Believe they are called Industrial Abrasives (I love originality!)  I've purchased lots of sandpaper from them, and have always felt that I got outstanding value for the money.  (Brian Creek)

I can't believe how much sandpaper I'm going through. Anyone have a source for bulk packages of 220 to 2000 grit wet/dry at a decent price?  (Wayne Kifer)

Next time you go after sand paper, look for the 3M Gold sand paper.  Has some kind of coating on it that keeps the <GRITS> from clogging up.  The Right Reverend Joe Byrd turned me on to this stuff a couple of years ago.  Clap it a couple of times on your work bench, and it cuts as good as new until the <GRITS> wear out.  I get mine at the local paint store, but I've seen it in Home Despot, Lowes, and the hardware stores.  (Mark Wendt)

You need to be careful when using the 3m gold sandpaper. It may read 400 grit, but in reality it will be closer to 320. I have used a lot of different types and brands of sandpaper throughout my 27 years in the auto body trade. 3m is the best dry sand paper to use. The white colored 3m sandpaper is closer to the right grit. However, it does wear out quicker. As far as wet/dry sandpaper, 3m and eagle brands are about the same quality. Eagle sandpaper is a little cheaper. I get my supply in 50 sheet packs 5.5" X 9" at my local NAPA store. (Wayne Caron)

I ran out of my Canadian wet/dry 320 carbide paper, but the local store was out of it, so I bought some Norton 3X sandpaper.  It was pricey at the hardware store, but I was desperate.  The stuff looked weird; it was cream-colored rather than black, and it looked as if the glue had run and the grit was streaky.  Anyway, it was all they had, and the hype on the package claimed that it was faster cutting and slower loading.  It did not mention that pigs could fly, but I just assumed that they could.  Anyway, when I used it on the bamboo, I discovered that it actually was faster cutting and slower loading and a lot (really!) longer lasting than that other stuff.  Amazon.com has it in 20 sheet packages of 9X11 in 220, 320, and 400 for about $12 each.  Of course your mileage may vary, and I do not own any Norton stock ...  (Grayson Davis)

Next time you're out and about, see if you can find the 3M Gold.  Stuff is some of the best "dry" sandpaper I've ever used.  (Mark Wendt)

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I sanded a blank this afternoon that I glued last evening.  There must of been some water left on the shop table from clean up - URAC.  Anyway my gummed up wet/dry 120 grit sandpaper got wet and I noticed how the gumminess loosened up.  I used a wire brush, the size of a toothbrush, and it cleaned it up like new with very little effort.

I did not know I could do that until today.  (Doug Alexander)

One of the rubber blocks used for cleaning sanding belts also does a great job on hand-sanding blocks. Might look at getting one.  (Harry Boyd)

That critter right there is one of my indispensable toyls in my shop.  Also works great if you got an itch on your back that you can almost, but not quite reach with yer fingers.  (Mark Wendt)

A few years back I attended SRG and there was a discussion about the advantages of using Mirka abrasives because it didn't load up.  I took notes in the back of my SRG program, which I just uncovered out in the shop, and found the website.  Now I need some help picking which of the MANY products would work best for sanding blanks. (Tom Key (9/18/2016))

It sounds like you did not buy any when it was there at SRG.  I did, so that drove my choice to go with Autonet.  I can see why you ask, however, as I went to their site and saw they have quite an array of abrasive types.  I found only two that said they were developed for use on wood, which is close to what we are dealing with.  Both are Abranet. One being ACE, which was developed for hardwoods, which bamboo certainly qualifies.  The other being MAX, which was developed for the "wood industry" and is said to be good for all types of wood, hard and soft.

Mirka offers grits from 80 to 800, at least in some lines.  I only found it up to 600 in Autonet, but it might just be that that is all the stores I've bought from stocked.  I have rolls (about 2.5" wide) and 6" sanding disks for an orbital sander in 80 to 600 grits.  I also have three sanding blocks, the width of the roll stock and about 4" long.  I have a round stick that is about 1" dia. and 8" long.  I also made some sanding disks by putting sticky-backed velcro around and overlapping the joint opposite the direction of rotation  I have bought Autonet from Woodcrafters and Industrial Finishes.  I bought the blocks and stick from IF.

I love this stuff.  So much so that I gave away my entire supply of regular abrasive papers, except the Carborundum wet/dry papers, but that is mostly for metal working.  After turning a piece of metal, mostly stainless, if I don't like the finish or don't have the exact dimension I want but more turning would more than likely make it undersized, I used the wet/dry to polish it, either to the finish I want or to the size.  The latter is mostly for fitting bearings on shafts.

As I said, I love this stuff.  I've tried Abranet, but found the Autonet held up better.  I have not used it for any bamboo work, but I have made four things for my granddaughter out of wood, an infant bed, a miniaturized balance bike, a toddler bed.  Oh, and I used it throughout my house for paint and wood prep and on fillers like wood bondo while getting my house ready to sell.

One very important thing is to clear the mesh frequently otherwise it will clog.  By frequently, every few strokes.  If paint, fillers or finishes are not good and dry it will clog, especially on the edges and corners.

I did sell the house I'd been in for 39 years and did quite well.  Moved 350 east to the south flank of the Wallowa Mtns, in NE Oregon, to a town called Halfway, to be close to my granddaughter (an hour east of Baker City, OR, which is on I-84).  Thus, all my abrasives are still packed away, but when I uncover them, I'll send some photos of the sanding blocks.  I could swear they are Mirka products, but I could not find them on the Mirka website.  (Rick Kruger)