What grit sandpaper for sharpening blending stumps?

[16ga]

I ordered some blending stumps but there's no way I'm paying for a sharpener when I have stacks of sandpaper in the wood shop. So what grit is best for sharpening/cleaning these things?

 

[Artyczar]

Hmmm. I'd think something fine, like 350-400. But that's just a guess.

 

[Terri]

If they're particularly worn down, you could begin with something coarse to get the paper to respond for the shape you're after. Once you have attained that, you can fine-tune with a finer grit to smooth it out.

 

[16ga]

thanks. I wont be able to experiment intil it gets here.
I should have 400.

 

[snoball]

I have tried sharpening mine with a sharpener but it is not close to satisfactory. I may try the sandpaper and see what I think.

Edit: I just picked up a piece of 100 grit that I happened to have right here and sanded one of my larger stumps. It is a little fuzzy but it worked fine. I will bring in some finer grit later and see if I can smooth it, but it should work fine as is.

 

[16ga]

Thanks Sno.

 

[snoball]

I tried a piece of 320 and it did quite nicely. Still a bit fuzzy until you smooth it with fingers but no problem there. I use a lot of small stumps that come 4 to a pack and even though they are not wrapped as tightly as the larger ones, they came back to a point pretty well too. I have one that is about like a pencil, sharpened on both ends and it pointed very well. I have one very large one that I haven't tried yet. It is about a half inch in diameter and should point out very well. Best to you!