Using Abranet Heavy Duty on My 22x44 Drum Sander

[Bob Bergstrom]

About a month ago I posted about using Abranet Heavy Duty rolls on my drum sander. I ended up purchasing a roll off the Internet $40 plus shipping. It comes in 40, 60, and 80 grit. The roll I bought is 80 grit and is 2 3/4" wide x 10 meters long. After some trial and error I found that if I use the same taper as the 3" and add 2" to the length ( Abranet HD is thicker than any sandpaper) It rolled right onto the drum. It did leave about 1/4" gap between each revolution on the cylinder. In use the Abranet moves to the left and closes the gap leaving about 3/4" gap on the last wrap before the taper on the right end. In use it doesn't seem to make much difference. The Abranet works so much better than paper. It is thicker, tougher, and doesn't seem to clog. With the vacuum on there is no dust on the belt and all seems to be sucked up leaving the Abranet clean and no need for cleaning with an eraser. I do wish it came in finer grits as I think I will dislike using plain old sandpaper again. The roll ended up making 3 usable pieces, enough to last a long long time.

[Jeff Bartley]

Thanks for the info Bob! I spent a few hours with my 16-32 today and wondered when someone would post first-hand experience with Abranet! Two more rolls of 80 to go before I get to try this myself.

[mreza Salav]

About a month ago I posted about using Abranet Heavy Duty rolls on my drum sander. I ended up purchasing a roll off the Internet $40 plus shipping. It comes in 40, 60, and 80 grit. The roll I bought is 80 grit and is 2 3/4" wide x 10 meters long. After some trial and error I found that if I use the same taper as the 3" and add 2" to the length ( Abranet HD is thicker than any sandpaper) It rolled right onto the drum. It did leave about 1/4" gap between each revolution on the cylinder. In use the Abranet moves to the left and closes the gap leaving about 3/4" gap on the last wrap before the taper on the right end. In use it doesn't seem to make much difference. The Abranet works so much better than paper. It is thicker, tougher, and doesn't seem to clog. With the vacuum on there is no dust on the belt and all seems to be sucked up leaving the Abranet clean and no need for cleaning with an eraser. I do wish it came in finer grits as I think I will dislike using plain old sandpaper again. The roll ended up making 3 usable pieces, enough to last a long long time.

If I may suggest an easy way to find the right taper angle to cut any width very easily: take a piece of thread and wrap around the drum to find the exact perimeter, once you have that marked
on the thread take that length and put it diagonally on the paper side to side. For different width of papers you'd get different angles but always the length of the taper is equal to the perimeter.

[Bob Bergstrom]

That makes it even a better deall. I already cut mine that will help anyone wanting to try it. A real simple but great idea. Thanks for the imput.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Are the Abranet rolls different from the discs? From what I remember from the discs was that a backing pad had to be used because Abranet discs had abrasive on both sides & would ruin the sander pad if used without the backing pad.
If the rolls have abrasive on both sides & there is no backing pad, won't it wear on the drum?

[John Coloccia]

Can you post a link to the product and where you bought it? I'm anxious to try this on my own 22-44

[David Weaver]

did you get them from supergrit?

[Bob Bergstrom]

Here's from Mirka online
http://mirka-online.com/index.php/hd...80g-qty-1.html

Can you post a link to the product and where you bought it? I'm anxious to try this on my own 22-44

[Bob Bergstrom]

The backing on the rolls is more of a cling on material. My friend has run over a 1,000 board feet of white oak through his and has no signs of any abrasions.

Are the Abranet rolls different from the discs? From what I remember from the discs was that a backing pad had to be used because Abranet discs had abrasive on both sides & would ruin the sander pad if used without the backing pad.
If the rolls have abrasive on both sides & there is no backing pad, won't it wear on the drum?

[Dave Stuve]

Abranet is hook and loop on one side and abrasive on the other. Because a sander's hooks can poke through the mesh and get damaged on the surface they recommend a backing pad. If you've got a smooth drum you're good to go.

Are the Abranet rolls different from the discs? From what I remember from the discs was that a backing pad had to be used because Abranet discs had abrasive on both sides & would ruin the sander pad if used without the backing pad.
If the rolls have abrasive on both sides & there is no backing pad, won't it wear on the drum?

[David Kumm]

I emailed supermax sanders and while they had no experience with Abranet but saw no reason it should cause a problem. Dave

[Chris Rosenberger]

Abranet is hook and loop on one side and abrasive on the other. Because a sander's hooks can poke through the mesh and get damaged on the surface they recommend a backing pad. If you've got a smooth drum you're good to go.

Thank you Dave & Bob,

I remembered reading about people ruining sander pads when Abranet first came out, but could not remember what exactly cause the problem.
Sounds like a great idea.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Also Abranet Heavy Duty is much thicker than any regular Abranet. I am also using it to as an 80 grit gouge in my woodturning. The stuff eats wood and is super tuff. It is great for leveling ridges or tear out left from turning tools

[John Coloccia]

I bought a couple rolls of this stuff a couple of months ago but I'm just getting around to trying it out on the drum sander. WOW...what a difference. It's hard to imagine using anything else at this point. My next step will be trying to convert my 22-44 to take velcro attachment. I think I may try Grizzly's kit at my next sandpaper change.