abralon pads sander

[Eric John]

G'morning

while waiting for my finish to cure a thought occurred to me.
I plan to use abralon pads to finsh sand arm r seal.
I have a bosch random orbit5" , also a porter cable 6" polisher/sander.
will it matter which one I use for these 6" pads?
will the size of the machines orbit affect the outcome?
Ive never used these pads before and wouldn't really look forward to spending 600 on a mirka sander.


Regards
Eric

[Jim Tobias]

It won't matter except I would want the size of the pad to match the size of the sander. Variable speed helps also. I use the Abralon pads a lot to define gloss/shine after a finish and sometimes to fine sand the wood so it won't absorb as much finish.

Jim

[Jim Becker]

I urge caution around the idea of using a ROS for fine sanding of a finish because it's difficult to avoid uneven results. Flat finished surfaces are best "fine finish sanded" with a block manually to avoid that. If you do use a ROS, be sure that the pad setup on the device is setup appropriate for both size and for sanding finishes relative to hardness/stiffness. What you use for normal sanding of wood may not be appropriate.

[Leo Graywacz]

Use whatever sander has a smaller orbit. If you are using Abralon you are getting into the very fine grits. So a finish sander would be best.

[John TenEyck]

I got great results with Abralon pads on my 6" Bosch ROS on Arm-R-Seal after it had cured for 11 days. I didn't find any evidence of visible swirl marks during or after the process. I went up to 4000 grit or so, can't remember for sure. I used a pad with no holes and soapy water as a lubricant. I also removed the filter canister and plugged the exhaust port so no water would get drawn into the sander internals. When I was done with the Abralon I changed to a polishing pad and used Everlast Triple Cut polishing compound to get the rubbed gloss sheen I was looking for.



John

[Phil Mueller]

John, that’s a beautiful finish.

[Jim Becker]

John, that's really beautiful! I hope I can get as good a result on the guitar bodies I'm currently working on.

[Leo Graywacz]

2000 grit Abralon just saved my butt. I sprayed up a huge face frame cabinet and the inside edges of 2 stiles were rough from overspray. A little water and the 2000 grit pad, by hand, and it's nice and smooth again.

Table top is beautiful.

[Jim Tobias]

I use ROS sanders with Abralon all the time to "finish" a topcoat. I trust the randomness and even pressure control of the ROS more than I trust the randomness of my hand. The Abralon is available in grits as low as 180 but I seldom use those unless it is for flexibility on a curved surface. I often, after letting a finish cure for a few days, start with 500 grit Abralon and move up to the grit(2000-Satin) or (4000- Gloss) needed to get the look I'm after.
I also change out pads(soft to hard, etc.) to alter the firmness of the operation as needed.
Jim

[John TenEyck]

Another comment. I found that Abralon pads don't last very long, maybe 25 sq. ft. I use wet/dry sandpaper film (Klingspore, etc.) now up to about 2000 grit then switch to the Triple Cut or other auto polishing compound. Works as well and costs far less.

John