david brum
04-10-2013, 7:58 PM
After reading a few threads about the virtues of Abranet on a drum sander, I finally aligned the funds and ambition to try it. What a difference. My old Performax has been about my least favorite machine because of its nasty habit of stalling and/or burning the wood being sanded. Lately it was relegated to 60 grit paper which at least doesn't burn much. Hardly ready for finish, though.
I got a roll of Abranet Heavy Duty 2 3/4 mesh grip, 80 grit. It cost $34 for a 33 foot roll. It looks like there are probably 3 usable pieces per roll. As I installed it, I noticed how much sharper the abrasive feels. Cool. I turned on the sander, set it to the appropriate height and sent through a 6" wide piece of oak. I made repeated passes, lowering the handle 1/4 turn each time. I had installed an ammeter a while back, so I could tell when the machine was getting close to stalling. Interestingly, taking a full cut ( 1/4 turn of the handle) uses about 5 less amps with the Abranet than with regular sand paper. This brings the machine from constantly being on the hairy edge of failure to humming along within a comfortable range. Amazing. This is a completely different machine now. I attribute the improvement in performance to the sharper abrasive.
There also is no sign of burning, meaning that the paper doesn't seem to clog with dust and resin. This makes sense, since there is plenty of room between the abrasive weave. I also tried some soft maple that had been burning like crazy with the regular paper. Same results. I can't believe I'm been missing out on this. Will I get the same kind of results with my random orbit sander?
I got a roll of Abranet Heavy Duty 2 3/4 mesh grip, 80 grit. It cost $34 for a 33 foot roll. It looks like there are probably 3 usable pieces per roll. As I installed it, I noticed how much sharper the abrasive feels. Cool. I turned on the sander, set it to the appropriate height and sent through a 6" wide piece of oak. I made repeated passes, lowering the handle 1/4 turn each time. I had installed an ammeter a while back, so I could tell when the machine was getting close to stalling. Interestingly, taking a full cut ( 1/4 turn of the handle) uses about 5 less amps with the Abranet than with regular sand paper. This brings the machine from constantly being on the hairy edge of failure to humming along within a comfortable range. Amazing. This is a completely different machine now. I attribute the improvement in performance to the sharper abrasive.
There also is no sign of burning, meaning that the paper doesn't seem to clog with dust and resin. This makes sense, since there is plenty of room between the abrasive weave. I also tried some soft maple that had been burning like crazy with the regular paper. Same results. I can't believe I'm been missing out on this. Will I get the same kind of results with my random orbit sander?