Sanding SuperSculpey, paper or instrument?

[Darth Kinetic]

Gents, I have some editing to do to some areas after I baked my super sculpey, what grit of sand paper have you found to remove and smooth without leaving scratches.

Do you have a technique?

What do you recommend to use a file or instrument for heavy removal if not sandpaper?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions, pics and assistance.

[dark_spidey]

Originally Posted by Darth Kinetic

Gents, I have some editing to do to some areas after I baked my super sculpey, what grit of sand paper have you found to remove and smooth without leaving scratches.

Do you have a technique?

What do you recommend to use a file or instrument for heavy removal if not sandpaper?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions, pics and assistance.

Sandpaper will always leave scratches. Especially when you have to sand something as sturdy as supersculpey.

The best thing to do to avoid scratches is to go from coarse to fine grit; gradually. Say you start with a 120 grit then you can switch to 180, 240,400,600 so on so forth.
It's a tedious process but once you're done your sculpt will be as smooth as a baby's butt

Hope that helps

[Darth Kinetic]

Originally Posted by dark_spidey

Sandpaper will always leave scratches. Especially when you have to sand something as sturdy as supersculpey.

The best thing to do to avoid scratches is to go from coarse to fine grit; gradually. Say you start with a 120 grit then you can switch to 180, 240,400,600 so on so forth.
It's a tedious process but once you're done your sculpt will be as smooth as a baby's butt

Hope that helps

Water sanding or dry?

[dark_spidey]

Originally Posted by Darth Kinetic

Water sanding or dry?

Personally I prefer dry. Start with 180 and just don't rub too hard

[gkyle001]

Thanks for the tips, dark_spidey. Brand new to this and every little tip is helping

[afreeman]

I found that 320 grit paper is a happy medium, it removes quite a bit of material without scratching the clay, I use 3M wet dry automotive paper from advance, purple color, does not clog easily so you can rinse and re use, also pick up some fine steel wool to really get it smooth.
I also use bondo glazing and spot putty for the fine cracks and pinholes, air drys in 15 - 20 minutes and sands easily.

[logan25]

Fine wire wool and tooth paste works well after sanding to get rid of the scratches.

[Arcusprime]

Also try some of the 3M pro grade purple sanding blocks, they come in several different grits, down to super fine, does a great job.

[Darkeye]

I have come to believe that as long as your piece is secure in a stand and you stop touching it once the shapes are in, you can smooth with tools over the surface, use brushes and finally some solvent. I use a gentle one like Vasilene.

This forgoes the need to sand I have found if done right.

Also, I have discovered that plastic Cake Décor tools do not melt or pit from the plasticiser and flow more smoothly over the surface. Perhaps this will be of help to you all.
I know when I started with sculpey, I used to hold my sculpt despite a Pro telling me not to touch the clay except to apply it. I also wear Nitrile gloves which I find helps reduce or eliminate dirt. So the main thing is ....

Secure it
don't hold it
don't smooth by hand if not wearing gloves- better to use a tool, it's clean
clean yer hands with baby wipes
and wear gloves. This has helped immensely.

hope this is of interest to you all.

atb --tim