Orbital Sander Sheets

[Jeff]

Evening,

Can anyone recommend 5" 8 hole (velcro) sheets that don't wear down within minutes? Or is it the nature of these things?

Thanks,

Jeff

-- Be a Mensch. Everything else is commentary.

[Don Phillipson]

1. Wear is better measured in square feet rather than minutes.
2. Aluminum oxide, garnet, or what?

-- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) dphillipson[at]trytel.com

[donald girod]

I think Mirka offer the most bang for the buck. They last quite a while and don't cost too much.

[peter]

Depends on what you're doing with them.

I have had good luck with Klingspor disks. I'll bet you can guess the URL:

[Phisherman]

3M or Norton are very good brands. They last when using them on wood.

[Jim Mc Namara]

If a sanding pad wears down in just a few minutes - you might be using the wrong grit. If we knew your application - it would help. What I will reference this recommendation on will be for wood. For heavy removal of paint, shellac, old varnish, etc. the use of at least 80 grit comes to mind. For final finish sanding all the way up to prep for either a French Polishing to a poly - use graduating grits to 320. The use of 320 removed any and all swirl marks. Klingspor (as mentioned in another response) was the main supplier of my furniture woodshop for sandpaper. Lowes and HD also sell the different grits if this is a one time project. I was using the Porter Cable variable speed 5" - 8 hole velcro sheets.

If you need more details - let us know what you're doing and see if we can be more specific.

Jim Mc Namara

[Jeff]

Thanks to all who replied. My apologies for not thinking this through more carefully.

I'm removing loose paint from a cedar clapboard house and using 80 grit paper with my DeWalt orbital sander. I don't need remove all the paint, just what's lose and feather the rest. By 'flicking'* the sander with pressure just on one side (or top or bottom) it does a nice job of removing loose flakes even those that aren't apparently loose. But the paper only holds up for short while before it gets 'gummy' smooth and stops working.

But, once this project is done I'm still going to be looking for a quality grit paper I can use.

Thanks

Jeff

• let me explain: holding the sander gently, touch one side to the wood in rapid succession working down the board.

-- Let Our Forests Grow Old Stop NYS DEC from Logging The Highlands

[Bob Bowles]