Recommend sanding discs.

[bigjoe]

Afternoon all,
Can anyone recommend some 125mm R/O sanding discs,i need to restock and im looking for recommendations, i work mainly in softwood or boards (MDF etc) but im hoping to dip my toe into the hardwood waters at some point soon.

Many thanks

Joe

 

[Chems]

I use Hermes from Axminster. They don't do a bulk pack in 125mm but I just buy the 150mm ones and use them on my 125 an it works fine.

 

[bigjoe]

Thanks Chems,
I never thought of using 150mm ones, although i dont go through that many so a 10 pack of a few sizes would last me a while.

Thanks

Joe

 

[Oryxdesign]

Have you looked at abranet. It's expensive but last loads longer than the Hermes in my experience.

Si

 

[wizer]

I concur. Abranet is really good. I bought a multipack about 18months ago and I'm still on the first few of each grit. The dust extraction is so much better than Hermes too.

 

[Chems]

Where do you source your Abranet from?

I can use my Hermes pads with my new RDSE from OPJ with no dust whatsoever so the Abranet ones must be really good!

 

[bigjoe]

I think screwfix sell Abranet although probably not the cheapest.

 

[wizer]

I got mine on eBay iirc.

If you put a Hermes disc on a ROS and then swap it straight away for an Abranet, you can hear the difference. I think it was on woodbloke's blog that he said power sanding with abranet is very odd. It just doesn't seem right that there is no dust at all, anywhere. But the surface speaks for itself. Try going up the grits to 600 or 1000 and see if you can see your face in it

 

[zambezi]

I was warned off Abranet on sanders because it did not stick to the sanders very well and had a habit of either coming off or moving = damaged hooks on sander.
I have not tried them on a sander but they work well for hand sanding and on the lathe.

 

[Philton]

I've been using Abranet discs (made by Mirka) for a while on my 150mm random orbit sander and have been impressed with the lack of clogging and dust extraction. The only problem I've had is they're quite delicate and can easily tear if you catch an edge. I also use Mirka gold discs which are a bit more robust and half the price.

After searching the internet the cheapest place I found to buy Mirka stuff was restexpress. co. uk.


Phil

 

[wizer]

I've never had an abranet pad come off either my ROS or my drill sander (for turning). I don't think I've ever torn one either?

 

[LeeElms]

Can you buy Abranet disks in packs of less than 50 ... that appears to be the smallest pack available from Screwfix or anywhere else I can find. (I have noticed that Screwfix certainly if far from the cheapest).

 

[ProShop]

Agree with Phil, they tear very easily if caught by an edge or they crease up, and they don't have quite the right velcro for some ROS's and fly off, (usually at some critical moment ).

Apart from that they are good, especially the dust extraction bit.

FWIW Mirka sold these into car body shops big style when they first came out
and got decent reviews, but after a while the probs mentioned above started to emerge and some have gone back to their standard discs. I suspect we'll see a mark 2 version some time soon.

 

[woodbloke]

I'm using the Abranet hand sanding sheets at the moment (this is with the sanding pad that was a freebee in BW a while back) and I've found them very good...as others have said, the sheets last a lot longer than normal papers - Rob

 

[ivan]

I have seen an "interpad" for abranet; does anyone know if this is to protect the normal RAS hook pad from damage, or to add flexibility for contour sanding - no interpad to examine, and the stockist did not know!

 

[Dibs-h]

Go to any car refinishing suppliers - Autopaint seem to have franchises everywhere and the'll be happy to sell you Mirka (normal) or Abranet discs. Will probably even stock there own cheap brands.

Coarser grits are in boxes of 50 and the finer ones in boxes of 50 or 100 (that's the normal discs).

Ebay is probably the cheapest source.

Just check the nbr of holes match.

 

[ProShop]

I have seen an "interpad" for abranet; does anyone know if this is to protect the normal RAS hook pad from damage, or to add flexibility for contour sanding - no interpad to examine, and the stockist did not know!

Hi Ivan,
As I mentioned in my above post the velcro systems are not all the same.
The interpad stops the discs from flying off on certain ROS's.