Sanding discs and saw blades

[Raymien]

Quick couple of questions please:

1. I’ve been using the ultra cheap sanding discs from toolstation on my 125mm Bosch random orbital sander, but they don’t last very long before losing their effectiveness. I’ve seen sanding mesh and wondered what peoples thoughts are on it? Worth getting? Or is there a brand of sanding disc you’d recommend instead?

2. I’ve been using my Mafell track saw for almost a year now, exclusively on 18mm MRMDF. How do you know when the blade needs changing? I still seem to be getting a decent cut, smooth with no chip out or anything. Is it simply a case of waiting until the cut starts to degrade?

Thanks in advance

 

[mikej460]

1. I can't bring myself to cough up silly money for sanding mesh and I've heard mixed reviews anyway. I use Flexovit from Screwfix which are good value for money but if I could find any I would buy those made from Mirka Mirox sandpaper. Toolstation sell the sheets and it really is excellent stuff and good value.
2. If it's still cutting well then it's fine, once you find the saw is struggling to cut then it's time

 

[Simon89]

I’ve started using abranet and I don’t think I will ever go back, from a dust extraction point of view it works great

 

[MARK.B.]

Smirdex ceramic from ebrasives around £ 26/7 for a mixed box of 50 , I have been using these for a couple of months with my Metabo and they do as good a job as any i have tried before, the lower grits when on full power will eat your timber before your eyesor put another way don't dawdle in one place too long. Only used mostly on Oak and Wenge up till now but they compare or are even better than my previous favourite Abranet discs

 

[Droogs]

Abranet for wood and Autonet for painted surfaces, I don't use anything other than Mirka's stuff apart from Duragritt for sub 100 grit heavy duty removal and clean up. Also use the Mirka hand sanding pad and sheets as well. The mesh makes a massive difference to the amount of dust and minimises clogging

 

[Ollie78]

Abranet is great for most things, I use the Morrells own brand as its cheaper but still made at Mirka.
However, it can tear quite easily if it snags on a sharp corner etc.
So I keep some paper backed ones as well.

Recently saw a test on sanding disks by Katz-Moses on youtube and the winning disk was a 3M Xtract disks. A mesh type with a different pattern.

Ollie

 

[Distinterior]

I was sent a sample pack of Mirka "Iridium" mesh backed abrasives the other week.....Tried it out on a couple of different types of material including Solid Surface,....Its impressive, leaves a really good finish and seems to last for a long time...Dust extraction is excellent.

 

[TheTiddles]

The blade needs sharpening when it’s no longer cutting well.
The blade needs changing when there’s not enough carbide left to sharpen.

I use abranet, I’ve not enough life left to spend any longer sanding than required, but it’s not cheap.

 

[AES]

+1 for Abranet, not cheap but IMO, v good value for money - both for machine and hand sanding. About nthe only other stuff I ever use nowadays, mainly on painted wood/ply, and on metal, is 3M (and ONLY 3M - the Swiss "copy" stuff we get here is useless IMO) wet & dry.

Track saw, dunno, but the above answers seem at least "sensible" to me.

 

[mikej460]

Well so much for 'mixed reviews' sounds like I should try the Mirka/3M/Morrels mesh discs. You all might convert me...

 

[Sideways]

Yup. Abranet and it's siblings. Worth the money in my view, though that doesn't stop me shopping around for the best prices I can find.
Also, wait until you spot a really good deal, then buy a spare blade for the mafell. Two blades keep you running while one is away for sharpening. It also means you have a freshly sharpened blade on hand to compare with and tell when the user is getting dull.
A well sharpened blade can be better than the factory edge. Try to find a good company, not just the bloke that the local hire shop uses ...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Also, wait until you spot a really good deal, then buy a spare blade for the mafell. Two blades keep you running while one is away for sharpening. It also means you have a freshly sharpened blade on hand to compare with and tell when the user is getting dull.

That is a good point. When the performance of something worsens very slowly we don't often notice until we have something to compare it to.

I use Abranet, but I have normal Klingspor discs which I use on metal and sticky/dirty stuff - there's no real advantage to using to using Abranet if it's going to clog in a minute or two making it an expensive option.

 

[Woodernhift]

Have a look at Katz-Moses YouTube on abrasives, he tested lots of different makers sanding discs and he concluded that 3M Xtract out performed all the rest based on a weight of material removed per unit cost (interesting way to do it and a good way when you think about it).

 

[mikej460]

Anybody know where I can buy a mixed order of 150mm 3M Xtract ideally a mixed order of 50 disks, 10 of each grit?

 

[Oakay]

Sanding belts need to be good due to the joints so I don't skimp, Sia Blue-Line are very reliable. But Disks of any type give best performance by far in their first 5 minutes of use, so I find it most economical to buy cheap (Kingsplor) and replace often.

 

[Raymien]

Do you need to put a pad between the sander and an abranet disc? Or do they go straight on like paper backed discs?

 

[AES]

Well I can only say I do. Especially in the early stages of sanding/shaping something (i.e. when using coarse grade discs) I find that the Abranet can quite easily tear otherwise. Dunno what others say though, I would NOT describe myself as an experienced wood worker!

 

[Droogs]

If you have a velco base then its just stick on peel off. But it is best to have a pad saver with holes on as well

 

[Sideways]

Good quality interface pads are not super expensive on ebay. Sander backing pads are typically 4x the price or more and relatively easy to damage unless you're sanding flat surfaces without adjacent edges. There's an argument that it's cheaper to use up a couple of interface pads if it extends the life of the more expensive part. Try a couple and see what you think....

 

[TheTiddles]

Use an interface pad with abranet if you want your lovely sharp edges rounded over, if not dont