When Is Smooth Too Rough?

When you think of roughness, you might envision a wide assortment of sandpaper grits, whereas the abrasive material size decreases, the grit number increases. Coarse 60 grit sandpaper is almost pebble-like.  Medium sandpaper-like that is used on wood is 120 or 150 grit.  A super smooth 3200 grit wet and dry sandpaper is so fine it could practically pass for paper. As you probably already know, using the proper consecutive sandpaper grits is essential to obtaining your desired outcome when finishing (or refinishing) a workpiece.

Similarly, understanding surface roughness as it relates to a machined part, polished item, or manufactured part is crucial in determining how the part will perform, wear, appear, or function. When evaluating components, it is often necessary to know not only the surface roughness but other characteristics like waviness or form. Surface roughness is defined as the finer height deviations of the component’s surface. The term surface texture includes all component features, and it covers both waviness and the finer roughness details.