Kudos to Klingspor Abrasives - Wonderful Products and Service- THE Best Sandpaper IMO

[Nick Sorenson]

The Tech Support Department at Klingspor www.klingspor.com (http://www.klingspor.com) has been wonderful. I haven't found a better resource for probably the most important questions I had. Sandpaper comes in so many different varieties and application specific designs that it's dizzying to find the right product.

There are details like:
-Open coat vs Non Open coat - One being better for softwoods and finishes where loading is an issue and other being better (faster cut and less sign of abrasive) for hardwoods
-Paper Weight
-Stearate type and present or not.
-Glue bond (resin or glue or resin OVER glue) and how it affects the scratches (Especially in a finish).
-Aluminum Oxide vs Aluminum Zirconia for fast removal of material and long life (Aluminum Zirconia is what they recommended for that application and in course grits on my 6x48 Belt sander).

So many answers to my questions.

Anyways, it's rare to find customer service like this from the big companies like 3M. It's super nice to get this kind of service. Klingspor has my business.

I used to use 3M Gold 216u for sanding finishes (dry sanding from 240 - 400 grit or so on the sealer coats). Klingspor helped me find a few good replacements for dry sanding and to finer grits.

For a small production business like mine, this has been a huge blessing. I found the right people.

Anyways, just wanted to spread the word. I know Klingspor is already pretty popular here. Now I know why. If you run a business and need a specific sandpaper, Klingspor will go the extra mile to make sure you find it. I'm sanding finishes (lacquer) and that's a tough customer for sandpaper. They definitely helped me find what I needed. It took a little trial and error but they got me where I needed to go.

They have 5 stars in my book! Excellent service!!!

[James Artibee]

Thanks for the review, I'll be checking them out. JIM

[Nick Sorenson]

Thanks for the review, I'll be checking them out. JIM

Gladly, they've been so good to me I felt I owed them a good report. This seems like a good place for it. I believe I actually found them through this forum or another I can't remember. But yeah, they have been GREAT. Most companies don't take care of a customer like this. Another company who's been great (support wise) has been Whiteside.

The sales people, as in the one's you get when you call in with a general order, there are not super knowledgeable on finer details (at least not all of the ones I've spoken with) but the tech support is amazing. I've never talked to anyone who's had better product advice. For what I do sanding is a huge part of it. Their advice is going to save me a ton of time now that I've got the right product for the job. There's so much more than just grabbing a piece of sandpaper and going to town. That will work but having the right tool for the job, like with anything, makes life SO much easier. To me with sandpaper that has been the key to success. More so than just who makes the best sandpaper. It's which sandpaper will work best for the job.

I almost feel like I'm soliciting them. I'm not but man I'm more impressed with the help they've given me than I have been with any company my business has dealt with thus far. Most companies just sell product and don't know anything about it. CR Onsrud's phone message says 'when's the last time your router bit salesman actually used a router' and that's true of many sales people today. I like it when a salesperson uses the product and knows it's strengths and limitations VERY well. Those are the companies that deserve to sell in my opinion.

Anyways, I'm a very satisfied customer. It seems like when something bad is to be said, it's often shouted. It's not as often you hear about it when it's good news. So I figured I'd share.

[Jeff Duncan]

I'm just curious as to how many brands you've compared side by side to come up with your ruling as to which is 'The Best'? Also how you define best?

Here's the thing, different users really do have different needs. For example if your using an ROS and switching grits a lot you probably don't want the longest lasting (ie most expensive) sandpaper since you'll be throwing money away. In this circumstance you want something that works OK but is more cost effective. On the other hand if you only run 1 or 2 grits at a time and really use them up, then it may be worth it to spend extra on sandpaper with a longer life.

Nothing against Klingspor mind you, I use a fair amount of their stuff in my shop. They are however on the higher end of the price spectrum (about double the cost of Rhino for instance) and for a lot of guys in the business maybe not worth the added expense.

just another point of view anyway,
JeffD

[Nick Sorenson]

I'm just curious as to how many brands you've compared side by side to come up with your ruling as to which is 'The Best'? Also how you define best?

Here's the thing, different users really do have different needs. For example if your using an ROS and switching grits a lot you probably don't want the longest lasting (ie most expensive) sandpaper since you'll be throwing money away. In this circumstance you want something that works OK but is more cost effective. On the other hand if you only run 1 or 2 grits at a time and really use them up, then it may be worth it to spend extra on sandpaper with a longer life.

Nothing against Klingspor mind you, I use a fair amount of their stuff in my shop. They are however on the higher end of the price spectrum (about double the cost of Rhino for instance) and for a lot of guys in the business maybe not worth the added expense.

just another point of view anyway,
JeffD

It depends how you buy Klingspor. If you run a business you can buy it from Klingspor and the price is WAY less than the other abrasives I've used.

As far as other abrasives, I've used most of Mirka's product line, Most of 3M's gold and professional lines especially 216u for finish leveling on lacquer finishes, I've used Eagle Abrasive's expensive Yellow Film for dry final sanding on ultra fine grits (I still use that), I've used the stuff from MSC Industrial that is made in Canada (most likely 3M), I've used the stuff from http://www.onlineindustrialsupply.com/ Which I was not ultra impressed with even at the price. I've not used Norton's paper. I've not used Rhyno.

I've used some of the Klingspor product that didn't work well. Especially for finish sanding. But they did enough samples to get me where I needed to go.

But I've been building guitars for a living for 5 years. I've been around the block a few times when it comes to abrasives. I'm not a huge business and it was nice the way Klingspor took care of me. I was impressed to say the least.

Oh and Edit: I forgot to define how I arrived at best, sorry:
1. 3M's 216u Gold paper is sort of the standard with guitar makers in lacquer finish sanding. We sand more lacquer than anyone else and it's a big part of our job. 3M's 216u has become the standard because it doesn't load easily or ball up the lacquer, and it cuts extremely well. I figured I'd not find anything remotely close to it. I ended up finding that Klingspor PL36 works just as well (cuts ULTRA fast) and no loading of the lacquer even on a DA sander. It took me about 5 or 6 samples of recommended products that DIDN'T work (PS33, PS33W, and a few others that I don't remember) to get to this product. But that was a matter of getting the right tech support person who knew 3M's line up enough to cross reference the details for me (the female tech support person seems to be the most knowledgeable so far, they're all very good though). 3M's 216u is an A weight paper, stearated, open coat. As far as the other products, I used a few belts on my 6x48 and the Klingspor worked the fastest and is staying sharp longer. Same goes for their disc wood sanding products. I'm using a Dynabrade 6" DA.

But the best part I've found in using Klingspor is that you can try just about any disc before you order a pack of 100 discs. That really helped me narrow it down. And yes, there are products that will not work as well as others for specific applications, you have to try them to find what works best. I'm still trying. My first thing to tackle was lacquer sanding products since that's the toughest to find a solution for due to it's clogging of most papers. But I'd put the stuff I am using against anything. Especially the PL36 for lacquer finishes.