Upping my sanding game

[Farm Labourer]

I had the same predicament about a year ago. I tried both Festool and Mirka tools in friends' workshops and decided on Mirka Deros. I was advised to buy a pad saver (about £16 for a multi-pack). Mirka hooks up to my Festool midi extractor.
I only use the 150mm dia Abranets.
Have not regreted the decision.

 

[ChrisWiduWood]

To answer your original question you'd be safe with either sander in your hands although the Festool has a unique hole pattern so you'd have to buy festool discs if you required anything other than the mesh discs.... if i was to choose one id say Mirka...

 

[Marios]

My first post on this forum. When i purchased my Festool Sander, ETS125, I had no brand bias. I found the disadvantages of Deros that swayed me to the festool were:
1. Deros continues to spin for a longer time when turned off.
2. Did not get on with the paddle control on the Deros (personal preference).
3. If you place the Deros on its back, the sander would start to spin.
4. speed control more difficult to set on the Deros (takes longer).

Hope this helps.

 

[Woodypk]

Some brilliant, solid advice for me to dig into here guys, it’s massively appreciated.

My first post on this forum. When i purchased my Festool Sander, ETS125, I had no brand bias. I found the disadvantages of Deros that swayed me to the festool were:
1. Deros continues to spin for a longer time when turned off.
2. Did not get on with the paddle control on the Deros (personal preference).
3. If you place the Deros on its back, the sander would start to spin.
4. speed control more difficult to set on the Deros (takes longer).

Hope this helps.

Marios, thanks for this input. It’s sometimes these little things that can really sway you - or annoy you - depending on where you are with you decision making. I too get annoyed when the pad rotates for ages and you put the sander down too soon and it seems to always want to jiggle it’s way off the bench in the closest direction of which ever edge/drop is nearest.

Again, thanks all for the input. My aim is to find a brand/model of disc that is pound for pound the best in its league for what I’m going to be using it for. And eventually pair it with a quality sander to give me a combo that compliment my workflow and not hinder it.

I’ll try the Sianet discs with the pad savers I’ve bought and I’ll get a sample of the Abranet and Cubitron discs and I’ll see what works best for me.

 

[Woodypk]

I also use the 3M Xtract Cubitron II disks and they are excellent in my Metabo SXE 150-5.0 (green mirka).

One thing I forgot to mention - this sander looks almost identical to the Mirka Deros. Is it a rebrand thing or did one copy/use the design of the other? Do they share the same internals/functionality or are they simply the same machine in different colours?

 

[mikej460]

Metabo make great sanders and I have read that they make the Mirkas for them. I'm not sure though, does anyone know if this is true or not?

 

[mikej460]

I've just bought 10 x 5 types of grit 3M Cubitron II from Taylor Tools in the States £41 Inc £7 delivery. Search Results

If anyone can get them cheaper in the UK do let me know.

 

[Sean33]

As the title suggests, I’ve decided It’s time for upping my sanding game to a more professional level now that I’ll be using the tools daily.

I’m currently using a cheapish Makita BO5031 125mm orbit and have been teaming it with cheapo discs from tool station and Amazon.

The discs seem to last about 4 orbits until they need changing and although I’ve never used a high end sander before, I feel there’s definitely an upgrade to be had with a more ergonomic, less bulky(tall) sander which would suit me much better.

My question is that after some research, I’m torn between the Mirka Deros with a move to the Abranet discs and the Festool ETS EC 150/3. But which one…

Additional, as I’ve hear so many good things about the Abranet discs, again which I’ve never used before, I’d like to know if these can these be used on the festool sanders without modification or extra parts needed? I’m really interested in using these discs as my research leads me to believe that they’re brilliant when it comes to dust control. I’m even thinking about buying the Mirka hand sanding kit which can be hooked up to a vac for the last pass I usually give by hand when doing my final quality control. Has anyone used those before?

Finally, I believe the Mirka has a 27mm fitting for DC. Am I right in saying I should have no issue with connecting this to my CT26?

Thanks all.

I use the 150/5 with the Abranet and Bosch discs, would thoroughly recommend

 

[Spectric]

although the Festool has a unique hole pattern so you'd have to buy festool discs if you required anything other than the mesh discs

I really dislike products or companies that try and capture a market by being different for no other reason than ensuring that they have to buy your products, luckily with mesh it solves the issue. I am supprised that we don't have routers with 10.675mm collets so they can ensure you only buy there cutters but I would hope that the customer would just blank the product irrelevant of the badge it was wearing and get something mainstream.

 

[gcusick]

Deema, what’s your reason for not being keen on Festool as a brand? What brand of dust extractor do you use with your Deros?

And I may have a look at the Abranet discs with an interface pad on my Makita and see if this satisfies me enough. I don’t hate the sander I’m using to be honest, I think my frustration recently has been more with the cheapo sanding discs I’ve got but it’s nice to make the decision where I want to go to next and have a model to aim for for when the time to upgrade comes.

I think I’ll have a look at the Abranet on a roll too and test it by hand sanding against the discs I’m already using and see just now much better it really is.

I use Abranet discs with a Mirka pad saver on my Makita BO5041 - cousin to your BO5031. The work extremely well, dust extraction is excellent, using the Makita hose. I’d give that a try before getting into Festool or Deros money!

 

[Woodypk]

I use Abranet discs with a Mirka pad saver on my Makita BO5041 - cousin to your BO5031. The work extremely well, dust extraction is excellent, using the Makita hose. I’d give that a try before getting into Festool or Deros money!

Thanks for the input, gcusick.

I’m waiting on the Sianet discs and I’m going to purchase some 3M cubitron II discs along with a sample of Abranet discs and see how they compare.

Are you using Abranet standard discs or the Ace/AceHD discs on your Makita?

 

[gcusick]

Thanks for the input, gcusick.

I’m waiting on the Sianet discs and I’m going to purchase some 3M cubitron II discs along with a sample of Abranet discs and see how they compare.

Are you using Abranet standard discs or the Ace/AceHD discs on your Makita?

Standard Abranet.

 

[Woodypk]

Just an update on this after having a few weeks trying out the new sanding discs on my Makita RO sander.

Discs tested:
Toolpak standard hook and loop @ £2.49 10pcs - price when purchased
Sianet 7900 net backed @ £12.56 50pcs - price when purchased
3M Cubitron Xtract net backed @ £16.73 50pcs - price when purchased
Mirka Abranet (standard) net backed @ £27.90 50pcs - price when purchased

All discs were tested 125mm in 120 and 240 grit variants.
All tested on pine furniture board and a mix of kiln dried oak and ash wood.

Conclusion.
4th place (as expected) - Toolpak cheapo discs from toolstation.
Categorically the worst. A super cheap but would probably be my choice if I were doing a one off job and just needed maybe half an hour worth of sanding and were happy to use most of the pack. The discs wear out super quickly but if only needed for a quick diy job, I'd buy a pack of 10 and forget about the sub £3 cost. The dust extraction on these discs was also the worst out of all 4 tested discs.

3rd place - 3M Cubitron Xtract 710W
A decent disc but the 240 grit really seemed to wear out much quicker than I would have hoped. Easily the quickest wear of all the discs bar the toolpak. Extraction on this disc was on par with the other three net back discs as I had expected, if not a little better. The price of these discs - 34pence per disc also made these great value compared to the Abranet discs which came in @ 56pence per disc. The 120 grit discs lasted better than the 240grit discs but still not as long as the Mirka Abranet but at least as long as the Sianet 7900s (120 grit). Overall, third place as these discs surprised me with how fast they wore down - most specifically in 240 grit - but they're a close second place and would be happy to use these discs again. The overall quality of these discs was very good though.

2nd place - Sianet 7900
These discs surprised me the most. At 25pence per disc, these were by far the best value discs of the bunch. On both Oak and pine, these discs lasted well and even after they were slightly worn from the RO sander, they continued to feel like they were doing a decent job when used as a hand sanding pad for a final hand pass. I'm not sure these discs are much better quality than the 3M Cubitron discs, but they definitely were the surprise of the bunch and were the best value discs in my eyes. The only slight native was that the edges of the disc seemed to fray and become tired looking a bit sooner than the other two net backed discs. The dust extraction was pretty much on par with the 3M and Mirka discs. I would be very interested to try the Sianet 7500 "ceramic" discs @ 30pence per disc which offer even better abrasive performance than the 7900 range and are still (slightly) cheaper than the 3M Cubitron discs.

1st place - Mirka Abranet (standard grade)
Of all the discs tested, the Abranet slightly outlasted the other discs especially on the hardwoods. The dust extraction was maybe marginally better than the Sianet discs (which were near on just as good...) and probably on par with the 3M discs. I would buy these discs again but due to the 56pence per disc cost, these wouldn't be my first choice unless I had a business that was really chasing back every last minute of the sanding process and didn't mind spending more than double the cost of the Sianet discs. All in all, a top grade disc as you would expect, but you are made to pay the premium over some other pretty capable discs at much more affordable, and competitive prices.

Overall, the winner for me personally, is the Sianet disc. These discs @ £12.56 a box (for 50) really are the best value discs out of the ones I tested and definitely deserve praise for what they achieve at their price point. The Mirka discs only win because they were the "best" discs, although they really should be at the price and I wouldn't say they were twice the disc of the Sianet, or even, the Sianet were only half as good, because they're not. The only reason I can't place the Sianet discs as first place overall is because in my (very unscientific) test, they did seem to get to a point where once the abrasive material started to wear, it totally removed itself from the net backing and once it started to go, the wear patch seemed to spread rapidly and leave you with a smooth piece of netting with no abrasive. The other discs seemed to fail in a way where the grits turned to much higher # grits rather than the grit fall off totally.

So as promised, my review and honest, unbiased feedback of all the above discs. Coming from a place of ever only using cheap eBay/amazon/toolstation discs, I will be progressing my woodworking career using the Sianet discs for as long as I can grab them at their current price.

I hope someone considering upping their sanding game as I have been recently, will find this review helpful.

Cheers.

 

[clogs]

as for run on...ie longer spin....does that not suggest better bearings....
i run a couple of Makita's....to much stock to go get Abranet at the mo.....
Plus there's a Greek comp making similar products will give them a try...need to buy local....

 

[Reffc]

Abranet mesh discs for me. Better than anything else I've used for finishing work and the hook and loop system works just fine with my Dewalt sander. I currently use a bog standard dewalt R/O sander but will replace that with a Metabo 150mm. For those not already aware, 3M have brought out what they claim to be a "revolutionary" new sander, the 3M Extraxt, similar to the Metabo and Mirka designs but with significantly less vibration or noise, and it's claimed that it's more efficient by design with a more aggressive cutting pattern. There are some Youtube videos where woodworkers have tested it against the usual suspects and it does seem to live up to the hype but personally, as I wear hearing protection anyway the noise isn't an issue and I don't find that vibes on the others I've used to be excessive so won't be dropping £450 on a R/O sander just yet!

 

[Spectric]

Overall, the winner for me personally, is the Sianet disc. These discs @ £12.56 a box (for 50) really are the best value discs out of the ones I tested and definitely deserve praise for what they achieve at their price point.

The sianet abrasives are good, abranet is not so wonderful that it can justify any extra cost. This aussie video is interesting



Also the best in the test was the Norton A995 but often it is the product that is heavily marketed and readily available that will get all the attention even if it is not the better product so look past the sales pitch.

 

[Jameshow]

Where did you get the sianet discs from eBay has then at £24per 50 ???

 

[Sideways]

The Mirka hose is very good value - less than half the price of most, antistatic, more flexible (makes for much easier sanding) and with generic ends that fit the Mirka sanders + many other tools. A simple large slightly tapered connector on the other end push fits Mirka, Mafell, Nlfisk, Starmix, Festool etc etc extractors just fine. A good buy even if you don't choose a Mirka sander.

I bought a Metabo SXE450 dual orbit sander and rate it as good value but then added a Deros. I like the lightweight, low profile single hand use of the Deros - excellent ergonomics for me - and if I was smart, I'd have bought that first. If you sand on non flat surfaces, the Deros really shines.