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(07-21-2019, 05:58 PM)Tony Z Wrote: I'll tell you one to never use: the red paper from Harbor Freight! Not only does the grit readily come off, but it also dyes the wood you're trying to sand, red?
There are a few that wood grinds down pretty quickly. Anyone still use garnet? There's another oldie .... ? I used these at one time to shape balsa. I think the primary issue with garnet and the other is poor bond on poor paper--just what China and HF love.
My favorite(s) is a Lowes branded (Norton?) non-clog, back-adhere type that goes and goes. I back it with a soft (balsa) wood and slap my thighs on a regular basis. But, I really don't like using sandpaper, unless it is belted and cutting soft carpentry.
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3M 216U (sometimes sold as "Sandblaster") for hand sanding between coats of finish. Does not corn up and clears with a wipe on a rag (or pants)
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I've been using Norton 3X for years. Haven't had a need to go looking anything else....
"One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyrany, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
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Just a chance to share an old story. 40 years ago when I was in college, we had a teacher who taught woodworking, he was very set in his ways. You were taught early on that it was abrasive paper, because they don't make it out of sand anymore. If you had any intelligence (I didn't but knew enough not to cross him) you didn't try to take a different view.
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(07-21-2019, 05:09 PM)Mr Eddie Wrote: Fred,
I think you'll like the abranet. The abranet seems to allow my dust control to capture virtually all the dust.
Lonnie
When using abranet on a random orbit sander, do you punch holes in the abranet to match the hole pattern on your sander?
Steve
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Steve,
You don't need to punch holes since the whole disc is porous.
Lonnie
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Mirka for discs and sheets, and Norton 3X 220 grit for sanding finishes.
Rick
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(07-28-2019, 02:12 PM)Mr Eddie Wrote: Steve,
You don't need to punch holes since the whole disc is porous.
Lonnie
Thanks for the response Lonnie. I was asking because I tried using Mirka abranet with my PC ROS a few months ago. I had only heard good things about the abranet so I thought I would try it. It worked okay at smoothing, but it seemed that the mesh clogged up. I think I was using 220 or 320 grit. I had the sander hooked up to my Nilfisk extractor, which has similar suction to the Festool.
I did not mess around with it too much, I just went back to sandpaper. I still have some discs. It dawned on me a few weeks ago that maybe I was supposed to punch holes in the abranet. I might give that a shot next time to see if there is a difference.
Steve
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(07-28-2019, 09:30 PM)arnman Wrote: Thanks for the response Lonnie. I was asking because I tried using Mirka abranet with my PC ROS a few months ago. I had only heard good things about the abranet so I thought I would try it. It worked okay at smoothing, but it seemed that the mesh clogged up. I think I was using 220 or 320 grit. I had the sander hooked up to my Nilfisk extractor, which has similar suction to the Festool.
I did not mess around with it too much, I just went back to sandpaper. I still have some discs. It dawned on me a few weeks ago that maybe I was supposed to punch holes in the abranet. I might give that a shot next time to see if there is a difference.
I haven't had a problem with clogging. I have a mirka ceros hooked up to a festool vac. Your Nilfisk is an excellent collector so I doubt it's the problem. I did turn down the suction and that helped - on full suction the sander seemed to be pulled down somewhat. You might try another sander just to see if you get the same results.
Lonnie
