Which budget sandpaper should I buy for my ROS

[Tony ray]

Ended up ordering the cheap sandpaper from Hong Kong at 24c a sheet. Got some 60g,320g and 1000g which should be interesting.

[ian]

Ended up ordering the cheap sandpaper from Hong Kong at 24c a sheet. Got some 60g, 320g and 1000g which should be inter esting.

that's a very strange selection of grits. would you care to elaborate on your thinking

[Tony ray]

I have just stocked up on 80 to 240 g. I'm figuring 60g which I mainly use for stripping gets destroyed very quickly so its not worth quality paper. As for 320 & 1000 they had no in between and I had never seen anything over 400 I thought I would try the 1000g.

[FenceFurniture]

I'm figuring 60g which I mainly use for stripping gets destroyed very quickly so its not worth quality paper.

Absolutely on the contrary!

Last week I used one 150mm disc of 60 grit on film, not paper, to sand about 70 rough sawn pine palings, both sides. I can do the same thing (one disc) to sand about a dozen or more 200x100x2400 treated pine sleepers - including pulling splinters out of the pad that are 6-8mm in diameter - without damaging the abrasive disc AT ALL.

At a cost of around $1 I'll bet that's a helluva lot cheaper than you can do it for with those 25c discs (and faster)!

[Mr Brush]

FF - I'm still using those couple of sample coarse grit Jöst discs which you kindly sent me. They have been absolutely hammered, and still keep coming back for more. Much faster material removal than the equivalent Festool discs I had.

The only trouble with organizing a group buy of Jöst discs is that they last so long; nobody will need very many !!

[homey]

+ 1 for Abranet. I've been very impressed with how long this lasts and how clean it stays. Aside from the discs for my ROS i'm also a fan of the Abranet hand sanding pad which has a hose to connect to my CT26. Does a great job of removing sanding dust when hand sanding.

Brian

[Mr Brush]

Regardless of brand, the overriding view seems to be that quality papers are well worth the $$$, and cheapo stuff is just a false economy.....

I'm sure the OP will work this out for himself in due course.

[Tony ray]

I use the 60g to strip old shellac, poly finishes plus glues like super glue so they clog rather than wear out. I have sia paper( the purple stuff) from sandpaper man for when in ready to finish a piece.

[Tony ray]

+ 1 for Abranet. I've been very impressed with how long this lasts and how clean it stays. Aside from the discs for my ROS i'm also a fan of the Abranet hand sanding pad which has a hose to connect to my CT26. Does a great job of removing sanding dust when hand sanding.

Brian

Never tried the mesh discs, would you recommend them for finer grades for finishing over the 8 hole discs.

[homey]

Tony,

Yes, I now use the Abranet down to fine grades. Previously using Festool discs which I was happy enough with - mostly. The Abranet just don't seem to clog in the same way. Mirka have a brochure here:

http://www.mirka.com/SharePoint/Mark...%20English.pdf

For any ultrafine stuff, e.g. 1,000 to 12,000 I use Micromesh (from The Sandpaper Man) - although Micromesh isn't mesh in the Abranet sense, just very fine abrasive. I use it sometimes for bringing up a high shine on hard shellac or for polishing scratches out of brass fittings.

Most of my boxes get french polished so there's no advantage to sanding the wood below about 320g as the polish quickly builds a layer above the wood anyway. I'll sand further if using an oil finish or just wax (not usual).


Brian

[derekcohen]

In addition to the Abranet mesh disks (which need the Mirka pad saver for the ROS), the Mirka hand sander is fantastic. Below is an extract from one of my builds, when I described the hand sander ...

The sanding was quick: I ran through 120/220/400 grit. The Abranet grits are amazing. With the vacuum cleaner connected, it is extremely efficient. There is no waste dust to clog up the sander to slow things down, and an Abranet sheet, itself, lasts and lasts.














But even 400 grit is not as clear as the scraped finish (below), and the reason why I scraped after refining the surface with sanding.





My preference when sanding is to roughly double the next grit in the sequence. Consequently, I went 120/220/400. The Abranet/Mirka mesh really is superb. It lasts many, many times longer than anything I imagine you have used. You owe it to yourself to try out what I show here. I think that you will be so impressed that you will not go back. It is not expensive. The sander was around $25. The Abranet mesh stays sharp, and you can jump grits as I do.


I try to do as much with a plane as possible. If it was possible, all would be done with a plane. Sometimes a scraper is added. Rarely is a sander (I have a Festools ROS in a cabinet that has not been used in a decade. Indeed, mine is called a Festo, the name that predates Festool). The Mirka/Abranet combo is a new addition to the tool chest, purchased at the end of last year, and the plan was to use it for this very situation.


Regards from Perth

Derek

[qwertyu]

thanks guys. I ended up getting 180 and 240 sia 1950 pads - 100 each. It will probably last a life time for me.

When do you guys go over 240 grit for general wood finishing? I was told 220 or 240 is as high as you need to go when you sand poly between coats.

[woodPixel]

Agreed with everything here. I used FF's Jost Alum Zirconia disk - hooooolley hell, they are like an angle grinder at 60 grit! Even the 80 and 120 you dont want to use pressure on softer woods like pine. Never tilt the sander, for it will be like using a file

I love them.

A good thread, timely, for I need to restock on 80 and 120's. Might give the Abranet a crack - thanks for the ebay links. better pricing than Amazon too (anyone noticing the number of items that no longer ship to Oz, or have their prices going up for Oz visitors (scam!!!), or seeing "Prime members only"... time to find an alternative supplier!!!)

[FenceFurniture]

When do you guys go over 240 grit for general wood finishing? I was told 220 or 240 is as high as you need to go when you sand poly between coats.

Well here is a piece of non-descript Eucalyptus sanded to 4000 with no other finish applied. Bare wood.



I have deliberately focused on the things being reflected in the timber, namely the Kapex Mitre Saw (green lever etc to the right), and Aluminium channel on the left, so you can assess the gloss of the sanded finish only. Derek, you might recognise that alum channel.....

[FenceFurniture]

Btw, in my experience, a high quality ROS will deliver a finish that is 1-2 grits finer than hand sanding. That is, with my Festool ETS 150 EC sander (The Dog's Balls of Sanders, along with a couple of others) I can get a much better finish with any given grit than I can by hand with the same grit.