3M Cubitron sanding discs - any experiences?

[chaoticbob]

I was looking to restock on Abranet discs to use with my ROS and came across 3M Cubitron discs, which I'd not heard of before. Anyone out there who has tried these and can give an opinion about how they compare with Abranet? From the bumf it looks like they're aggressive and not suited for finishing. That could be OK/good in some circs, but I don't know how their multi-hole design compares with Abranet for dust extraction. That's quite important for me - Abranet with a good extractor is amazingly good at reducing dust levels.
Bob.

 

[hugov]

I bought a box of 150mm 120 grit discs for my ROS on the back of a US Youtuber recommending them – extremely impressed, both with the results and with the dust extraction. I found they lasted a lot longer than Abranet or similar, and the dust extraction with the "multi-hole" version (see pic) was excellent with my Bosch GEX 150 AC sander (and the multi-hole pattern basically lets it work with any pad hole design). I used 120g on ash straight from the thicknesser, followed by 180 Abranet (since I already had those discs in stock) then satin polyurethane. The only issue I had was if you accidentally hit something with the edge of the sander, the abrasive can delaminate from the velcro backing a bit. Obviously this is best avoided anyway.

 

[chaoticbob]

Thanks hugov. Sounds like they will be OK for my purposes, and at £24 (Zoro) for a box of 50 cheaper than Abranet. I'll give them a go.
Bob.