A Better Sanding Method

[Bob Eustace]

You guys probably know all about this stuff but we lead a sheltered life down under in Australia! Anyway we have just discovered Abranet from Amazon. You can get a $23 starter kit that includes a velcro adaptor pad. This stuff is sort of like those 3M abrasive bristle brushes. The pads are wooven and completely breathable all over. We got onto these looking for a cheaper alternative to Festool pads which sell out here for around $2 and never ever seem to go on special. There are no generics here at all. The pads are simply brilliant and very very fast with only light pressure and totally dust free using the Festool vac. You really notice how good they are sanding cypruss pine. Those lines you get on the really dark knots after drum sanding just melt away. In our book anything that makes sanding easier is worth a bash!! And yeh I know the pics upside down!

[Bob Eustace]

Missed the 10 minute window to edit! The pads are made in Finland. You dont have to line up holes so changes are lighning fast. Where we used to go through 6 grits we now start with 100 and go straight to 320 finish and thats under ultra gloss varnish. I think this is because the swarf/dust is cleared more efficiently. The kit includes one of each grit from 80 to 600. We are using 80 on the drum sander.

http://www.amazon.com/Mirka-9A-241-APRP-6-Inch-Abranet-Assortment/dp/B001BKXW8A/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1371177731&sr=8-7&keywords=Abranet

[sawkerf]

Of course the pic is up-side down, you're on the under side of the planet! If it were right side up, we would all know that it was photo shopped.:rolleyes: I absolutely love Abranet, however, beware of the backup pads. I bought two Mirka pads for my sanders and they did not even last through one box of discs. They will not effectively stick to a regular hook and loop either. My next attempt is to try the pad they make to go between the standard hook and loop pad and the Abranet disk. They will be here next week, I'll try to remember to post the results.

Best regards

[Bob Eustace]

No troubles so far ( only one months use) using Festool. Were you using Festool Kip? The standard Festool disks seem to stick just fine to the Abranet back up pads. Have you tried their foam backed pads? Should be good on rounded edges one would think?

[Burkhardt]

I noticed a post in the Amazon reviews by a woodworker that they are selling similar or same Mirka pads under the Autonet brand (technically for bodyshops) for much lower price. Might be worthwhile to check that.

[gerryv]

Good find Bob. Mirka Abranet, Abralon etc. are the Rolls Royce of abrasives. Any info you can offer in terms of using them with Festool would be great. i.e. does the hole pattern match up for the big and mid size random orbital sanders?

[Ajcoholic]

Good find Bob. Mirka Abranet, Abralon etc. are the Rolls Royce of abrasives. Any info you can offer in terms of using them with Festool would be great. i.e. does the hole pattern match up for the big and mid size random orbital sanders?

They dont have holes... the whole pad is mesh and completely able to pass air through. Hence not having to align any holes up.

They only suck for corners/edge sanding (as the sharp corners of hardwood tend to wreck the mesh, especially where the holes are located in the pad).

[gerryv]

Thanks much Andrew. We' only have the Abralon pads so I wasn't sure about the discs. Thanks also for the good to know additional info.