Abralon Discs

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:33 am

I'm going to be ordering a few of these shortly. What grits are suggested and are the grits for Abralon equivalent to typical abrasives? E.G. can I expect a 180 grit Abralon disc to operate the same as a 180 grit sanding disc?

bvartist · Post by **bvartist** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:46 am

The abralon discs are less aggressive than normal sandpaper discs. Possibly because they are extremely flexible. I use 360,500 and 1000 grit. Haven't tried the 180 grit so I don't know how much material it will remove, but I doubt they'd be useful for rough shaping.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:19 am

Yeah, I don't think rough shaping is where it's at with these. At least not in the ways I've seen/heard of them being used. They seem to fall more into the finish sanding category. I'll just get some various grits and see how they work. Thanks!

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:50 am

Abralon discs have abrasives that are the same mesh size as their 'regular' sandpaper counterparts, but the fact that they're so flexible and that the grit is silicon carbide, an abrasive that makes smoother cuts than aluminum oxide (what a lot of sandpaper uses).

After rough shaping, I typically hit the stummel with a 220 grit disc on a soft foam backing to smooth out the rough marks from 120-grit shaping, then use a 180-grit Abralon to refine the shape. It wouldn't be good for rough shaping, but it's great for fine tuning.

I've found that 180 grit abrolon cuts as smoothly as 220-240 grit paper discs, 360 grit abralon is about as good as 400+ grit paper. and 500 grit abralon is superior to 600 grit paper. The mesh size of the abrasive is the same, but a lot of factors lead to much better finish.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:08 am

Thanks, Kurt.. that's pretty much what I wanted to know.

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:25 pm

I really like the abralon because of their flexibility. It makes fine tuning so much easier than more brittle sand paper disks.

josh_ford · Post by **josh_ford** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:19 am

I've had trouble finding foam backing to use on my sanding set-up (as Kurt does) where is a good place to order these and sanding disks as well?

Josh

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:40 am

You can get them at :

http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com

or

http://www.woodcraft.com

Or if you have a Woodcraft handy to you, they can be puchased at the store. Note that they're not cheap. IIRC, about $60 for the set with some discs and extra discs are about $3.50 +/- for a pack of 5, I believe it is. However, the sanding kit pays for itself in the first couple of uses. They're great items to have.

Oh.. look for "wave sanding system" at these sites.

Matt